When I stand at the judgment seat of Christ
And He shows me His plan for me,
The Plan of my life as it might have been
Had He had His way, and I see
How I blocked Him here, and I checked Him there,
And I would not yield my will --
Will there be grief in my Savior's eyes,
Grief, though He loves me still?
He would have me rich, and I stand there poor,
Stripped of all but His grace,
While memory runs like a hunted thing
Down the paths I cannot retrace.
Then my desolate heart will well-nigh break
With the tears that I cannot shed;
I shall cover my face with my empty hands,
I shall bow my uncrowned head...
Lord of the years that are left to me,
I give them to Thy hand;
Take me and break me, mould me to
The pattern Thou hast planned!
Martha Snell Nicholson
Friday, May 7, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
remembering the works....
Hey...
Need some help here. Have spent some time over the last week reminiscing...working my way through some of the incredible ways that Jesus has transformed lives over the last 10 years....
If you were are a part of The Revolution; FireHouse; G.C.; SuperCamps; Summer Camps; Conferences; Missions Trips...you name it. Whether in the Philippines or in Canada...
Tell me about what happened in you. What did Jesus do in your life? What did He say to YOU? What did you walk away with? How has it altered the way you live, see, think, breath?
believing.
pj
Need some help here. Have spent some time over the last week reminiscing...working my way through some of the incredible ways that Jesus has transformed lives over the last 10 years....
If you were are a part of The Revolution; FireHouse; G.C.; SuperCamps; Summer Camps; Conferences; Missions Trips...you name it. Whether in the Philippines or in Canada...
Tell me about what happened in you. What did Jesus do in your life? What did He say to YOU? What did you walk away with? How has it altered the way you live, see, think, breath?
believing.
pj
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Influence. Part 2
Daniel 4:36-37 and 6:26-27 records royal decrees of two kings. Both of them ruled at one time over one of the greatest cities and nation-states in the ancient world.
These two men came from different cultures: one was a Babylonian by birth; the other was born a Medo-Persian. They also belonged to different generations. Yet they were both tied together in history by their relationship with one unique individual - a Judean prophet called Daniel.
Daniel, or as he came to be known in Babylon, Belteshazzar, was born a Jewish prince in the 6th century BC. As a teenager he was forcibly taken from his home and heritage and transplanted to the Babylon of king Nebuchadnezzar. There, Daniel and his peers were trained for service of the Babylonian empire. Their training involved a process of changing the essence of their personal cultures. How you ask? Their names were change, their cultural food was forbidden and their connection with their homeland was severed. Some 'mm, mm good' stuff to think about right here...but another time!
Daniel was a slave who rose up through the ranks to become a trusted advisor, a confidante, to not one but five successive kings of this ancient city.
In the process of Daniel's service, he led two of the kings to faith in God - this in a nation that virtually invented astrology and worship of the stars.
Whether they liked him or not, all the kings who knew Daniel respected him. AND all agreed: the spirit of the gods were in him!
Daniel's incredible and eventful life reminds us, again, of one great fact: We were created for influence. Regardless the scenarios or situation, we are architects of atmosphere and engineers of environment.
Let me say this again, Genesis 1:26-28 outlines the first calling God placed upon the shoulders of humankind - the mandate to influence the world.
How do we win this tug-o-war for influence? How can we shape our culture more than it shapes us? How can we transform our life situation before it transforms us?
Be a Culture-Creator in your world.
Having real influence is about creating a culture -- a new way of seeing and doing things, a fresh way of interpreting what is right, normal and acceptable. Without this kind of cultural definition there can be no leadership. The person, or group, who has the strongest culture will inevitably rise to leadership.
Wherever Daniel was involved, the prevailing culture changed. People, even those in high status positions, were forced to rethink what was right, normal and acceptable.
To influence your world, you must define and build a culture in your own space that is stronger, more dominant than the culture that surrounds you. People must feel that when they're around you, certain things are normal, right and acceptable.
Proverbs 29:18 is about setting goals for our lives. Its about you and me redefining the culture of our immediate environment, our sphere. The Hebrew text says: 'Without a redemptive revelation the people lead undisciplined lives.'
God wants to give you not just a set of goals, but a redemptive revelation of himself. He wants to show you something of his own nature; something so revolutionary that, if you live it out, it will actually redeem things around you for the kingdom of God.
Because of that revelation, you will be able redefine what it means to be in business, to build a family, to study in school, to do whatever it is that you do!
Now i know it is easy to become overwhelmed, so hold on. In my last post, i quoted Abraham Kuyper the nineteenth century journalist, theologian and Dutch Prime Minister who wrote: 'There is not one part of our world of thought that can be hermetically separated from the other parts, and there is not an inch in the entire area of our human life of which Christ, who is sovereign of all, does not cry "Mine!"'
