Wise Words for Today

The church needs to be realigned to the intent of Christ, but it does not need to be reinvented. Reinventing the church is what we do when we allow the culture to shape the church. We reinvent the church to fit modern science and rationalism, reinvent it to fit the culture of consumerism and entertainment, reinvent it to fit postmodern relativism. Obviously the church must speak to the culture. It only speaks authentically and with integrity, however, when speaking out of the story of God. The moment the church capitulates to the culture and speaks out of one or more of the culture’s stories and not out of the story of God, the church loses its nature and mission and ceases to be salt and lights to the world.

Robert Webber

(from The Divine Embrace)

 

United Methodist Church Aims at Relevance and Global Service

L. D. Turner

If you are a regular visitor to this site, you know that I often write about the major changes that are changing the face of institutional Christianity across the board. You will also recall that I have a sincere love and passion for the church, despite its many shortcomings, and genuinely believe that Christianity, when rightly practiced, has much to offer our hurting world. With its inherent creativity, its heart of compassion, and its depth of resources, the church universal is strategically positioned to become a positive force in helping shape our culture as this turbulent century progresses. The key to bringing these positive contributions to fruition is a willingness on the part of the church to be creative, progressive, flexible, open, and proactive.

 I have been a member of the United Methodist Church for many years and am proud to say that our church is moving forward in an attempt to make itself a positive and beneficial force in the world and, in keeping with its mantra of “open hearts, open minds, and open doors, is doing so in a creative and exciting way. The UMC “Rethink Church” programs, along with the Ten Thousand Doors initiative, are but two examples of this.

 Most recently, however, I came across a document that reminded me why, early on in my adult life, I chose to become a Methodist. The document I am referring to explains the rationale behind the UMC initiative entitled, God’s Renewed Creation: Call to Hope and Action. It is the “Foundation Document” for the initiative and is authored by the UMC Council of Bishops. After reading this “Call to Hope and Action” my Wesleyan fires were blazing to say the least. And while I am sincere in my belief that denominational differences in this country are far too overblown, this document illustrates the social principles of the UMC.

 “God’s Renewed Creation” maintains the firm commitment of the 1986 Council , namely that “nuclear deterrence is a position that cannot receive the church’s blessing. These documents, generated in 2009, also build on the observations of the earlier Council, that the nuclear crisis threatens “planet earth itself,” that the arms race “destroys millions of lives in conventional wars, repressive violence, and massive poverty,” and that the “arms race is a social justice issue, not only a war and peace issue.”

 The 2009 Council of Bishops expanded its focus to include three interrelated threats:

 Pandemic poverty and disease;

• Environmental degradation and climate change, and
• A world awash with weapons and violence.

 “God’s Renewed Creation” gives me both hope and a sense of loyal pride at being a part of the United Methodist Church as well as the Wesleyan tradition of social ministry. Recognizing that the world as we know it has become an interrelated, interdependent global entity, the UMC leadership is taking a proactive stance in terms of addressing some of humanity’s most critical issues. Also recognizing that the church has historically been part of the problems in our world, the Council of Bishops now seeks to become a creative and transformative part of the solution.

 The United Methodist Church has the vision to see that God is doing a “new work” in the world and is taking positive measures to be an integral part of God’s work at this critical point in our planet’s history. Rather than taking a myopic, “what’s in it for us” approach to humankind’s crucial problems, the Council of Bishops has given voice to a vision that is much broader in scope and, in keeping with the Wesleyan heritage of befriending the hurting and the marginalized, seeks to bring God’s healing grace to those who suffer the most in this time of rapid change.

 The “Call to Hope and Action” reflects the United Methodist Church’s mission to “Make Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World.” Additionally, the vision of God’s Renewed Creation clearly reflects the denomination’s “Four Areas of Focus.” The Foundation Document states:

 We know the world is being transformed and we seek to cooperate with God’s renewing Spirit, especially through our denominations Four Areas of Focus: (1) developing principled Christian leaders for the church and the world, (2) creating new places for new people and renewing existing congregations, (3) engaging in ministry with the poor, and (4) stamping out the killer diseases of poverty. Focusing on these four areas will shape our discipleship such that those who seek God will see an image in our behavior that is inviting, encouraging, healing, and inspiring.

