PAX

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened. (Luke 24:1-12 ESV)

Just like Good Friday, there are so many different things that can be said regarding the Resurrection. We could point to it as the most compelling evidence that Jesus is exactly who he said he was, God in the flesh. We could talk about the victory it represents and how that same victory is now available to all believers. We can find courage in the reality that the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, now resides in every believer. We could even break down every little detail surrounding the resurrection and the days that followed. Such a break down would paint an incredible picture of a God who has a purpose for everything He does.

However, my heart is captured by the last sentence in the above passage:

But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened. (Luke 24:12 ESV)

Today, just stop. Forget about the cultural demands of this holiday and allow your mind to wander and “marvel” at the ramifications of a risen Savior. Our God is alive and our lives should reflect this truth.

Over the next few weeks I will be writing brief posts describing the moments that cause me to marvel at what God is doing or has done. I encourage you to join me in looking for the Holy Spirit’s fingerprints in your neighborhood.

Happy Easter, PAX!

And it was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. And when noon had come, there was darkness over the whole land until three o’clock in the afternoon. And at three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:25-27, 29-39 ESV)

Hey PAX,

Today is Good Friday. Throughout the world this day commemorates the moment when the most famous and significant man in all of history was murdered via crucifixion. As I thought about how I wanted to write this post, many ideas came to mind. I thought about describing the death of Jesus in vivid detail. Or maybe I could offer a defense of the historical accounts of Jesus’ life. Or I could just record myself giving you all an inspiring Good Friday message… Good ideas, right? You can probably find multiple posts like that somewhere online.

However, as I spend time really reflecting on the crucifixion of my God and Savior, I am flooded with emotions. Anger, joy, sorrow, disbelief, and gratitude have all spent time in my heart so far this morning. I want to encourage you to find a moment to allow those emotions to move through you. As followers of Christ, we often take his death on the cross for granted. Sure, its important and central to what we believe, but we allow it to become an intellectual or theological concept and forget how personal it was and is.

Whatever you do, don’t let today pass on as just another day. Maybe you could get together with some or all of your MC and share the impact that Jesus’ death has had on your life. Maybe you can sit down as a family and share your story of salvation with your kids, pointing them to Jesus’ choice to own your sin on Calvary. Maybe you can sit down and read the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion out loud as a family or group of friends. Or maybe you invite some neighbors over for an impromptu dinner and start a relationship that may one day culminate in Jesus’ death counting for them as well.

Jess and I will be having her cousin and his girlfriend over for the weekend. To be honest, I don’t know what they believe, but tonight they will be experiencing Good Friday with the Harvey’s; as we thank God for His gift, read the accounts of his death, share our stories with our girls, and anticipate the greatest event the world has ever experienced: The Resurrection.

On Sunday morning I will be posting a blog on the Resurrection and laying out a series of posts for the coming weeks. Also, if you’re looking for some passages you can read with friends or family centering on Good Friday and Easter, here ya go:

I am most impressed with myself.

This comes in how I view others and how I want others to view me. When I think that I am somehow superior to someone … anyone … else, then this demonstrates how infatuated I am with myself. “They are horrible people!”, “They don’t do IT like I do IT!”, “Can you believe how they … “. All of these point back to us as if we have the corner of the market of living perfectly. We don’t though. That’s how pathetic I get. I think that everything I do is absolutely right and the best thing for the world. That’s why in my mind, or verbally or even within social media I vent out my frustrations of imperfect people around the perfect ME.

It is similar to how I want people to think of me as being the “perfect one”. I quickly volunteer to help others out, yet somehow neglect things at home. I hesitate in sharing my faith with others because I want them to like me … and if I share a sensitive subject, like my faith, they might think that I am one of those ‘God’ people and then not like ME anymore.

In both situations … it centers around ME.

Either I think I am perfect or I want others to think that I am perfect.

Here is the problem. I … am … not … perfect. There was only one who was perfect in life and that was Jesus. I am not Jesus. Not even close.
So why do I have this desire to compare others to me? I believe it is simply that I don’t think of God as big enough and that I don’t think of myself as small enough.

When I think of just myself, I picture in my mind this 6 year old little girl (I know, scary … 6 year old girl with a beard!) who is starving for attention and significance and trying to gain it from anyone but God. If were to go to God for my significance and the attention, I will be confronted with Jesus in what he did. I am worth a Jesus to God. That is how much he loves me. And as far as attention, he flippin’ knows the hairs on my head, you can be sure that he knows me.