While some churchmen of his era taught that Christians should retreat from everything relating to the secular world, Kuyper borrowed from Paul’s teaching to give us the idea of ‘sphere authority’.
This is the idea that church and state are both of divine origin, yet both serve different functions.
Each must obey God's laws: the state must not try to be neutral towards God, but must recognize his supremacy over the civil sphere of authority. Government policies and procedures must respect God's moral precepts, so they must uphold the sanctity of marriage and the family; they must restrain and punish.
No one is entitled to rule absolutely, for that is a divine prerogative alone. God delegates authority to human agents in family, church, school and state, and those who govern in such spheres are accountable to God in the discharge of their duties and in the exercise of their limited authority.
This means, for example, that neither the state nor the church is to intrude upon the other spheres. Each should seek to protect the rights of the other to operate freely.
Kuyper's concept of sphere authority contradicted the basic principle of socialism that would give the state the right to regulate life in practically all of its aspects, economic, political and social.
According to Deuteronomy 28, God’s people are destined for leadership; AND leadership on any level begins with creating a culture.
There are, I think, two fundamental questions we need to answer, if we're each going to win our battle for influence.
The first is this: what kind of neighbourhood, city and nation do I want to see around me in 10 years from now? What kind of city and nation would God want me to be living in by that time? What changes would he want me to make; what things would he want me to redeem around me?
The second question is this: seeing that preferred future, what am I now prepared to do to set that in motion? I quoted him already, but he bears repeating: As Bill Wilson, the great apostle to children in New York, likes to say: 'It's not important what you achieve in life; it's what you set in motion that counts!'
dreaming...
Jonathan
These two men came from different cultures: one was a Babylonian by birth; the other was born a Medo-Persian. They also belonged to different generations. Yet they were both tied together in history by their relationship with one unique individual - a Judean prophet called Daniel.
Daniel, or as he came to be known in Babylon, Belteshazzar, was born a Jewish prince in the 6th century BC. As a teenager he was forcibly taken from his home and heritage and transplanted to the Babylon of king Nebuchadnezzar. There, Daniel and his peers were trained for service of the Babylonian empire. Their training involved a process of changing the essence of their personal cultures. How you ask? Their names were change, their cultural food was forbidden and their connection with their homeland was severed. Some 'mm, mm good' stuff to think about right here...but another time!
Daniel was a slave who rose up through the ranks to become a trusted advisor, a confidante, to not one but five successive kings of this ancient city.
In the process of Daniel's service, he led two of the kings to faith in God - this in a nation that virtually invented astrology and worship of the stars.
Whether they liked him or not, all the kings who knew Daniel respected him. AND all agreed: the spirit of the gods were in him!
Daniel's incredible and eventful life reminds us, again, of one great fact: We were created for influence. Regardless the scenarios or situation, we are architects of atmosphere and engineers of environment.
Let me say this again, Genesis 1:26-28 outlines the first calling God placed upon the shoulders of humankind - the mandate to influence the world.
How do we win this tug-o-war for influence? How can we shape our culture more than it shapes us? How can we transform our life situation before it transforms us?
Be a Culture-Creator in your world.
Having real influence is about creating a culture -- a new way of seeing and doing things, a fresh way of interpreting what is right, normal and acceptable. Without this kind of cultural definition there can be no leadership. The person, or group, who has the strongest culture will inevitably rise to leadership.
Wherever Daniel was involved, the prevailing culture changed. People, even those in high status positions, were forced to rethink what was right, normal and acceptable.
To influence your world, you must define and build a culture in your own space that is stronger, more dominant than the culture that surrounds you. People must feel that when they're around you, certain things are normal, right and acceptable.
Proverbs 29:18 is about setting goals for our lives. Its about you and me redefining the culture of our immediate environment, our sphere. The Hebrew text says: 'Without a redemptive revelation the people lead undisciplined lives.'
God wants to give you not just a set of goals, but a redemptive revelation of himself. He wants to show you something of his own nature; something so revolutionary that, if you live it out, it will actually redeem things around you for the kingdom of God.
Because of that revelation, you will be able redefine what it means to be in business, to build a family, to study in school, to do whatever it is that you do!
Now i know it is easy to become overwhelmed, so hold on. In my last post, i quoted Abraham Kuyper the nineteenth century journalist, theologian and Dutch Prime Minister who wrote: 'There is not one part of our world of thought that can be hermetically separated from the other parts, and there is not an inch in the entire area of our human life of which Christ, who is sovereign of all, does not cry "Mine!"'
While some churchmen of his era taught that Christians should retreat from everything relating to the secular world, Kuyper borrowed from Paul’s teaching to give us the idea of ‘sphere authority’.
This is the idea that church and state are both of divine origin, yet both serve different functions.