 As a United Methodist, I clearly see the personal implications of these four areas of focus and, along with the biblical teachings of the Master, use them as a matrix through which I organize my personal spiritual disciplines. I especially find the principles of inviting, encouraging, healing, and inspiring helpful reminders for putting into practice what I have come to call proactive hospitality. This type of hospitality is not only sensitive to the everyday, routine ways of being open and hospitable in our homes and churches, but also actively looks for ways we can practice hospitality to others, even if it is nothing more than smiling and saying hello.

 Personally, I seek to practice proactive hospitality by holding doors open for people and allowing them to enter before I do. This may seem like a very small thing and perhaps it is. However, I have found this to be a simple practice that has enormous benefit when carried out over a period of time.

 The Foundation Document takes great care to show how the various problems facing humankind in this age are interrelated. For example, the issue of climate change is examined from an angle somewhat different than the norm. Rather than focusing on whether or not climate change is man-made or part of a natural cycle, the Council of Bishops views this vital issue in terms of its impact on those living under the thumb of oppressive poverty. In addition, climate change and poverty are seen as interconnected with violence and the sale of arms.

 Climate change poses a particular threat to the world’s poor because it increases the spread of diseases like malaria and causes conflicts over dwindling natural resources. Easy access to small arms ensures that such conflicts turn deadly, and the specter of a nuclear war that would destroy the world continues to loom over us.

 The Foundation Document was created out of the Council of Bishops being “called to speak a word of hope and action.” The document is also a product of the church’s sensing of God doing a new things, as described in Isaiah 43:19:

 Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

 As I read over the document the first time I was able to experience that sense of calling – that blessed sense of God’s love in action in the world. I understood at a deeper level that we, indeed, are living in a critical era in the world’s history – an age in which the matrix of the future is beginning to take shape. The Foundation Document, which came into being in reaction to the critical nature of our time, addresses the needs of our age – an age the document calls “a hinge of history. In terms of its contents, the Foundation Document of God’s Renewed Creation:

 Describes the interconnected nature of poverty and disease, environmental degradation and weapons and violence through stories of those most affected;

• Shares information about Christian scriptures and beliefs, and our Wesleyan heritage in order to provide a foundation for our response.
• Recommends a variety of actions; and
• Reminds us of the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the great sources of encouragement and hope all around us.

 To be continued

 © L.D. Turner 2009/ All Rights Reserved

 

Wise Words For Today

Sadly, because many are not knowledgeable of their divine potential, they limit their growth and development and forfeit their covenant rights that have been granted to them by their faith in Christ. They deprive their families and communities of the wonderful benefits they could provide for them…..Just as God spoke to a nonexistent universe and it came into being, God has spoken words over you that have given you immense power – power to alter and control your environment, power to excel and not fail and power to do great exploits in the earth. We have a choice to either accept or deny what God has spoken over us……There are no worthless people in God’s creation. He has given everyone a divine potential to do supernatural exploits that bring glory to his name. When you fall short of this potential, you deprive yourself and your family of the optimum life-style that was planned for you and them. You also deprive your generation and the world of your unique gifts that were given by God to bless mankind. God has chose you and made you extraordinary and special. Therefore, you have tremendous value.

 

Jim Lowe

 

(from Achieving Your Divine Potential)

 

Wise Words For Today

If we are to be praying Christians, we must be willing to approach God at all times in all ways. The intimacy of prayer doesn’t become comfortable in once-a-week intervals or powerful in occasional bursts. It must be practiced time and time again – when we wake in the morning, when we work through the day, when we play or rest or eat or laugh or cry or watch TV or sit in a traffic jam…..we must train ourselves to acknowledge God’s presence in the mundane moments of life. We must redirect our minds toward prayer at odd moments of the day – when we are cut off in traffic, when the secretary puts us on hold, when we’re changing diapers, when we’re playing taxi driver to get our kids to all their after-school obligations, when we’re lying in bed almost ready to drop off to sleep. You see, God is our constant companion. It’s time we had the nerve to stop ignoring him.

Mike Nappa

(from The Courage To Be Christian)

 

On Being A Christian: What Does It Mean?

Mick Turner

Christians seem to have an uncanny knack for taking simple truths and complicating them through debate, dogma, and doctrine. I don’t mean to imply that these issues are not important. Certainly doctrine and dogma have their place. But I often wonder if Christ smiles in approval when he hears us debating his simple truths to the point that we divide ourselves into countless denominations and sects and tear asunder the Body that he meant to live in love and unity. On the contrary, I suspect this endless hairsplitting and theological nitpicking brings tears to his eyes.