I am worth a Jesus to God

Even while we were actively sinning against God, Jesus died for us. That is total significance.

How do you view others around you?
How quick are you to judge others?
How fast do you impress others?
What/who are you trying to gain significance or attention from (and will it last)?

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 ESV)

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20, 21 ESV)

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6 ESV)

I am a failure… and honestly, so are you. But Jesus isn’t. In fact, Jesus never fails. Ever. At the end of the passage we looked at in the previous post (Romans 7) Paul says,

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24, 25 ESV)

I cannot get it right. Sometimes, yes… most times, no.

But God is faithful and Jesus is sufficient. 

Jesus’ righteousness (right relationship with God) has become my righteousness through faith in Him as my Savior. Don’t miss this… If you have allowed Jesus’ work on the cross to count for you, your identity is now unequivocally tied to Jesus’ identity. I am a failure, but Jesus isn’t AND his work now counts on my behalf. I don’t have to perform for God or anyone else.

Here’s the thing, I still want to live in a way that honors God and allows people to meet their Savior. Understanding that I don’t have to accomplish this in order to be loved and accepted by God, is great news… but on my own, I still fail to faithfully follow Jesus with every facet of my life.

Jesus knew that I would struggle with this. He knew, that even after experiencing His unconditional love and forgiveness, I would still fall back into a life that is about me more often than its about Him and others. So, He offered me a helper:

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14:26 ESV)

But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. (John 15:26 ESV)

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:7 ESV)

Jesus  is not surprised by my failure. He didn’t have to figure something out on the fly once I started missing the mark. He knew I would need help. He knew all of this, yet he still chose to take my punishment on the cross. And then he provided the Holy Spirit, God himself, to dwell in me. Amazing.

Paul, the desperate and confused man we encounter in Romans 7, provided some insight into the Spirit’s role in my life in his letter to the Galatians:

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Galatians 5:16, 17 ESV)

Remember how Paul was rambling about his inability to really do what he wanted… here, he lets the Galatians in on a secret: the only way to do what we want to do as followers of Christ (faithfully follow Him with every facet of our lives), is to allow the Holy Spirit to have His way with your life. All of it. Paul’s understanding of the Holy Spirit’s role in the Christian’s life is what lead to this incredible statement in Galatians 2:20,

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 ESV)

In short, Paul was relinquishing control of his dreams, hopes, fears, relationships, finances, years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds… everything. He was done living for what he wanted or even thought was right. He had decided to give the Holy Spirit free reign.

As I reflect on my incredible ability to fail over the years, this idea of releasing everything to power of the Holy Spirit sounds pretty awesome.  However, it leaves us with at least two questions:

1. Are you and I really willing to give the Spirit control over everything?
2. How in the world do we practically give Him this control? It almost sounds mystical.

I’m looking forward to learning the answers to both of these questions as we do life together on mission for Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.

Holy Spirit, come.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I skim through the pages of the Bible and find myself discouraged. I see a lot of screwed up people, but those that end up being “heroes of our faith” always seem to eventually get it right. I don’t. At least not on a consistent basis. I will have my moments, but in the end I generally fall short. Way short.

I think that is why I like Paul’s words in Romans 7, particularly verse 15:

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. – Romans 7:15

I am a failure.

There, I said it. I have failed as a son. I have failed as a brother to my three sisters. I have failed as a friend. I have failed as a husband. I have failed as a father. I have failed as a Pastor. I have failed as a person… And, honestly, failure is the only thing I have done consistently well throughout my entire life. I often find myself repeating the very words Paul wrote in the above verse. I just cannot do what I so desperately want to do: faithfully follow Jesus in every facet of my existence.

If you were to read all of Romans 7, you would encounter a desperate and confused man. A man who is finally acknowledging the battle that rages within in his soul; a battle between his new existence and old vices. I often find myself just as desperate and confused. I want to be better, but I can’t be. I want it really, really bad… but I just can’t be the person I want to be. I’m too broken to do this on my own.

Do you ever feel this way? Am I the only one who can identify with Paul in this?

So, today marks the beginning of Lent. Maybe you’ve heard that word many times, but never really knew what it meant. Basically, Lent is the 40 day period (not counting Sundays) between Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday. While it hasn’t always been this way, it is now recognized as a time for followers of Christ worldwide to deny themselves in various ways in order to pursue Jesus with more focus and intentionality. The Lent season culminates with the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection (Easter).