Each must obey God's laws: the state must not try to be neutral towards God, but must recognize his supremacy over the civil sphere of authority. Government policies and procedures must respect God's moral precepts, so they must uphold the sanctity of marriage and the family; they must restrain and punish.
No one is entitled to rule absolutely, for that is a divine prerogative alone. God delegates authority to human agents in family, church, school and state, and those who govern in such spheres are accountable to God in the discharge of their duties and in the exercise of their limited authority.
This means, for example, that neither the state nor the church is to intrude upon the other spheres. Each should seek to protect the rights of the other to operate freely.
Kuyper's concept of sphere authority contradicted the basic principle of socialism that would give the state the right to regulate life in practically all of its aspects, economic, political and social.
According to Deuteronomy 28, God’s people are destined for leadership; AND leadership on any level begins with creating a culture.
There are, I think, two fundamental questions we need to answer, if we're each going to win our battle for influence.
The first is this: what kind of neighbourhood, city and nation do I want to see around me in 10 years from now? What kind of city and nation would God want me to be living in by that time? What changes would he want me to make; what things would he want me to redeem around me?
The second question is this: seeing that preferred future, what am I now prepared to do to set that in motion? I quoted him already, but he bears repeating: As Bill Wilson, the great apostle to children in New York, likes to say: 'It's not important what you achieve in life; it's what you set in motion that counts!'
dreaming...
Jonathan
Monday, May 3, 2010
25 Things
i have been asked to re-post this...so i have...welcome to my world...
hmmm....I have been tagged a bunch of times and am usually very disinterested in responding to such things...BUT, for some reason this one has provided a spigot for inner musings...here we go:
**
once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. at the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. you have to tag the person who tagged you. if I tagged you, it's because i want to know more about you.
(to do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)
**
1. i love to journal. the discipline of articulating thoughts, fears, dreams, prayer, love, etc on paper provides me a place of stillness. good for my heart. BUT i have been wrestling with switching to some sort of computer program, cuz when i die NOONE will be able to read anything i wrote...which is great for the immediate privacy problem - i don't have to worry about someone reading something - but terrible for posterity.
2. coffee. hmmmm. finding/making the perfect cup of java is a truly noble endeavor. earthy. bold. well balanced. and just about boiling. perfect. sigh.
3. i had 5 concussions my junior year in highschool. one of which left me with amnesia for 3 days. highschool wrestling was the cause of 4 of them. and the amnesia causing one was the result of a crack the whip on roller skates gone bad. forehead...cement...blood coming out of nose and ears...you get the story.
4. Tracer, my lover, is truly the most gifted photographer in the world. The way she captures people is incredible. She has the ability to capture who people are in a moment...quite often moves me to tears.
5. Which leads me to this thought...i cry alot. I never know what may cause tears. The sight of the Pacific Ocean can do it...or a piece of music, or a face i've never seen before...or maybe one that i haven't seen in a really long time. A look. A smile. An expression. A moment. Almost any movie that has the heartbreak of loving and loosing. A high school basketball team running onto the floor at the end of game, exultant in victory...or the opposite team, broken in defeat. Two young lovers exchanging a look and a kiss on a train, or two much older lovers, exchanging a years-filled glance and a gentle caress. Memories..and dreams...i can never be sure. But of this i am sure. Whenever i find tears in my eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is wise to pay very very close attention.
example? I was reading a Berenstein Bears book to Rosie this evening...and those unexpected tears came on the last page. Why? Gran and Gramps has swept brother and sister bear into their arms and were saying how thankful they were to have them as granbears(grandkids - for those of you who don't know Berenstein Bear language).
I was thinking a little later, after Rosie asked me what was wrong and I quickly moved along, that those tears tell me something about the secret of who I am. What is it that strikes the chords of my heart in such a way that I am moved to tears? As I think about those moments, more often than not, God is speaking to me through them of the mystery of where I have come from...and is summoning me, if my heart is willing, to where I should go next.
6. I cannot stand the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sorry...gotta keep it real.
7. I love airports. love em love em love em. Back in the day, when Trace and I were dating, we used to go to the Calgary airport, sip coffee, flirt and watch the planes land. There is something awe-some about watching people and wondering where they are going, or coming from and what their life is made of. My favorite airport is the Hong Kong Airport, followed closely by the Vancouver Airport.
8. My Caleb, my 12 year old son, amazes me. The mixture of boyish roughness (his love of violence...whenever we are looking at movies is standard line in response to a movie that is rated beyond what is acceptable for 11 years olds is 'Dad I love violence, its not gross kissing stuff') and tender compassion (Trace dropped a TV on her toe the other day and it was hard to tell who was crying more...her or Caleb. And Caleb was crying out of pure empathy) is very moving...and challenges me to be a more balanced man.