 

During the early 1980’s I enrolled in several Religion courses at a small university near my home in north Alabama. I recall one course in particular that centered on the life of Jesus. My fellow classmates were an interesting group. Some were undergraduate students pursuing coursework in Religion and Philosophy in preparation for seminary. Others were ordained pastors of small local churches who, after preaching for a number of years, felt the need to further their education. Others, like myself, were there seeking a deeper understanding of the Christian faith as well as its history and traditions. Then there was Henry.

 

No one knew exactly why Henry was enrolled. He rarely spoke and when he did, it was with a soft, slow voice with a pronounced rural southern brogue. Considering the diverse make up of the class, it was natural that heated discussions would often break out. The professor often encouraged this in fact. The class argued about many issues. The nature of the Trinity, immersion versus sprinkling, the permanency of salvation, the list is endless. I admit I often enjoyed these ballyhoos as they lent a degree of excitement to the proceedings and made the class time pass more quickly. One night the class was engaged in a verbal free for all centering on the Virgin Birth. I remember clearly hearing a wide range of viewpoints on this, mostly in support of the indisputable validity of the doctrine of virgin birth. I for one remained on the periphery of this dispute mostly out of ignorance. The doctrine of Virgin Birth was not for me an issue of central importance to my daily experience of the Christian path. In fact, unless it was brought up for discussion, I rarely consider it. It was one of those issues that I had placed on the theological back burner.

 

After a lengthy discussion, the professor looked to the back of the room and said, “Well Henry, you’ve been mighty quiet in this discussion. Why don’t you share your thoughts on the Virgin Birth with us?”

 

After a long pause Henry folded his hands on the desk, looked cautiously around the room and said:

 

“Well, I’ve been a settin’ here for over an hour listenin’ to you gents discussing this here thing about the Virgin Birth of Christ. I guess ya’ll know a heck of a lot more about all this than I do. You must or else you couldn’t talk about it for so long. All I know is this. Jesus loves me and I love him and try to do what he says. I reckon it don’t matter much to me what his momma done.”

 

Point taken Henry, end of discussion.

 

One issue that I have often heard brothers and sisters discussing, often in heated tones, is the order of salvation. Some say that we repent and then we are saved. Others say that we repent because we are saved. I imagine one could make a case for either side of this issue by citing various passages of scripture but in terms of our response to God’s grace I don’t see that it matters much on a practical level. The fact is God makes His offer and we respond. The mere act of responding is in itself an act of repentance. We accept that we are accepted, complete with our cuts and bruises, our shortcomings and short-fallings. This is the meaning of grace, pure and simple.

 

Yet the response doesn’t stop here. We are amazed at God’s grace and this radical amazement leads to a more consecrated repentance. Brennan Manning describes this response:

 

The saved sinner is prostrate in adoration, lost in wonder and praise. He knows repentance is not what we do in order to earn forgiveness; it is what we do because we have been forgiven. It serves as an expression of gratitude rather than an effort to earn forgiveness.

 

God is a loving God, a God concerned with making our lives fuller, richer, and more rewarding. He calls to us from a heart of compassion, seeking our affirmative response to his offer to come and reside within us, his offer to make us holy and whole. He is a God who desires to give us peace amidst the storms and tribulations of life in this harried world. In the words of Hannah Whithall Smith, as we look at the life of Christ and listen to His words, we can hear God saying

 

I am rest for the weary; I am peace for the storm-tossed; I am strength for the strengthless; I am wisdom for the foolish; I am righteousness for the sinful; I am all that the neediest soul on earth can want.

 

God offers and asks that we accept. Acceptance is the beginning of the process of conversion, which means a turning around. In essence, we accept God’s gift and then turn our faces in a different direction.

 

It is at this very point of turning that a very critical and very real event occurs. This event is not all that complicated in the sense that it doesn’t involve any kind of doctrinal debate or theological nit picking. It is highly personal, it involves and analysis and a decision, and ultimately, a commitment to action.

