TopekaStew

The other day I read the following and I wondered if it was a recipe for defeating our accuser: "And they conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death." ~ Rev. 12:11 Seems to me there are three ingredients to this recipe: 1) The blood of the Lamb 2) The word of my (our) testimony 3) A spirit that is sold out, 100%, all in So, my role, our role in this struggle is lean on the finished work of Christ, to speak up about it, and to sell out. Not an easy cake to bake. - Chris

The other day I got up for my time with God but quickly gave in to the temptation to check my email. I was distracted for a while. Time growing short, I then rushed through my daily Bible reading and started to write a prayer. I started to write a guilty apology to God, telling him that once again I had not encountered him in my not-so-quiet time. But I stopped myself after one sentence. I realized that my expectations for an "effective" quiet time were very me-centered. I stopped, let go of the guilt, acknowledged that any quality time I have with God will be because he reveals himself to me, not because I discover him. I started to reflect on the fifteen minutes of Bible reading I had just finished. I began to realize that God had broken through after all, giving me a glimpse of himself as I read. I felt peace. I celebrated, in a small way, grace. It was good. That's all. - Chris

"Satisfy us this morning with your unfailing love that we might sing for joy and be glad all my days" - Ps. 90:14 I prayed for us this morning. For the past several years I've been trying to develop a morning routine. I awake to the screaching buzz of my alarm, click it off, and then bent over, hands on knees, I pray for myself so that I might remain upright and get moving in a Godward direction: "Satisfy me this morning with your unfailing love that I might sing for joy and be glad all my days" (Ps. 90:14, adapted). Yesterday, however, as I prepared a sermon about cultivating joy in Christian community, I was reminded that Moses's original prayer was not for an individual, but for the community of believers. Moses prayed "Satisfy us... that we might sing...." So, when the alarm screeched this morning, I prayed for us . And that really changes things. - Chris

Are we average? I really want to know. Let me explain. I read an article this morning in which the author suggested that the average American spends 28 hours in front of the television. I found that number striking. And then I began to wonder if we, as a church, are average. Would you be willing to share how many hours you spend per week watching television? (For the sake of transparency I will venture a guess: I average somewhere between one and 3 hours per week in front of the tube.) - Chris

"What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him, visit him every morning and test him every moment?" - Job (Job 7:17-18) "Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we might sing for joy and be glad all our days." - Moses (Ps. 90:14) "O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch." - David (Ps. 5:3) Does time of day matter? I'm just asking. - Chris

In our Sunday morning Bible class we are studying Acts. Our teacher, Roger, has asked us to read Acts through each week. I decided to switch this week from the Bible I normally read to The Message to see what jumps out at me in a new version. Before I even got started on Luke's account the introduction caught my attention: "Because the story of Jesus is so impressive...there is a danger that we will be impressed, but only impressed. As the spectacular dimensions of this story slowly (or suddenly) dawn upon us, we could easily become enthusiastic spectators, and then let it go at that.... It is Luke's task to prevent that, to prevent us from becoming mere spectators to Jesus...." May we never settle into the role of enthusiastic spectators! - Chris

I love what Richard Foster has to say about "being" and the fruit of the Spirit. Foster talks about the fact that God's love has slipped into the heart of a Christian. He suggests that divine love sneaks into one's inner spirit and begins taking over habit patterns. Once that happens, Foster says, we begin to spontaneously bear the fruit of the Spirit: "In the unguarded moments there is a spontaneous flow from the inner sanctuary of our lives of 'love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithulness, gentleness, self-control' (Gal. 5:22,23). There is no longer the tiring need to hide our inner selves from others. We do not have to work hard at being good and kind; we are good and kind." - Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, p. 9 (emphasis in original) That sounds attractive to me. I want to be free to just be. Lord, please work in me, work in us. Fill us with your Spirit so that we overflow with love and joy and peace and all that....

To begin the sermon yesterday Chris tried to communicate the utterly overwhelming nature of God's love. He began by singing a sorrowful note. But did you hear the powerful background music of joy? Listen again to the sorrow and the joy. The Sorrow God wants to cultivate the fruit of love in my life. And this is not a cotton candy kind of love. It is a Jesus on the cross kind of love. He wants to cultivate a Hosea to Gomer kind of love. Listen to how Eugene Peterson describes it: "Hosea is the prophet of love, but not love as we imagine or fantasize it. He was a parable of God's love for his people lived out as God revealed and enacted it--a lived parable. It is an astonishing story: a prophet commanded to marry a common whore and have children with her. It is an even more astonishing message: God loves us in just this way--goes after us at our worst, keeps after us until he gets us, and makes lovers of men and women who know nothing of real love." ( The Message , In...

Yesterday we considered the fact that God wants to make our lives more fruitful. He will prune away that which inhibits our spiritual growth. Below is a paraphrase of the text we looked at in Galatians: "Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfshness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?" (Gal. 5:16-18, The Message ) Hmm. Self interest versus a free spirit. I think I'll choose the free spirit. You?