9. My Rosie, my 8 year (going on 18) old, inspires me. She sings constantly. And is always asking for a hug. Since she was a very little girl she has been able to find someone who is hurting or feeling left out...and make them feel loved. Sigh. When she says, 'you are my favorite daddy'...i want to give her the world...and warn her future suitors, you mess with my little girl and i promise to hurt you. seriously.
10. food and friends...food is every cultures relationship vehicle. Around our tables, we engage each other better, especially when we do it over a meal we love. Think about where we do our most important relationship things…our dates, our relationship stepping stones, our family gatherings, our celebrations, our reflections…all are couched, encouraged and augmented by the food we eat. In an urban environment and a racing global village, many people find themselves sucked dry, and left barren. i love creating spaces that allow us to experience food, culture and people. Spaces that return the color to a pale and bleak rat race. I think of words like inviting. Stimulating. Inspiring. Soulful. Moving. Expressive. Safe. Alive. From the perfection of a dish, to the painting that hangs on the wall. From the musical ambience to the color scheme. From the lighting to something gentle and complete offered by a group of people committed to restoring your soul after a long day...sigh.
11. Top 3 places i have yet to visit: Scotland. East Coast of Canada. Aushwitz.
12. I own every Louis Lamour book. yup. all of em.
13. Speaking of books...i love love love to read. I have lots of em...everywhere. It is bad news for me to go into a book store of any kind. I have a long list of 'to read's. My goal this year is to read a book a week.
14. I notice that i pace. When i talk on the phone. When i am thinking. When i am fretting. When i am longing. I am a pacer...funny enough that is the name of our dog. Pacey is his name but we call him pacer....
15. Someday I am going to go to a Steelers game in Pittsburgh and wave a terrible towel and howl like a mad man. My son has informed me that is sooooo coming.
16. Someday I want to see U2 live in Ireland.
17. We are going to adopt some children someday. How can I not be moved by the plight of the worlds orphans?
18. We recently got rid of our big screen TV. How can our home be a place of rest when the center of attention is a big TV that constantly 'feeds' our minds. We have decided to rest more, reflect more, read more, play more, laugh more, and intentionally engage the people we care about more. Do I really need my mind numbed by a world of fiction?
19. I am deeply challenged by the words of Jesus: 'if any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life.' What does it look like to live life not for yourself...but to truly live in a way that gives all that you are for the good of others. i constantly rub shoulders with people who are desperately trying to outrun the feeling of emptiness inside. Fear of failing, fear of disappointment, fear of pain, fear of being alone...and I am one of them. And these words i find true mission...the power of leveraging all that i am and all that i possess for the sake of someone else...something deep draws me there.
20. i grew up in the Philippines. My mom ran a medical facility that provided care for the poor and specifically focused on providing a safe environment for pregnant mothers who could not afford hospital care. So by the time I was 16 i knew more about pregnancy and giving birth than most women. Did many a homework assignment holding baby.
21. I really want to learn how to speak another language. Top of the list? Mandarin. But could be easily sucked into learning arabic or french.
22. I play the saxophone. the guitar. and would love to master the piano.
23. I love to sing. am not sure i have ever written that before.
24. I run my own business. So does my wife. Two entrepreneurs. We were made for each other. uh huh...woot woot!
25. i love the friends we have chosen to journey with. life is full because of their love.
Friday, April 30, 2010
ranting...
Do you ever get that question emerging in your mind that's like a nagging persistent itch that just has to be scratched? I have dove into the depths of the gospels from it's shores in all directions. And breathless, I come to the surface gasping, empty handed. I can't find it.
Where in any encounter does Jesus confront someone who is living without hope like a hostage and then give them a life threatening decision, "believe...or it's to hell with you." You might ask where such a question stems from. Well suffice it to say, several heated conversations with 'christians' who are unhappy with the lack of intense conviction in gatherings that I have had the privilege of being in have spurred such fodder.
From the opening chapters of Matthew's gospel, after the imprisonment of John, Jesus moves to Capernaum, by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali...
People living out their lives in the dark
saw an incredible light;
Sitting in that dark, dark place of death,
they watched the sun come up.
This Isaiah-prophesied image came to life in Galilee the moment Jesus started engaging and talking to people. He picked up where John left off: This is the dawn of a new day; it's a new page in the story of humanity; there's a new road to travel. Turn your lives around, it's time for humanity to be restored to what I intended it to be. 'The Kingdom has come near to you NOW!'
From there it's the Jesus journey. A wandering of sorts, by the shores of the Sea of Galilee inviting friends to join him on the adventure of proclaiming, revealing and building this Kingdom. Absolutely fascinating that there is no conversion moment in the selection of disciples. No statement of faith. No scratch on the scroll for confirmation of membership. We're not even sure they were baptized in the Jordan. If ritual proof was prerequisite, one would imagine Jesus pulling his disciples out of the baptismal fount.