 

Once we accept the fact that we are accepted, and here I mean truly accepted by the magnificent and unimaginable being that created all that exists, we first come to a deeper understanding of just who we are, what Christ has accomplished for us, and finally, if we indeed take on his yoke, what that commitment means in our lives – not the life of anyone else – but instead, your life as an individual believer now committed to walking with Jesus on a daily basis. We have to answer the basic question: What does it mean for me to be a Christian? Peter Vardy, in his remarkable little book And If it is True?, cogently explains this decision making process:

 

Christianity calls each of us to believe and trust in God, a belief and trust based on love. This is not simply a matter of intellectual assent….It is a matter of the truth of Christianity becoming ‘true for you’, as an individual. Only when Christianity becomes true for you so that you are willing to stake your whole life on it, does it really become true in your own case.

 

Belief that God exists does not come near to what Christianity is about. It is only when the factual truth of Christianity becomes “true for us” so that it becomes the center of our lives around which our whole existence revolves that we, as individuals, can see what Christianity involves….it means each of us coming to understand what it is for Christianity to become ‘true for me’, what Christianity is going to involve when it is taken on board and lived. Once we see and understand this, we then each of us have to decide whether or not we wish to try to live it – but that is our free choice. Until we have understood what is involved, however, we cannot even make the decision.

 

Christianity requires passion and total commitment – a commitment to a lived love relationship with God. The relationship has practical consequences and these can, to an extent, be foreseen.

 

“What does it mean to be a Christian?” ….The important way of looking at this question, however, is to see it as asking each of us, “What does it mean for me to be a Christian?” This is much much more uncomfortable and challenging. There is no single right answer – each of us needs to think the answer through for ourselves.

 

Before going any deeper into this, I want to pause for a few days and make a suggested assignment to those of you who might be interested. Each day for the next seven days, set aside some time for prayer and reflection. Your reflection should be on this simple question, “What does it mean for me to be a Christian?” Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you, teach you, and pray fro wisdom, insight, and discernment.

 

Write down you answers to the question each day. The only caveat is this: you cannot repeat any answer. In other words, if on the first day one of your answers is, “It means that I will pray daily,” you cannot use that answer again for the next six days. Each day will contain answers never used before. It may seem like a struggle, but believe me, it is worth it.

 

At the end of the seven days, write a short essay about your experience. You may be very surprised at your new ideas.

© L.D. Turner 2008/All Rights Reserved

 

You Are Still A Needed Servant

Mick Turner

Josh is a brilliant man and is one of the most creative, visionary people I know. Possessing the uncanny ability to look at a problematic situation, size up its parameters, and come up with positive, workable solutions to address the problems, Josh would be an asset to any organization that employed him. People with the visionary foresight and strength that Josh has are few and far between.

 

That’s why it is so hard for me to believe that Josh just completed his fourteenth year employed as a stockroom worker at a retail shoe store. A college graduate and now in his mid-thirties, Josh is working the same job he obtained while working his way through school. It’s not that Josh has not had opportunities; it’s just that he doesn’t take advantage of them. On several occasions he has been offered good positions with local social service agencies after fellow church members, aware of Josh’s talents, have put in a good word for him. Each time Josh turned down the job.

 

After providing invaluable help to his pastor in getting a couple of community projects off the ground, Josh was asked to take a leadership role in an exciting development and expansion program his church was undertaking. Predictably, Josh declined.

 

Unfortunately, there are many like Josh who go through life under-employed, under-utilized, and unfulfilled. Although this is not what God had in mind, these talented individuals sabotage themselves and never leave the starting gate.

 

This happens for a variety of reasons. Some folks feel inadequate to the task of manifesting their vision in the reality of the day-to-day life in which they dwell. Others, top put it bluntly, are just too plain lazy to do what it is they are called to do. Still others lack basic motivation and for unconscious reasons quench the passion they feel for their purpose in life. Like the Beauty School Dropout in the musical Grease, they have the dream but not the drive.

 

 Many, however, simply cannot believe God wants to use them due to past failures and disappointments. This was basically Josh’s problem. In his late teens he was involved in several crimes in which someone was seriously injured by accident. Josh was never caught and has no criminal record. Still, he feels responsible for what happened and, although God has forgiven him, he hasn’t forgiven himself. Moreover, Josh is convinced beyond a doubt that what he did disqualifies him for service to the Lord.