Rather than write a long post on some of my thoughts regarding lent, I would prefer to direct you to a great article written by Eugene Cho last year. Eugene is a passionate, entrepreneurial pastor in Seattle and he cuts right to the point regarding Lent. So… Go read the post. Now. Then, come back. Please.

After reading that, I am curious: What are you “giving up” for Lent? Anything? Nothing?

I have actually been thinking and praying about this season for the past few weeks and have decided to give one meal time per day (Mon-Fri) to other people. Each day I will either be connecting with someone over a meal or spending the meal praying for others. God is taking PAX on a journey that will thrust us into people’s lives. I want to use this time to allow the Holy Spirit to soften my heart to the needs of others.

… I may give up regular soda as well… but that might be asking too much

Recently I have been looking at Jesus challenge to NOT follow him.

Have you seen what he said in the Story?

In Luke’s story of Jesus life, we see that Jesus has a discussion with three people. Each one seeming to WANT to be with Jesus. But Jesus does something a little odd in response.

Guy #1: “I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus: “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”

Jesus to guy #2: “Come, follow me.”
Guy #2: After saying he would follow he then said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”
Jesus: “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead!t Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”

Guy #3: “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”
Jesus: “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Each response from Jesus seeming to push people away from following him.

They all had a desire right?

What is Jesus wanting from them? He wants nothing but total devotion.

His response to the guys were …

Become homeless
Let someone else bury your own dad.
Don’t even say good-bye to family.

We quickly would respond with a bunch of yahbuts.

Yah, but he didn’t really mean that you had to give up your house for him.
Yah, but he didn’t really mean that you were to leave some body else to bury your own father or not say good-bye to the family.
Yah, but he was overemphasizing the response of heartfelt categorical devotion. He wouldn’t expect us to really do that, that would disrupt us.

In the Story we see that God has a completely different life goal for us and it has nothing to do with what we call the American dream. Yet how often do all of us live up to that goal … even unintentionally? The American Dream: go to college, start a career, get married, have two cars, a large home with a picket fence and two children and one pet. With our own children if they don’t live up to their “potential” of making money to make a “living” then they are not good enough. We evaluate each other on this as well. “When will they ever get a real job?”.

Jesus pushes us away from our own dreams and allows us to see his dreams … if we let him.

What would Jesus say to you about your life devotion towards him?
Are you willing to abandon everything in this world and the people you love in exchange for Jesus?
Are you, like me, dreading those times of conviction where Jesus is clearly asking us to “let go” of something that you hold dearly to?

In this world of people who love to live in the grey, because it allows us to have safety, are we willing to step out of the grey?

I have been biking to work at least 2 days a week for the past month or so. I love it. By the time I get to the office I feel awake and ready to get things done. The ride home is even better. Offering me an opportunity to decompress and think about the day before I walk through the doors of my home. It has become therapeutic for me.

This morning, the ride wasn’t quite as nice. As I turned the corner onto River Rd. I experienced a first in my biking days… a head wind. It was brutal. My bike is a fixie (single speed) and every rotation of my pedals felt like an intenese workout. I was struggling and kept telling myself to turn back and let the wind actually carry me back to my car. Thankfully, I had a meeting this morning at a Starbucks that sits exaclty in the middle of my commute from home to the office. I was able to keep going because I knew rest was in sight.

Can I be completely honest with you? Good. As we endeavor to create a collective of multiplying missional communities we are going to encounter various “head winds”. There will be hard times, confusing times, hurtful conversations, and a variety of events and circumstances that will cause us to want to turn back. I don’t want us to be naïve about this. Jesus didn’t either…

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 ESV)

If we are serious about following Jesus as he redeems the various corners of our city  we must understand that Jesus never avoided pain and difficulty. In fact, the plan that he hatched with the Father and Spirit centered on such things! He understood what he was asking of his disciples… and us. He knew it wouldn’t always be fun parties and great theological conversations over beer, wine, or coffee.

He was asking us to take aim at the darkness in our world and assualt it with his light and love.  Rather than do whatever it takes to avoid pain, he is asking us to seek it out so his healing can be felt and his glory be revealed. How contrasting is that with the typical American Dream!?

