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Upcycling

pexel upcycledHave you ever heard of upcycling?  It is basically the practice of taking something old and making something new from it.  Like this example from pulptastic.com of an old TV console that was transformed into a new aquarium.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we find a verse that seems to indicate that God has done some kind of upcycling in our lives.  In that verse Paul writes these words, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.”

That is a well-known verse, but it is typically used without any reference to the context of the rest of the passage, even though it begins with the word, “therefore.”

When we put the verse back into the context we begin to see that Paul is talking about how in Christ we are no longer to look at ourselves or those around us the way we did before.  God is calling us to take the message of reconciliation that we have received and share that with others.

Take a look at verses 18-20: 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling[c] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

I love this image that Paul gives us about how we are to view our lives.  We are supposed to look at ourselves as ambassadors.  An ambassador is someone who is sent from one country to another.  That involves living among those he has been sent to, getting to know them, their language and their culture, building relationships, but always recognizing that they are there to be used by the one who sent them.  What a powerful way to view ourselves.  As ambassadors to this world, living our lives on a mission for God.

That puts a different spin on verse 17.  In his old life Paul was an enemy of God, but God stepped in and did more than just a little upcycling.  He reconciled Paul to himself, transformed him into a new creation and gave him a role as his ambassador.  And God has done the same with is.  It is time for us to grab hold of this mission God has given us.  To realize that we are not who we used to be and to start living like his ambassadors to a world that desperately needs his message of reconciliation.

 

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Caller ID

Caller ID is a very interesting part of our society.  I would imagine that Alexander Graham Bell probably never would have guessed that the telephone would eventually become so prevalent that people would have a service that would allow them to see who is calling so that they could decide whether or not they actually wanted to answer.  We see this all the time when we are out and about and someone gets a call on their cell phone.  The first thing they do is to look at the screen to see who the caller is, so that they can decide whether or not they want to take the call.

Caller ID is a nice feature, but when you are on the other side of the phone call, wanting to have the person answer, it can be very frustrating.  No matter how badly you need to talk to the person, it is up to them to pick up the phone.  And you can just envision the person on the other line, looking at the screen, seeing your number, and saying, “I’ll just let that go to voicemail.”

Caller ID is a convenient feature, but it has allowed us to pick and choose who we will allow to have access to us and gain our attention.  The question I want to ask is, do we ever do this with God?  Do we hear Him calling us, and yet just ignore Him, because it is an inconvenient time or because we are scared of what He might say, or because we just don’t want to focus on what He wants to talk about right now?

I think we do use a little Caller ID to help us ignore God at times.  And that is not a good thing.  God has the right to interrupt our lives whenever He wants.  He is our Creator, our Father, our Lord.  When He calls, we should be ready to stop whatever we are doing and listen to Him

This Sunday, we are going to take a look at a man that God took the time to talk to.  His name was Moses and God called him to a very special task.  I invite you to join us this Sunday for a look at Moses and the Burning Bush from Exodus 3.   And then we are going to ask ourselves some questions that will help us be ready for when God wants to call us.  Hope you can make it.

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A Glimmer of Hope in the Shadows of Despair

Today for my devotions I was reading in the book of Lamentations.  This is a powerful book, written by the prophet Jeremiah, over the destruction of Jerusalem.  The book as a whole is really a downer.  It is verse after verse of hopelessness, helplessness, despair and anguish.  The prophet is lamenting what has become of this amazing city, the kingdom, and the people.

But while most of the verses in this book are sad and discouraging, in reality the book contains a message of hope.  Actually, because most of the book is so bleak, the verses that are not become like brilliant little lighthouses of hope.  Nestled in the middle of the book, among all the despair, we find this phrase, “Yet, I still dare to hope when I remember this:” (Lamentations 3:21, NLT)

What a powerful statement.  Jeremiah gives us a glimmer of hope in the shadows of despair.  This is a profound statement for those who are living in dark places right now.  In the midst of such darkness, when a glimmer of light shows up, like this verse, it acts as a beacon of hope, beckoning all who are in despair to come and bask in the light.