 

Josh and other believers like him choose to ignore the many biblical examples of heroes used by God even though they failed in the past. Think of Moses for example, a murderer who delivered his people from bondage in Egypt. Think of David, an adulterer who was also involved in a murder conspiracy. This sinner became a great king, an ancestor of Christ, and “a man after God’s own heart.” Think of Peter, who denied Christ three times on the night He was arrested. It was upon the “rock” of Peter that the New Testament Church was built.

 

No, my friend, you are wrong if you think God will not use you because you failed in the past. Your failures, your shortcomings, your screw-ups – oddly enough, in God’s way of doing things may be your chief qualification for service to the Creator.

 

I want to use this article to encourage you to understand and accept the reality that God put a potential and purpose in you before you were born and, further, he still wants that purpose to be realized. Stop looking back at the past and instead, step forward into the service that God has for you. You cannot change the past but know this: whatever happened is history in God’s eyes and in God’s heart. As a Christian you have been forgiven so turn your eyes forward instead of keeping them riveted in your rear view mirror.

 

Do all that you can to let this truth sink deep into the depths of your heart: where you are going, what is in your future is far more important that what’s behind you. Scripture tells us that with God, all things are possible. So if it seems your dreams have died, let the Lord resurrect those dormant dreams and allow those dreams to drive you and motivate you to be all that you can be for the glory of God and the sake of others.

 

Our world is a hurting world and there are many areas of need. The dream God placed in your heart is designed to deal with one of those areas. More than anything, the church, the Body of Christ, needs compassionate people of noble character and a heart of service. That’s you, my friend.

 

Take the gifts God has given you and put them to work in service to something larger than yourself. You will be amazed at the transformation that will take place in your life if you consecrate yourself to using your talents for God’s plans and purposes.

 

Also, keep in mind that God would never place a dream in your heart without giving you all the talents you need to bring it to completion. I encourage you to take this principle on faith and act on it. Just put one foot in front of the other and start taking small steps toward making that God-given dream a bit closer to manifestation. Again, just trust that God has placed in you everything you need to succeed. Pastor Joel Osteen speaks clearly to this issue:

 

God would never put a dream in your heart if He had not already given you everything you need to fulfill it. That means if I have a dream or a desire, and I know it’s from God, I don’t have to worry whether I have what it takes to see that dream fulfilled. I know God doesn’t make mistakes. He doesn’t call us to do something without giving us the ability or the wherewithal to do it…You have to realize that God has matched you with your world. In other words, even though at times you may not feel that you are able to accomplish your dreams, you have to get beyond those feelings and know deep inside, I have the seed of Almighty God in Me. Understand, God will never put a dream in your heart without first equipping you with everything you need to accomplish it.

 

In contrast to my friend Josh, Marty is an amazing example of how God often uses our areas of failure as a way of carrying forward his kingdom purpose on earth. Marty, a native of New York, had moved to South Florida in an attempt to find a geographical cure for his long standing addiction to heroin and cocaine. Had his thinking been even half way rational, Marty would have reasoned that moving to Miami, the hotbed of the drug world, was a mistake. Finding that drugs were much cheaper in Miami, mostly due to lack of transportation mark up, Marty quickly returned to his old ways. Quickly spiraling downward, Marty soon hit bottom. Arrested for an assortment of petty theft charges, Marty found himself in jail awaiting his hearing. He had neither bond money, nor any friends in the area. Marty had no choice but to cool his jets in the Dade County Stockade.

 

Marty’s time in jail provided him with an opportunity to face his situation honesty and he didn’t like what he saw. The Holy Spirit also went to work on Marty and helped ripen him for what was to come. After over five weeks in the slammer, he was informed that a local pastor was coming to give a talk to the inmates and, if he so desired, he could attend the lecture.

 

 Feeling an almost magnetic pull to go to the presentation, he initially resisted. Marty feared that this pastor would be someone from the straight world and highly judgmental, he almost talked himself out of going. Still believing he had nothing to gain, he went anyway.

 

Sitting near the back of the room, Marty listened as the stockade chaplain introduced the speaker, Brother Larry. Marty was confused because the chaplain was the only person sitting at the front table. Maybe he hadn’t noticed that this Brother Larry wasn’t there, thought Marty. Next, a rather large man stood up from his seat in the front row. He walked to the podium and when he looked out at the crowd, Marty almost fainted.

 

Brother Larry was a large man with waist length hair and tattoos all over his arms and hands. He had a large scar on his right cheek, evidently from a knife wound suffered long ago. Then, as Brother Larry began his sermon, Marty almost fell out of his chair.