Yesterday I spoke in church about the measure of our faith from 1 John 5:1. I suggested that our love for one another is to be visible enough to be an indicator of authentic faith. Take for example Jesus words as recorded by John: "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." - John 13:35 What would our love for one another have to look like for "all people" to know that we are his disciples? That sounds like a crazy kind of love. It sounds risky and uncomfortable and invasive and sold out and free. I don't know if we're ready for that. I think it might be more comfortable to just play church.

Some of the leaders at church are wrestling with the question of how we are to measure our efforts as a group. How do we know if we are doing what God wants us to be doing? How do we define success? Most churches measure the ABC's ( a ttendance, b uildings, and c ash). We've decided that the ABC's do not get at the heart of the matter. So, then, how do we know we're doing what we're supposed to do? I saw the following quote on the wall of a classroom at Robinson Middle School this week and it made me smile and nod. Though I'm not yet sure how something like this translates into organizational terms, and despite the fact that he leaves God completely out of the picture, Emerson paints an interesting picture of success for an individual. "To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intellingent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the b...

Yesterday I suggested to the church that we need to recapture a bit of the maverick spirit we once had as a congregation. Mark Batterson says something similar in an article I read this morning. He says that one of the dangers of ministry for church leaders is when we stop looking forward: "One of the great dangers of leadership is this: we stop doing ministry out of imagination and we start doing ministry out of memory. We learn how and forget why. We stop creating the future and start repeating the past. And that is the beginning of the end...." May God stir our imaginations, remind us why, and lead us into the future of what he's doing in Topeka.

Why do I so desperately want to set limits on what God can ask of me? I'm just like the lawyer in the parable of the "Good Samaritan." On Wednesday a small group of us discussed the parable of "The Good Samaritan." We wrestled with what the lawyer was saying when he attempted to "justify himself" (Lk. 10:29). The word "justify" comes from the Greek word dikaioo , which appears 40 times in the New Testament. It is usually translated as "justified" or "justify." A couple times it's translated as "freed," "vindicated," and "acquitted." And it is closely related to the group of words which deal with our word "righteousness" ( dikaiosune , dikaios , etc.). So, to sum up, the lawyer wanted to prove himself to be "right" with God on his own terms. Jesus, however, blew him out of the water by setting impossible terms for the fulfillment of the command to love our neighbor. In...

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, but I do not want to share in his sufferings or conform to his death." - Phil. 3:10, adapted I thought of the above adaptation of Paul's words as I was running 14 miles this morning. But do you think it's a package deal?

I've been encouraged by several of those I respect to blog more. I've decided, therefore, to do more of my wrestling with the text here. I usually do most of this in my private journal. In part that's because I don't like to arrive too quickly at answers to deep questions. I like to ask the question of the text and of God and then stew on it for a while, allowing the Spirit to work a deeper answer in my soul. I don't need head answers. I need heart and soul answers. My question for today is this: What is the connection between love for one another and holiness? Today I read in 1 Thess. 3:11-13 that Paul was praying for the church to love one another and all "so that" God would work holiness in their hearts. Looking forward to the day when we will all stand before the Father, Paul was praying for them to be ultimately right with God. And so he prayed that they would abound in love "so that" God would establish them blameless in holiness. ...

It happened again yesterday. Not long ago I stole a saying from Dave Ramsey. When people ask me, "How are you?" I now answer with Ramsey's, "Better than I deserve." For me this is simply an acknowlegment of God's grace. I'm saying to them and at the same time reminding myself that no matter how good life is and no matter how bad life gets, I am where I am by the sovereign grace of God. The responses I get, however, are interesting. Often it's just a pregnant pause. The person in front of me has not heard that before and he or she doesn't know how to reply. They pause and stumble through an, "Uh...well...." and then they awkwardly move on. I've taken to quickly following "Better than I deserve" with a question for them in order to keep the conversation going. Yesterday, I heard a reply I've gotten several times and am not yet sure what to do with. Conversation is an art, not a science, I know that, and so I'm tryin...

"For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the root." - Henry David Thoreau

Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, "...you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit...." They suffered with joy. And it became an example for the believers throughout the region. It's hard for my American mind and heart to completely wrap around that. We tend to think that if we're suffering somebody should pay. If we experience affliction we want to call a lawyer and sue somebody. One of the preachers who's helping me to understand biblical truth about suffering is John Piper. He reminded me again this week that God's ways are often too big for me to understand. Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.

"Community matters. That's about like saying oxygen matters. As our lungs require air, so our souls require what only community provides." - Larry Crabb What would you be willing to sacrifice to live in rich, rewarding community? The following, taken from Randy Frazee's The Connecting Church, is an example of what I dream about happening in central Topeka. "Several years ago my husband and I built a home in a heighborhood of about a hundred homes. It was a great neighborhood--perfect for raising children. Just on our street alone there must have been twelve children. All of the kids would play out front and make up games. People were always out walking and would stop to talk. We had lived in this neighborhood for about two and a half years when we came across this beautiful piece of property on one and a half acres, with lots of trees and a creek at the back of the property. We were so excited. This would be the perfect place to build our dream house and raise ...