Jeremiah is calling out to all who are hopeless, discouraged, anxious, and lost.  He says, I have found hope!  Even when the world is falling down around me, I still have hope.  Actually, it is because Jeremiah says these words while in the midst of such lamenting that the words take on such power and shine so brightly.  Jeremiah has hope, and then he tells us why…

“The unfailing love of the Lord never ends!  By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction.  Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day.  I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”

What powerful, hopeful, encouraging words!  Jeremiah reminds us that even in the darkest of times, still we can hope in God.  I want to encourage you with those words today.  If you want to find out more about this hope, then please feel free to gives us a call, or send an email, or even come on out and visit us some Sunday.  We would love to talk more about this hope!

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Am I Going Backward?

Today in my devotions I was reading in the book of Jeremiah and came across a very powerful rebuke from God to His people.  He said, “But my people would not listen to me.  They kept on doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.”  (Jeremiah 7:24, NLT)

I know that God was talking about the people of Judah, but it also sounds so much like us.  We have a terrible tendency to follow our own desires instead of God’s plans for our lives.  We forget that God’s ways are so much better than our own and we run off chasing after things that just don’t matter.

We should be like David who said in Psalm 17, “My steps have stayed on your path; I have not wavered from following you.”  (Psalm 17:5, NLT)  But instead we are like those mentioned in Isaiah 53, “All of us have strayed away like sheep.  We have left God’s paths to follow our own…”  (Isaiah53:6a, NLT)

What we don’t realize is that when we go our own way instead of God’s way, we are moving backward instead of forward.  We are heading in the wrong direction.  We don’t realize it, because our eyes are focused on the wrong things.  We are like a hiker who finds himself lost, because he was focused on the wrong landmark.  We get so focused on what we think we want and when we finally arrive at it we realize that things are really not quite what we had hoped for.  But worse, we find ourselves alone and lost, looking around to figure out where God is.  But God didn’t leave us.  We left Him.  We thought we were walking forward and all along we were walking backward.

I challenge you to stop and ask yourself, “am I going backward?”  Are we chasing after our own desires instead of listening to God and following Him?  We need to learn from that rebuke that we find in Jeremiah.  It’s time for us to move forward!

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The Meaning of Life

Ecclesiastes is an interesting book.  It is the ruminations of one of the wisest men to ever walk the earth.  We find King Solomon sharing some very profound statements as he philosophizes over the meaning of life.  If you have never given this book much time, I encourage you to give it a chance and examine this thought-provoking essay for yourself.

In Ecclesiastes we find verses that have been the inspiration for songs, “There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven.”  (Ecc. 3:1)  We find one of my favorite verses of all time, “When the clouds are heavy, the rains come down.  When a tree falls, whether south or north, there it lies.” (Ecc. 11:3)  We find practical warnings,such as, “Laziness lets the roof leak, and soon the rafters begin to rot.”  (Ecc. 10:18)  And we find a scathing rebuke of greed, “Those who love money will never have enough.  How absurd to think that wealth brings true happiness!”  (Ecc. 5:10)

At the end of the book we find a powerful conclusion, “Here is my final conclusion.  Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person.”  (Ecc. 12:13) That is a fitting ending that brings the book full circle and provides meaning in the midst of a bunch of meaninglessness.  But one of my favorite portions of this book actually comes a little before the end as the author seems to put his wisdom into place.  In chapter 9 he writes this, “This reminded me that no one can discover everything God has created in our world, no matter how hard they work at it.  Not even the wisest people know everything, even if they say they do.”  (Ecc. 9:17)

Throughout this book we see Solomon wrestling with the meaning of life and it seems that even with all of his wisdom, power, and money that he still finds life meaningless from an earthly perspective.  It is only when he sets his eyes Heavenward that life begins to take on meaning as we see in his conclusion.  But along the way Solomon needed to put his own wisdom and powers of observation in place.  He needed to realize that he does not have all the answers, even though he was one of the wisest men to walk the earth.  Ultimately wisdom must begin with the fear of the Lord.  We need to start with God if we are to find any purpose or meaning to life.

I do encourage you to give Ecclesiastes some time.  And if you are interested in talking more about this subject, please feel free to send me an email or give me a call.  Or better yet, stop by Dunn Bros. in downtown Chaska some afternoon and let’s have a chat.

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Underdog

My family loves March Madness.  For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, each year at this time the college basketball season comes to a close with a 68 team tournament.  The 68 teams are put into a bracket that will decide the eventual champion.  That bracket is then posted online and people all across the country fill it in to show who they think will win. 