 

Not only did Marty recognize Brother Larry, he realized that it was he who had cut the preachers face. Many years earlier, in a drug deal gone sour in Queens, a fight had ensued and Marty found himself being pummeled by a large man. Reaching in his boot, Marty took out a dagger and slit his attacker’s cheek to the jaw bone. His attacker that night was none other than Brother Larry.

 

To make a long story short, Brother Larry spoke of his addiction, his crimes, and his eight-year term in Attica State Prison. He also spoke of how, as the result of a visit from a volunteer with Prison Fellowship, he found Christ and his life was turned around. Brother Larry now ran a halfway house in South Miami that gave recovering addicts a place to stay after they were released from incarceration. His ministry found them job training, gave them work to do, and made certain the residents were well connected with Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.

 

Marty wondered if Brother Larry had recognized him that evening at the meeting in the stockade. He did. Two days later Brother Larry showed up to visit Marty. After being released, Marty lived for two years at Brother Larry’s halfway house. And that’s not all. Brother Larry recognized potential in Marty and encouraged him to return to college and finish his degree. He told Marty he had managed to get a donor to pay for Marty’s tuition, but the truth was Brother Larry paid for it out of his own pocket. Displaying true Christian forgiveness, Brother Larry never mentioned the scar he would carry for the rest of his life, nor any resentment toward Marty for inflicting it upon him. Instead, he paid for Marty’s college education and, after Marty had graduated, encouraged him to go on to seminary.

 

Marty graduated from seminary two years later and now runs the ministry begun by Brother Larry. Under Marty’s guidance and with God’s help, two more halfway houses were opened in nearby cities and are full with long waiting lists. One week after Marty’s graduation, Brother Larry had left this earth for his heavenly reward. He left behind a legacy, as well as a successor.

 

God used Brother Larry and he used Marty in the very arena where both of them had failed, hurt others, and suffered. Instead of punishing this pair of wayward prodigals, God exhibited a healing love to Brother Larry, who in turn, gave this same forgiving love to Marty. Brother Larry gave flesh to grace, just as Jesus did when he came to visit this planet.

 

The next time you think God can’t use you, think again. What do you think would have happened if Brother Larry had felt God could not and would not work through him? Certainly Marty would not be where he is today.

 

Look around you, my friend. Find a need and get busy doing something to meet it. You may very well be surprised what God can and will do through you if you just give him a chance.

 

Think about it.

 

© L.D. Turner 2008/All Rights Reserved

 

Turning Obstacles Into Opportunities

Mick Turner

I think it is absolutely amazing how God has hard wired each of us in such diverse yet miraculous ways. As I grow older and gain more experience in working with people it is becoming increasingly apparent that even when we go awry of God’s design for our lives, he can turn them around in a split-second and what’s more incredible, he can use our mistakes to set the stage for our future success.

 

We serve an incredible God – one that can transform obstacles into opportunities.

 

Sometimes it seems the only thing required of us is repentance and then having enough alertness to see where God may be starting to take us. I know in my own life this has been the case. On more than one occasion God has taken a seeming insurmountable obstacle and use it to send me off in a direction I would have never predicted. All that I needed to make the jump in awareness of where God was leading was a degree of openness and a willingness to change my perspective.

 

In the spring of 1996 I was working in Miami, Florida as the Program Services Director of a major project designed to deal with homelessness in Dade County. The City of Miami had a major problem with homelessness, much of it due to the climate. Homeless people from across the country tended to eventually migrate to South Florida because of the mild winters. Can’t say that I blame them – it is easier to be on the street in Miami in January than it is in say, Chicago.

 

This was a fine job but it was both taxing and stressful. In April I began to have major blood pressure issues and, to make a long story short, had a heart attack in May, followed by a quadruple bypass surgery. All of this, mind you, at age 47.

 

Needless to say, this got my attention.

 

I wasn’t allowed to return to work for almost three months and, when I did, I only last six weeks. Due to the stress of the job more than anything else, I began to have complications with one of the bypass grafts. My doctors conferred and basically told me I had two choices: find another line of work or die. I chose the former.