Jesus tells us this (and the things in the chapter before this) so we will have peace. He doesn’t want us to be surprised. Peace is not always the absence of struggle. It is often the presence of comfort and hope in the midst of difficulty. Our hope and comfort comes in the fact that we belong to Jesus and he has already overcome everything this world has to offer.

What we are hoping to do will not be easy. I am convinced that we will have a lot of fun, though! Its just that not everything will be fun. I am so thankful to be a part of a family of people who desire to live life differently for the glory of God and restoration of people. I am thankful that when I want to turn back, I can rest in Jesus and lean on each of you for comfort, hope, and motivation.

I pray you’ll do the same.

In our way of doing ministry we will be challenging everyone to give up their lives for Jesus in order to be available to serve as He leads.

This will be hard to do because all of us will be coming in with our own thoughts of how ministry should be done. All of us will be coming from “some kind” of background that will automatically shape how we view what it means to serve others.

This same viewpoint will trigger how we think of others.

If we come from a background that held high opinion of looking right and behaving right over simply being right, then we are very quick to judge others and critique and … shun people that don’t live up to the high expectations. We also might tend to thoroughly justify our own actions and give ourselves lots of grace but then turn around and refuse to give grace to those who “should know better”. We might even say things like “Well they deserve it”. The crazy thing is that even these types of people will say to themselves reading this paragraph the names of others who should read this but totally ignore their own guilt.

Of all the people in the world, Jesus had every right to judge us for our actions and yet he doesn’t ‘shove it in our face’ or avoid us or shun. Instead he bent down to our level, he walks with us in the mud and the crud, he was willing to interact with lepers in order to bring about healing! Who are we that we would so quickly forget the flood of love that pours from God to his children (both lost and found)?

Jesus had every right to judge us for our actions

God help me.

How have you been challenged by God to drop a judgmental attitude in favor of a graceful one?

This is part six of a six part series the reasons PAX will fail in its mission. We have a desire to see a movement of missional communities embrace their identity in Christ and live in a way that gives others a taste of His kingdom. In essence, we want to Love God, Love People, and Create Beauty from Ashes.

And while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. And truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” (Mark 14:3-9)

About 5 years ago I was preparing to teach on the above passage. It was going to be just my second time ever “preaching” at New Harvest. In fact, it was my second time preaching… ever. As I read the text, I found myself questioning Jesus’ position that dumping the ointment on him was a better use of its value than serving the poor. It blew my mind that the same God that tought us to value others more important than ourselves or commanded us to “serve the least” would suddenly have a selfish change of heart. I remeber coming across the following quote from Austin Cline, an athiest contributor at about.com:

What these people don’t realize is that it isn’t about the poor, it’s all about Jesus: he’s the center of attention, the star of the show, and the whole point for their being there. If it’s all about Jesus, then an otherwise frivolous expenditure is not out of line. The attitude displayed to the poor, however, is utterly appalling — and has been used by various Christian leaders to justify their own appalling behavior.

PAX exists to love God, love people, and create beauty from ashes. We believe very strongly in applying the mission set before us by God in each facet of our lives. We are convicted that serving our neighbors and city, in a regular and dedicated fashion, is key to accomplishing this mission. We are meeting weekly to learn how to live out our values and be effective communicators of the gospel. We have a detailed vision frame and are working on step by step avenues of community group multiplication. We are a passionate group of people. Herein lies the danger, if we allow anything (listed above or other) to take the place of our time with and commitment to Jesus, we will fail.

Jesus was trying to help those in the room, and those of us who read this account, to understand that without him, nothing else matters. You see, Austin Cline had it right:

It is all about Jesus, he is the center of attention, he is the star of the show, he is the whole point of us being here, and he is the hero of all of human history and our future. To miss this, is to make the biggest mistake of them all.

Now listen, Jesus was not removing our responsibility to those in need. In reality Jesus speaks over and over about the necessity of God’s people, kingdom people, stepping up and serving others in radical ways. The Bible as a whole, speaks passionately about the family of God breaking through chains of poverty, slavery, oppression, and other injustice in order to help people experience freedom! What Jesus was saying, is that time with Him and devotion to Him is of first priority… and as we seek him our eyes will be opened to the needs of our neighborhoods, cities, and world like never before. Not only that, but we will have the strength to serve these needs and the power (gospel) to truly set people free.

My prayer is that we will never make the crucial mistake of placing anything over Jesus. We are his followers. First and foremost. He has purchased us with his life. Let us give him ours.