My wife and I and our 4 children fill out the bracket each year to have a little family fun.  Whoever ends up with the most points at the end of our tournament gets to be “king” or “queen” for an evening at our home.  This provides some great entertainment as we keep track of the winners and losers over the course of the 3 week tournament. 

Each and every year I watch the games and find myself amazed at how unexpected the outcomes are.  Each year there are teams that I am sure will be unbeatable, only to find them get upset in the early rounds.  And each year there are underdog teams that I am sure have no chance of winning, only to find them pulling off upset after upset and wreaking havoc on my bracket. 

For instance, last year I spent some time carefully choosing my bracket winners based on my understanding of basketball, my observations from games that I had watched during the season, and advice from several basketball analysts from ESPN and other sources.  On the flip side, my 6 year old daughter chose to base her bracket winners on teams that came from places where she or her family and friends have lived over the years.  For that reason she chose Butler, an underdog team from a small school in Indiana, to beat some much more highly regarded opponents.  Obviously, she turned out to be right and my family and I found ourselves watching Cinderella and having a “ball” in our living room because Kalyn was “queen for a night.”

This year I once again used my head and came up with what I thought would be a very solid bracket.  But all of my final four teams wound up losing in earlier rounds and my wife and 8 year-old daughter are now in position to win this year.  Once again, Butler proved to be my downfall.  I chose Butler to lose in the 2nd round, while my wife chose Butler to make it to the final four.  She was right, and I was wrong.

But surprisingly Butler is not the biggest underdog team this year.  Virginia Commonwealth University deserves that title.  When the bracket was first announced several analysts ripped the selection committee for including VCU in the tourament.  They believed that VCU didn’t belong.  One analyst even called the inclusion of VCU “indefensible.”  VCU did not have a great season.  They finished 4th in the weak Colonial Athletic Association conference.  That’s one spot lower than Hofstra.  They lost 11 games during the season including losses to Georgia State, James Madison and Drexel.  Many analysts did not even expect them to make the tournament, much less win a game. 

But they didn’t just win a game, they have made an unbelievable run, beating Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State, and Kansas on their way to the Final Four.  They were the underdog in each game and yet wound up beating 4 teams from bigger conferences who were all expected to win.  VCU is this year’s biggest underdog story.

Basketball analysts refer to games like these as “David vs Goliath” kind of matchups.  In each game they played, VCU has been like David facing Goliath.  That’s a great reference, because David was the biggest underdog ever.  No one gave him a chance.  He defines what we think of when we call someone an underdog. 

Consider this, David wasn’t even big enough yet to go to war.  His brothers were part of the Saul’s army, but not David.  He was keeping watch over the sheep and running errands for his father.  He was just a boy.  Goliath was a man.  A seasoned warrior.  He was battle tested and an impressive physical presence.  He stood over 9 feet tall.  His armor and weapons probably weighed as much as David.  And yet David came at him with just a sling and a stone, and won!

That is probably the biggest underdog story in the history of the world.  It was so big of an upset that to this day we still talk about upset matchups in sports as David vs Goliath.  But there is one verse in that story that I just love and that is I Samuel 17:48 where it talks about how David ran to meet Goliath.  David didn’t think of himself as an underdog, he simply faced the enemy in front of him with a courage born of his trust in God.

Maybe in your life today you feel like an underdog.  Maybe it feels like the problems you face are bigger than you are.  I want to encourage you to remember the example of David.  Don’t listen what others might say about your chances.  Don’t consider yourself an underdog.  Run to face the obstacle in front of you with courage born from a trust in God.

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The Bloody Thumb

I know, I know, what a terrible title for a blog post.  Who would ever call their post, “The Bloody Thumb?”  But that is exactly what inspired this post, so I thought it would be fitting to make it the title.  Besides, it got you to check it out, didn’t it?  So here is how a bloody thumb inspired me to write this post…

For my devotions the other day I was reading in the book of Leviticus.  In case you have never spent much time in the book of Leviticus, it is one of the places where many people who have committed to read through the Bible in a year get bogged down.  It contains detailed information on making offerings, observing festivals, figuring out what is clean and unclean and instructions for priests.  It is not an easy read, but it is important for understanding the requirements for covering sin and guilt. 