Again, we are left to guess. There is no believe in me ultimatum. It is nothing more than the profound simplicity of an invitation to "come and follow." And in the following, you will find what your soul longs for.
Countrysides.
Villages.
Towns.
The beach.
And dusty roads.
Jesus shared stories of the radical, scandalous, redemptive, imagination of the Kingdom. As wild as the stories were, it left people in awe to see them come to life before their eyes. People were brought to him who were sick, the were lame, blind, and plagued by spirits. AND in the presence of Jesus they were healed. Again, this uncontainable, unpredictable, scandalous, forgiving, gracious and healing Kingdom turned the world upside down...it was hope re-imagined.
The essence of the Kingdom is so powerful, so beautiful, so miraculously good that it captivates the human imagination. This was the ministry method of Jesus.
The Kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field.
The Kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. Finding one that is flawless, he immediately sells everything and buys it. (The Message: Matt 13:44-45 )
The Kingdom is so profoundly precious that you will sell everything to live in it...it is so spacious, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in it without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of the Life of Jesus. A life we all have access to, a life we can all enter into. A life, through the power of the Spirit of God, we can let Jesus live through...if we are humble enough to sacrifice our lives...to let him live.
This good news of the Kingdom is not a gun point threat of "heaven or hell." It is about life, abundant life. It is about a full-blown re-imagining of all creation. It is about a profound mysterious journey across the threshold of this world, into the redemptive imagination of Jesus and his Kingdom. The good news is the truth, that the Kingdom is here, now. It's not a place where we drift off to in some spiritual trance, a place where we visit occasionally as a tourist. Jesus calls us to live in it, during every moment of our daily living. Not only to live in it...but to build it with him.
We have become so consumed with the destination that we have behaved like landlords or inn keepers, micro-managing as to who is getting a room in what place.
Maybe we have created this great conundrum. We have become content with just mending our lives, throwing on a patch here and there. A nice three point sermon, a life application in a 25 min pill form that we can pop into our mouth like a soother. Then we cross our fingers and hope it at least makes us feel better.
Better is only as good as us, and the problem with better...it doesn't last long.
Like tylenol, it's better for about 4 hours, and then you back to where you started.
Maybe, it's time to ask, to knock, and to seek with all we have, and cross the threshold into Jesus' Kingdom.
Humanity is lurching down this long corridor of history, frantically looking for the horizon where hope might rise. Profound uncertainty leaves us scared...it breeds fear...and the weight of hopelessness falls like a curtain as the actors prepare to exit the stage.
But there is hope. In the gospels people sat enveloped in darkness until Jesus began to live amongst them and engage their hearts with truth. Truth that cracked the ceiling of darkness, a great light that pulsated with freedom, life, rest and hope.
It was this person of Jesus that was enough to call them from the life they knew, NOT the if you don't impulse. When we are left resorting to the fear scenario, does that say something about the reality of His presence in us?
The church, and every follower of Jesus must re-imagine the gospels beyond heaven or hell. I am not saying they are not realities. BUT we must hunger, thirst for the mind of Christ...the redemptive imagination of Jesus. Jesus and His Kingdom are the hope of all humanity, the hope of all creation. Our words and our actions must reveal and build this Kingdom. It will become that hidden treasure to the by-passer in our neighborhoods, that precious pearl that a friend will sell everything for...just to live in. The hope of humanity is within you. The risen King. And His Kingdom rule flows from the redemptive imagination of God.
Maybe the transformational hope we all long for is found there...instead of the bunkers of fear behind which we have hid for far too long.
J
Friday, April 23, 2010
Influence.
Hebrews 12:2
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
I remember the first time I saw Michael Jordan play basketball. His agility. His command of the ball. His ability to defy gravity. A man in flight. His incredible competitiveness. His insight into his teammates that enabled him to summon their best.
But what made him great? Was it simply a matter of physical ability or team spirit?
I submit it was something that he shares with anyone who has ever been truly magnificent in a team sport.
He could read the state of play.
He could understand the game at any given point and knew how to act to change the outcome. He could see the present in the light of a preferred future. And he knew how to build, in the present, a platform for his desired future.
He discovered the key to real influence.
I have been travelling over the last several months, speaking in various settings, to a wide range of ages and audiences. Several observations have been nagging me:
Why does the church, for all her beauty and function in creating a place we call home, seem so irrelevant to the culture at large?
And
Where is my generation?
I decided I wanted to journal some of my rambling thoughts on Generation X, the Church as we know it, and what our role is in the development and redemption of world culture.
So...here we go.
Influence.
We were designed for it! We were not born to be ignored. Or overlooked. We were created to be influencers.