I'm in the middle of a messy problem at church. I tried to confront someone in sin several months ago. They did not take it well. Then they hid from me. I did not pursue them any further. Now it's coming up again and people are getting angry. It's messy. I was reminded of that situation when I read the following by John Steinbeck in East of Eden : "'It's my duty to take this thing of yours and kick it in the face, then raise it up and spread slime on it thick enough to blot out its dangerous light.' His voice grew strong with vehemence. 'I should hold it up to you muck-covered and show you its dirt and danger. I should warn you to look closer until you can see how ugly it really is. I should ask you to think of inconstancy and give you examples. I should give you Othello's handkerchief. Oh, I know I should. And I should straighten out your tangled thoughts, show you that the impulse is gray as lead and rotten as a dead cow in wet weather....' ...

What does it mean to speak the truth about Jesus Christ in the world today? An Iranian man recently released a film portraying an Islamic version of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. He is quoted as having said, "I pray for Christians. They've been misled. They will one day realize the true story." How am I to respond to such a man? What would I say to him if we were left alone in room for ten minutes? Would I speak differently if the room were in Tehran than if it were in Topeka?

Perhaps the title is irreverent. I can't decide. A friend passed away early this morning. I got the call shortly after 4:00am. My friend had just celebrated her 80th birthday a couple weeks before she was admitted to hospice. The cancer was spreading rapidly. We all knew the end was coming. She died gracefully. So, what was funny? It was her sense of humor. She kept her dry sense of humor intact. When they started giving her morphine orally they decided to give the liquid form to prevent choking. She commented, "It's funny that they're worried about me choking when I came here to die." Later when one of her relatives asked how she was doing she replied dryly, "Well, I've been dying all day." My friend died gracefully. When I last knelt by the bed, my hand gently on her head and my ear close to her mouth, I smiled at her gracious and humorous words. She was polite to the last minute. She was funny. May God give me the same grace to share ...

I hate to admit it, but my family is hooked on a reality show. For weeks my wife and kids plan their week so they can be perched on the couch, eating dessert, watching overweight people work and sweat and worry, attempting to become The Biggest Loser. And I must also confess that, try as I might, I can't help but get sucked in whenever I'm home on Tuesday nights. I suppose part of the attraction is that these are real people, battling real temptations, and expriencing real transformation. I would suggest that such drama is what God wired us for: God made us so that we're intrigued by the battle against temptation and thrilled to see authentic transformation. Even so, it's still just television. It's not reality. What's real? According to the Bible this life is just a mist that will soon evaporate. Our souls, however, are eternal. We, in our true essence, will last forever. That's reality. And all of us, as real people, are facing real temptations every day ...

It seems like every where I turn God is saying something about speaking the gospel into the lives of the people around me. I'm not very good about that. Yes, I preach grace and gospel on Sunday mornings, but I don't consistenly speak it into the hearts of those around me "as you are going" (see Mt. 28:19a). But recently God keeps bringing up the subject. Last night I prayed for my daughters, rubbing their backs as they drifted off to sleep. I felt the irresistible urge to pray the gospel. I tried to pour it into them, praying that they would overflow into the lives of those around them: "Father, open our eyes to the good news. Help us to know that Jesus Christ bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Grant us joy in the realization. Fill us up so that we can't help but overflow." Lately I'm increasingly convinced that we can't know the joy of our salvation if we don't share it with oth...

The last four months have passed like a whirlwind. Our new urban ministry, "The Bridge," is up and running. Volunteers have spent countless hours remodeling the house so that it looks like a house again, instead of an office. The Stewarts are packing boxes and preparing to move in this Saturday. It's been a whirlwind of activity. May we hear God in spite of the wind, listening for the sound of his "low whisper" (1 Kings 19:12, esv).

Can I use the same word to describe both God and my friend's new sports car? Can I describe the catch Randy Moss makes in a football game and the majesty of Yahweh using the same word? I think "awesome" is not so awesome any more. I need new words to describe the Creator. Any suggestions?

Yesterday at Southwest we talked about "Pray Big." One very big prayer is, "Your kingdom come." It is like dropping a seed into a crack in the sidewalk. The seed starts small and fragile, but can grow to be a towering oak that shatters the sidewalk. In an effort to stimulate a conversation about prayer and thereby, Lord willing, spurring one another on to more and deeper and bigger prayers, I handed out a card with four questions about prayer. Over the next several days I'll post those questions and some of the responses we received. Please join in the conversation. Today's question: "What draws you to prayer?"

I had fun in church last Sunday. But something was nagging at me. I enjoyed the place and the people and the singing. It was a big church, and the building felt new and spacious and well lit. It felt like a mall. I'm told that is the goal of architects and designers when they design a church building in the suburbs: They want it to feel like the mall because we are comfortable in a mall. They want us to feel comfortable. Okay. Fine. So what was nagging at me? It took me a while to put my finger on it. I was having fun, smiling, reconnecting with old friends, sipping coffee from the coffee bar in the foyer, looking around the auditorium, admiring the layout, wondering if we should incorporate some of their ideas at Southwest. Then I was singing and worshiping and feeling really good. Then I was surprised to see an old friend and was excited and feeling great. I was having a great Sunday! But something quiet and subtle was nagging at me. Later that afternoon I was trying to communica...