So what does all of this have to do with a bloody thumb?  I was just getting to that.  Basically, sometime this weekend I cut my finger.  It wasn’t a big cut.  Actually, I didn’t even realize I cut it.  It was one of those small, paperthin cuts that you don’t even really notice.  It didn’t even bleed so I didn’t put on a bandaid.  I just noticed that my thumb was a little sore.

The next morning, I went to do my devotions and found myself in the book of Leviticus.  As I was reading I noticed that a couple of specks of red were on the bottom of the page.  I looked at my thumb and realized that my cut had opened up and bled just a little bit.  So I now have 2 little spots of blood right next to Leviticus 5 in my Bible. 

My first reaction was to try and wipe it off, but it was such a little amount that it had dried already.  So I continued with my devotions, but now I was reading off of a blood stained page.  And I found myself marveling at what a great reminder I had been given because of a bloody thumb.

You see, Leviticus tells us about how the people of Israel would make offerings over and over again to cover their sins and bring them back to a right relationship with God.  This pointed the way to the perfect sacrifice that would one day be made through the death of Jesus Christ.  When Christ was crucified on the cross, He became the perfect sacrifice that would cover the sins of the world.

So there I was being reminded of all this while looking at how my blood had stained my Bible.  How amazing to realize that while my blood stained the page of my Bible, Christ’s blood washes me clean of the stain of sin in my life.  Because of His sacrifice, I have been washed white as snow.  As we are reminded in Ephesians 1:7, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”

If you are reading this blog today and would like to hear more about how Christ’s sacrifice can cover your sins, please email me or give me a call, because I would love to talk more with you about this wonderful Good News.

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Stop Complaining

For those of you who check our site regularly for blogs, I am sorry that I have not blogged for a couple weeks.  I was away at a conference where I had almost no access to anything electronic and then I got back and was a little swamped trying to catch up.  Anyway, I’m back and hopefully you weren’t complaining about my lack of blogs because this blog is all about not complaining…

This morning in my devotions I was hanging out in the book of Exodus and I came across a verse that struck me in a different way than when I have read it before.  It was in Exodus 16, where we find the people of Israel on their way to the Promised land.  God has already brought them miraculously across the Red Sea and delivered them from the hand of the Egyptians.  In chapter 15 we see them complaining because they are thirsty and God miraculously provides water for them to drink.  Then when we arrive in chapter 16 we see them complaining to Moses once again, only this time it is because they are hungry.  They actually say that they were better off when they were slaves in Egypt, because at least there they had plenty to eat.

So God decides to miraculously provide food for them to eat and Moses and Aaron call a meeting of the people to tell them the good news.  We read about what they said to the people in Exodus 16:6b-8, “In the evening you will realize that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt.  In the morning you will see the glorious presence of the Lord.  He has heard your complaints, which are against the Lord and not against us.  The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning, for he has heard all your complaints against him.  Yes, your complaints are against the Lord, not against us.” (NLT)

Typically, when I have looked at this passage I have focused on how sad it is that the people of Israel were complaining again already after they had seen God deliver them from Egypt and bring them safely across the Red Sea.  But this time, I noticed this point that Moses makes about how their complaints were really complaints against God.  I had never really thought about who they thought they were complaining against.  Maybe they blamed Moses and Aaron for the situation they found themselves in?  Maybe they blamed the land for not producing what was needed to provide them with water and food?  But regardless of who they thought they were complaining against, ultimately their complaints were really against God.  They were complaining that God was not taking care of them.

I don’t know about you, but I know that I complain sometimes too.  When things aren’t going my way, I complain.  When I do that, I think I am complaining against whoever or whatever the problem is.  For instance, I might complain against the government when they do something I don’t agree with or when they take too much taxes out of my paycheck.  Or I might complain against my job, when things are tough.  Or I might complain about the price of gas or food or whatever else I need to buy.  I figure these complaints are harmless and I am just letting off steam and looking for someone to blame, but ultimately when I complain, I am complaining against God.

Ultimately my trust is not in the government, or my job, or the economy.  Ultimately my trust is in God.  So when I complain, it shows a lack of trust in God’s provision.  And that is not an attitude I want to have.