AND I submit that if we truly want to engage the work of God in our time we desperately need to recognize that we were designed, crafted and formed to wield that influence.
It is fundamental to the Christian world view that human beings were created to impact and influence their environment more than the environment should impact and influence them.
The very first instruction that God gave human kind was a directive that called on our influence-ability.
Genesis 1:26
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
This is a command to influence. To influence our environment more than your environment influences us.
But if this is Gods intention, what has happened? How did we get where we are? a place where it seems as though the church in so many communities lives playing perpetual defense, disconnected and without a voice to bring hope?
It goes back a long way. We made a decision at the tree. The fall. And sin entered the world. In that moment...we lost some of that ability to change the world more than the world changes us. That fall from grace cost us our capacity for influence, and we became in many ways the influenced rather than the influencers.
Long story made short, through the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross, everything we lost in the garden was redeemed to us again. Including our ability and calling to influence and shape our world.
Hear me: When you choose to become a Jesus follower, you inherit a ‘re-position’ as a person with an incredible capacity to influence.
Influence is hardwired into the human condition.
One way or the other, influence will flow. All around us everyday, this battle rages. For most of us this is a dormant memory of a forgotten year...something that stretches back to pioneers of faith that have gone before us. A memory locked deep within our spiritual psyche. “You were created to change your world. You were created to be a hinge on which the culture of your sphere of influence swings.”
Whether we understand this or not, the reality remains: either we will influence the egocentric (all about me) culture around us or it will most certainly force us to become like it...and the result is a selfish, emasculated form of faith that carries no authority, wields no power and settles for whining from the edges of culture about the darkness that we don’t like.
And be assured...it is a fight. Not against people...but against a system of thought and power brokering that is broken, decrepit and diseased at its very core.
Light vs. Darkness
Flesh vs. Spirit
The temporary vs. the eternal
Spin vs. Truth
Political correctness vs. Prophetic correctness.
Either we will invent the future or someone else’s vision of the future will re-invent us!
Romans 12:2 says,
With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.
This is a statement about culture.
It’s a sociological fact that whichever group in society has the strongest sense of culture, the most well defined sense of identity, that group becomes the leading voice in the country.
That is why in Canada, and in every country and culture in our world, small groups of people have very great power. They have established a very strong sense of who they are. They have built a stronger culture than the culture around them.
What Romans 12 is saying is that we have the right, as our mind is renewed, to NOT allow the system of the world to squeeze us into its mould. BUT instead, we were made to live out and PROVE that a life lived Jesus’ way is stinking incredible (my translation).
It is our right to define the culture more than the culture defines us. Who, more than the people of God, have such a clear and profound identity? Such a dynamic and powerful mission? Such a beautiful and hope-filled message?
Abraham Kyper, the nineteenth century journalist, theologian and Dutch Prime Minister, wrote:
'There is not one part of our world of thought that can be hermetically separated from the other parts, and there is not an inch in the entire area of our human life of which Christ, who is sovereign of all, does not cry "Mine!"'
Who will you be?
Jonathan
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
I remember the first time I saw Michael Jordan play basketball. His agility. His command of the ball. His ability to defy gravity. A man in flight. His incredible competitiveness. His insight into his teammates that enabled him to summon their best.
But what made him great? Was it simply a matter of physical ability or team spirit?
I submit it was something that he shares with anyone who has ever been truly magnificent in a team sport.
He could read the state of play.
He could understand the game at any given point and knew how to act to change the outcome. He could see the present in the light of a preferred future. And he knew how to build, in the present, a platform for his desired future.
He discovered the key to real influence.
I have been travelling over the last several months, speaking in various settings, to a wide range of ages and audiences. Several observations have been nagging me:
Why does the church, for all her beauty and function in creating a place we call home, seem so irrelevant to the culture at large?
And
Where is my generation?
I decided I wanted to journal some of my rambling thoughts on Generation X, the Church as we know it, and what our role is in the development and redemption of world culture.
So...here we go.
Influence.
We were designed for it! We were not born to be ignored. Or overlooked. We were created to be influencers.
AND I submit that if we truly want to engage the work of God in our time we desperately need to recognize that we were designed, crafted and formed to wield that influence.
It is fundamental to the Christian world view that human beings were created to impact and influence their environment more than the environment should impact and influence them.
The very first instruction that God gave human kind was a directive that called on our influence-ability.
Genesis 1:26
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
This is a command to influence. To influence our environment more than your environment influences us.
But if this is Gods intention, what has happened? How did we get where we are? a place where it seems as though the church in so many communities lives playing perpetual defense, disconnected and without a voice to bring hope?
It goes back a long way. We made a decision at the tree. The fall. And sin entered the world. In that moment...we lost some of that ability to change the world more than the world changes us. That fall from grace cost us our capacity for influence, and we became in many ways the influenced rather than the influencers.