 

During the next year I was off work and spending much of my time reading, praying, and trying to decide what to do with the rest of my life. The pastor of my church called me one day and informed me he wanted to start an outreach program to the local Chinese immigrant community and, aware that I had a long standing interest in China, asked if I would take charge of the project. I agreed and, as they say, the rest is history.

 

During my work with the local Chinese community, I became increasingly aware of the need for Christian workers in China. This eventually led to the formation of LifeBrook International, a five-plus year stay in China, and the most rewarding work I have ever done. If I had never had the heart problems, none of this would have likely occurred. God took something that could have been a major meltdown in my professional life and turned it into gold. Of course, I had to be sensitive to where he was leading and I also had to be willing to step out of my comfort zone. I guess that’s where obedience plays a big role. As I look back on all of this, I have no regrets. As I said, my work in China was rewarding beyond measure.

 

Since my return, my work with LifeBrook and the ChinaLight Program has also been a continuation of that blessing. God can indeed work wonders in our lives. He can transform tragedies into blessings and obstacles into opportunities.

 

We do indeed serve an incredible God.

(c) L.D. Turner 2008/All Rights Reserved

 

Wise Words for Today

When the story is about us, we may see the poem, but we will never see the heart of the Poet. That’s why the Story is not about us. The greatest gift God ever gave us was the gift of making the Story completely about him. The most powerful truth in scripture is that all of scripture is about God. It is not about you, yet it has everything to do with you…..You and I have been raptured into a Story that is larger and grander and more significant than we could possibly comprehend. We’ve been caught up in a Romance like no other, and the saddest thing of all is that we seldom look outside ourselves long enough to see it. Maybe we’re too busy living out the small, tired story of our own lives – a story in desperate need of reframing. Perhaps the hardest thing you will ever do is accept God’s acceptance of you, which leads to resting in the faithfulness of God instead of wallowing in the faith-less-ness of your humanity…..If we could learn to trust and rest and be instead of always striving to do, we would find ourselves face to face with some of life’s most perplexing paradoxes. First, that transformation comes only when we stop trying to transform ourselves. Second, that love can flow out of us only after we’ve allow it to flow freely into us. And third, that you can’t catch God by chasing him; you catch him only by accepting his pursuit of you…..And here is perhaps the greatest paradox of all: God somehow made the Story all about you by not making it about you at all.

Tim King and Frank Martin

(from Furious Pursuit: Why God Will Never Let You Go)

 

God’s Got Your Back

Mick Turner

Christianity is a fascinating religion with a long and varied history. It is unique among the various paths of spiritual pursuit in that it is not so much a way to find God as it is a way to allow God to find us. One of the most magnificent aspects of the Christian faith is the understanding that God loves us more than we can ever imagine and even more startling, is in continual pursuit of us. This revelation of the character of God, along with his marvelous grace, is just a few among the many reasons that it is accurate to say the Christianity is truly a path of spiritual optimism.

 

The foundation of Christian optimism begins with the character of God. We are told in scripture that not only does God love us, but he is love. A number of the parables of Christ further illustrate this reality by showing us clearly that God is a loving Father, the true “Abba” God, and is concerned with the well-being of each and every one of his children. The stories of the Prodigal Son, the Lost Coin, and the statement that a shepherd leaves 99 sheep to go search for the one that is lost, all point to the fundamental reasons we Christians should literally ooze optimism from every part of our being. Put simple, we are optimists because God is love and God loves us.

 

At times, I am shocked into awe when, looking at the night sky on a crystal clear winter evening, I see the utter magnificence and magnitude of the universe. To then reflect on the fact that the Creator of all of this wonder and expanse actually came in search of me because he loves me and wants to adopt me into his eternal family, is just plain overwhelming. I am not being sentimental or overly emotional here. I am just sharing the impact this has on me when I actually take the time to see and think; take the time to see just how incredible life in its essence is and think about God’s power, wisdom, love, and concern.

 

In addition to the Parables of Jesus, scripture is filled with examples of God’s unique and all-encompassing love for us. One of my favorite stories involves Abraham, way back when he was still called Abram. It can be found in Genesis 15: 12-21. This is one of those passages of scripture that is often glossed over in our Bible reading, but it is actually one of the most significant stories in scripture and it points to not only God’s love for us, but also his understanding of the fickleness of human nature. Moreover, it illustrates God’s complete dedication to restoring humankind to the kind of intimate relations he shared with our ancestors in the Garden.