We are reminded in I Thessalonians 5:16-18 to, “Always be joyful.  Keep on praying.  No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (NLT again)  That is the attitude that I am supposed to have.  Even in the face of tough times I am to be joyful, and give thanks.  I can pray and ask God to take care of me, but not with a spirit of complaining, but rather with a spirit of joy and thanksgiving, and complete trust in God.

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The Best Verse in Genesis

Last year for my devotions I read through the Bible and for each chapter I underlined one, and only one, verse.  That was a very difficult assignment because many times there were several verses in the chapter that I would have underlined.  I am planning to start that same devotional plan again this year with a different version of the Bible, but first I am putting some finishing touches on last year’s study.

I have been going back and looking at all of my underlines for each chapter and picking one verse, and only one verse, from each book of the Bible.  If I thought that one verse per chapter was tough, this is ridiculous.  How do you decide between several verses that are worth underlining?  It becomes a very subjective experience that is also dependent upon where I am at spiritually, mentally and emotionally at the time as well. 

But be that as it may, it has been a very interesting undertaking.  For instance, for the book of Genesis, I chose Genesis 15:6, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”  I could have gone with something signifying God as Creator, like, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”   I could have gone with a verse that focuses on the downfall of man and the essence of sin, like Genesis 4:7, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?  But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”  Or I could have focused on a verse displaying God’s sovereignty like, Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

But instead I chose Genesis 15:6, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”   Why?  Simply because of Abram’s example of faith.  He believed the Lord.  He had faith in God for the present and the future.  In Hebrews 11, which is sometimes referred to as the “Faith Hall of Fame” we see that Abraham is credited for this.  He was a man of faith.  And his example stood the test of time. 

Obviously it could be argued as to whether or not this is the best or most important verse in Genesis.  Maybe you would have a different choice?  But this is my blog and this is the verse I chose.  In the weeks ahead I will unveil some of my other choices for best verses as well.

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Not Enough Books in the World

This morning in my devotions I came across one of my favorite little, honest, informal verses in the Bible.  It is the last verse in the Gospel of John.  And it is written in such a simple, almost conversational style.  It is John 21:25, “Jesus did many other things as well.  If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”

Isn’t that a great little verse?  It is nothing overly deep or earth-shattering.  It is not a big theological point or an area of doctrine.  It is not a controversial topic or even something that is key to our discipleship process.  But I just love it, because it reminds me that Jesus’ life here on earth was even more amazing than I already picture. 

I have just finished reading through the Gospels.  Almost every day for the last 29 days I have been reading in either Matthew, Mark, Luke or John for my devotions.  And throughout that time I have been reminded of the amazing life of Jesus Christ. 

I have marvelled at miracles like Jesus feeding the five thousand and walking on water.  I have pondered His powerful teachings like the sermon on the mount and the Olivet discourse.  I have seen his compassion during His visits with the Samaritan woman at the well, and the woman accused of adultery.  I have read of His authority over nature when He calmed the storm, over the spiritual realm as He delivered the Gadarene demoniac, over the spiritual leaders of the day as he silenced them with His answers to their questions and even over death itself as He raised Lazarus from the dead.  I have enjoyed His parables like the one about the prodigal son and the one about the lost sheep.  I have witnessed His humanity as He faced temptation in the wilderness and struggled with the will of the Father in the garden before His arrest.  I have been reminded of His meekness and humility as He kept silent in the face of His accusers and willingly allowed Himself to be led away.  I have seen His love as He allowed Himself to be beaten, and mocked and spit upon and ultimately killed for my sins.  And I have rejoiced over His victory with the stone that was rolled away and the visits with His disciples before returning to His Father’s side. 

It has been a great month of reading about the amazing life of Jesus Christ.  But this simple verse at the end of the book of John, this last verse of the Gospels, reminds me that there was more.  There were others who were healed, other lives that were touched, other bonds that were broken, and other needs that were met.  There were more lives that were forgiven, more eyes that were opened, more mouths that were fed, and more hearts that were transformed.   The amazing life of Jesus Christ cannot be contained in just 89 chapters of 4 books.  There is more.

What was contained for me in these Gospels is enough to compel me to believe, but it is also good to be reminded that Jesus’ life is not completely contained in those 4 books.  My Savior, my Messiah, my Lord is amazing!  And if there were a whole world full of books written down, I would want to read them all.