Long story made short, through the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross, everything we lost in the garden was redeemed to us again. Including our ability and calling to influence and shape our world.
Hear me: When you choose to become a Jesus follower, you inherit a ‘re-position’ as a person with an incredible capacity to influence.
Influence is hardwired into the human condition.
One way or the other, influence will flow. All around us everyday, this battle rages. For most of us this is a dormant memory of a forgotten year...something that stretches back to pioneers of faith that have gone before us. A memory locked deep within our spiritual psyche. “You were created to change your world. You were created to be a hinge on which the culture of your sphere of influence swings.”
Whether we understand this or not, the reality remains: either we will influence the egocentric (all about me) culture around us or it will most certainly force us to become like it...and the result is a selfish, emasculated form of faith that carries no authority, wields no power and settles for whining from the edges of culture about the darkness that we don’t like.
And be assured...it is a fight. Not against people...but against a system of thought and power brokering that is broken, decrepit and diseased at its very core.
Light vs. Darkness
Flesh vs. Spirit
The temporary vs. the eternal
Spin vs. Truth
Political correctness vs. Prophetic correctness.
Either we will invent the future or someone else’s vision of the future will re-invent us!
Romans 12:2 says,
With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.
This is a statement about culture.
It’s a sociological fact that whichever group in society has the strongest sense of culture, the most well defined sense of identity, that group becomes the leading voice in the country.
That is why in Canada, and in every country and culture in our world, small groups of people have very great power. They have established a very strong sense of who they are. They have built a stronger culture than the culture around them.
What Romans 12 is saying is that we have the right, as our mind is renewed, to NOT allow the system of the world to squeeze us into its mould. BUT instead, we were made to live out and PROVE that a life lived Jesus’ way is stinking incredible (my translation).
It is our right to define the culture more than the culture defines us. Who, more than the people of God, have such a clear and profound identity? Such a dynamic and powerful mission? Such a beautiful and hope-filled message?
Abraham Kyper, the nineteenth century journalist, theologian and Dutch Prime Minister, wrote:
'There is not one part of our world of thought that can be hermetically separated from the other parts, and there is not an inch in the entire area of our human life of which Christ, who is sovereign of all, does not cry "Mine!"'
Who will you be?
Jonathan
Monday, April 5, 2010
Its Time: Part 2 - the MORE info as promised...
We have received so many responses to our last email that we have been overwhelmed. The responses have been so positive and filled with requests for more info on what we will be doing and how others can be involved. I trust that this note will provide you with some of those answers.
The big question has been why? Let us chat with you a bit about this...chuckle.
Have you ever been afraid of what the world has become?
We have all pondered how the world might become a better place. We’ve all experienced that warm, fuzzy and motivating change-the-world feeling after watching an inspirational movie based on a true story. You know the one – where the average person does something extraordinary...and the world changes. And we sit there and say, I wish I could do something like that...and it stirs us deeply...how long does it take for that feeling to fade? And why? I mean, the feeling was so strong...where did it go quickly if it was so authentic? Could much of it be that we don’t really believe we can change anything? That we have succumbed to just accepting the world as it is?
We believe that the average person can change the world. Stephen Lewis commented that “the world desperately needs our voices”, and we want to use ours. We want to take creative ideas, connect them with great passion, what we love doing and be catalysts for something potentially powerful. We want to partner with people from every walk of life and inspire them with a belief that God has placed in the heart of each man, woman and child, the ability to do something that has world changing potential. We want to release the heroes among us...the hero in you.
“A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom”
Bob Dylan
Here are some more details:
Where?
We ARE moving to the Philippines.
When?
Our goal is to be there by Christmas 2010 or Summer 2011.
Why?
We are going with a deep sense of destiny. We want to be world changers.
What?
3 specific areas in which we will serve:
We are going to work with Gentle Hands;
We are going to work with a leadership development network called D.E.L.;
And create an opportunity for people from 1st world countries to engage the 3rd world with hope. If you are reading this, that’s you! Most of us find it easy to live our lives against the backdrop of our own reality. Our goal is to challenge that. Too often we have opted to intellectually engage the issues of our world and hide behind incomplete views of reality. The result is a culture that feels sorry for those who live in the darkest parts of our world, but no responsible connection that calls us to invest some of who we are in being a change agent. Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
Gentle Hands
Gentle Hands is an accredited child and youth welfare agency meant to be on the front lines of rescue and rehabilitation of the medical, social and educational needs of at-risk children and youth, working towards improving human community life through the love of Jesus and family-centred care.
We care for children all in various stages of rehabilitation, legal paperwork, adoption, and reunification.
Our accreditation with Philippine social services makes us one of three in Metro Manila who can serve as Foster Care Placement centre and adoption agency.