 

To set the stage, God is about to make a covenant with Abram in which God promises to make Abram the father of a great nation and God would use this very nation to eventually bring restoration of spiritual life to all humankind. In those days, when a covenant was made, there was a ritual involved. An animal was slain and cut in half. Each partner entering into the covenant would then walk between the two halves of the beast, signifying that they would each be faithful to the covenant and that if either party broke the agreement, he or she might wind up like the carved up animal.

 

What is fascinating about this story is what God did next. Scripture tells us that Abram fell into a deep sleep and in that slumber the Lord told him the future in terms of the enslavement of the Israelites and how the Egyptians would be punished for this injustice. As Abram sat there he soon saw a flaming fire pot walk between the animal halves alone. Did you catch the ramifications of what just happened?

 

Instead of both of them walking between the animal halves, God walked through them alone. Why? He understood clearly that no matter how well intentioned; no matter how strong a human might be in terms of will and faith, in the end, a human could not keep the covenant forever. And that’s what this was – an eternal covenant. So, what did God do? He walked through the divided animal parts for Abram. In essence, he took on the responsibility for Abram’s half of the covenant because he knew, at the end of the day, Abram could not keep it under his own power. And we know now that God was right. Abram screwed up more than once. A glaring example of Abrams unfaithfulness occurs later when he says that his wife is his sister and when he sires a son by his wife’s servant.

 

Can you also see how in illustrating God’s love and his gracious character, this episode foreshadows what God would do in sending Christ to earth? Again, God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He took our sins upon himself, just as he shouldered Abram’s responsibility in the covenant.

 

How can we, as Christians, be anything but optimists with a God like this who, as they say in the vernacular, “has our back.” In their highly recommended book entitled, Furious Pursuit, Tim King and Frank Martin comment on the story told in Genesis 15:

 

Don’t miss the magnitude of this act and the power of the Story of God. God was so convinced of his ability to remain faithful and so determined in his plan to restore us to himself that he was willing to lay everything on the line. When God walked between the severed animal pieces, he was saying to us, “This has never been about your faithfulness; it’s about my faithfulness; It’s not about your strength, your ability to remain in covenant with me. It’s about my strength, my ability, my love, my resolve to save you. I pledge to fight for you, to stay in relationship with you, to walk with you no matter what, from now until eternity.

 

As Paul so aptly asked, with a God like that for us, who could possibly be against us? With a God like that for us, optimism is the only justifiable response.

 

I will be the first to admit that I am not always optimistic. I have my bad days, sometimes with discouraging regularity. However, with God’s help and the activity of the Holy Spirit in my life, I can say without reservation that I am much more positive in my outlook than I once was. My friend, you can also be more positive. It takes work, sometimes hard work, to begin the process of taking thoughts captive for Christ; for rooting out the negative and planting the seeds of optimism in its place. However, the effort is well worth the result. Life seems much lighter and far brighter when you see things from the perspective of having a loving God walking next to you and his gracious Spirit residing in your heart.

 

Why not start today by setting aside a quiet time where you can be alone with God. Ask him to come into your life and your heart at a level deeper than ever before. And specifically pray for him to help you become a more positive, optimistic person. Ask that the Holy Spirit give you wisdom and a plan for pulling up the weeds of pessimism in your life and a viable strategy for sewing the seeds of optimism.

 

Keep in mind this thought: God has your back! Give thanks to the Lord for being there for you and, when you complete your prayer, get up and get to work. Remember, each time a negative or pessimistic train of thought pulls into the station, you don’t have to buy a ticket and ride out on it. Instead, purchase a ticket on a more positive train of thought. In the end, the cost is much less, the ride is far more enjoyable, and the one sitting in the seat next to you is far greater than you could ever imagine.

 

Have a great trip.

 

© L.D. Turner 2008/All Rights Reserved

 

Wise Words for Today

If you continue to play with sin and don’t agree with God about it, it will destroy you. What you have been desiring in your life will never happen, for you will be the ruination of your own pursuits…..Confession doesn’t mean merely bringing up your past. It means agreeing with and obeying God immediately when He shows you that you are wrong. Then God will draw near to you…..Whatever you justify, you have not repented of. Whatever you explain, your are not sorry for. Just say, “I was wrong; forgive me,” and ask God to forgive you.

Dr. Myles Munroe

(from Understanding the Principles and Power of Prayer)