We are the only centre in the Philippines that will take sick children. The result is steady referrals from hospitals, police, social services and the community.
We are the only facility that takes undocumented children- meaning children without papers, birth certificate, or proper government documentation. Hospitals will not take malnourished or undocumented children so we get a lot of those.
The following is a short documentary (make sure you watch Part 1 and Part 2) on Gentle Hands:
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtQxBy1gsyQ
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqLFYFCGSLU
“The curse of poverty has no justification in our age...the time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
D.E.L.
Developing Effective Leaders
The key to any sociological or cultural shift towards change is local and national leadership. There is much to be said here, but suffice it to say, we will be working with national leaders giving them tools, training and education to become progressive leaders in all sectors of society. DEL’s goal is to develop 1000 national leaders who are committed to personal growth, professional development and positive change.
Here is the invitation:
We want you to invite you to partner with us. Living in the Philippines as humanitarian workers and missionaries means that we cannot work. We need to raise support to live there and do the work that God has placed in our hearts to do; AND we cannot go until we have done so...
How?
We need 220 partners who will choose to invest in us:
10 people who will commit to investing $100 a month
40 people who will commit to investing $50 a month
80 people who will commit to investing $25 a month
100 people who will commit to investing $10 a month
*all donations are tax receiptable.
I have had lots of people say to me that if they can’t contribute large amounts they feel like they are not really doing anything. That is not true. The power of participation lies in cooperation. Everyone doing a little bit creates a movement with great potential. Helen Keller said, “I am only one, but I am still one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something.”
This is the short version! Chuckle. Would you consider partnering with us?
If you want more details, we would love to chat with you. Give us a call or send us a note and we will send you more information on how that can work!
Dreaming a dream,
Jonathan, Tracey, Caleb and Rosie.
The big question has been why? Let us chat with you a bit about this...chuckle.
Have you ever been afraid of what the world has become?
We have all pondered how the world might become a better place. We’ve all experienced that warm, fuzzy and motivating change-the-world feeling after watching an inspirational movie based on a true story. You know the one – where the average person does something extraordinary...and the world changes. And we sit there and say, I wish I could do something like that...and it stirs us deeply...how long does it take for that feeling to fade? And why? I mean, the feeling was so strong...where did it go quickly if it was so authentic? Could much of it be that we don’t really believe we can change anything? That we have succumbed to just accepting the world as it is?
We believe that the average person can change the world. Stephen Lewis commented that “the world desperately needs our voices”, and we want to use ours. We want to take creative ideas, connect them with great passion, what we love doing and be catalysts for something potentially powerful. We want to partner with people from every walk of life and inspire them with a belief that God has placed in the heart of each man, woman and child, the ability to do something that has world changing potential. We want to release the heroes among us...the hero in you.
“A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom”
Bob Dylan
Here are some more details:
Where?
We ARE moving to the Philippines.
When?
Our goal is to be there by Christmas 2010 or Summer 2011.
Why?
We are going with a deep sense of destiny. We want to be world changers.
What?
3 specific areas in which we will serve:
We are going to work with Gentle Hands;
We are going to work with a leadership development network called D.E.L.;
And create an opportunity for people from 1st world countries to engage the 3rd world with hope. If you are reading this, that’s you! Most of us find it easy to live our lives against the backdrop of our own reality. Our goal is to challenge that. Too often we have opted to intellectually engage the issues of our world and hide behind incomplete views of reality. The result is a culture that feels sorry for those who live in the darkest parts of our world, but no responsible connection that calls us to invest some of who we are in being a change agent. Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
Gentle Hands
Gentle Hands is an accredited child and youth welfare agency meant to be on the front lines of rescue and rehabilitation of the medical, social and educational needs of at-risk children and youth, working towards improving human community life through the love of Jesus and family-centred care.
We care for children all in various stages of rehabilitation, legal paperwork, adoption, and reunification.
Our accreditation with Philippine social services makes us one of three in Metro Manila who can serve as Foster Care Placement centre and adoption agency.
We are the only centre in the Philippines that will take sick children. The result is steady referrals from hospitals, police, social services and the community.
We are the only facility that takes undocumented children- meaning children without papers, birth certificate, or proper government documentation. Hospitals will not take malnourished or undocumented children so we get a lot of those.
The following is a short documentary (make sure you watch Part 1 and Part 2) on Gentle Hands:
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtQxBy1gsyQ
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqLFYFCGSLU
“The curse of poverty has no justification in our age...the time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
D.E.L.
Developing Effective Leaders
The key to any sociological or cultural shift towards change is local and national leadership. There is much to be said here, but suffice it to say, we will be working with national leaders giving them tools, training and education to become progressive leaders in all sectors of society. DEL’s goal is to develop 1000 national leaders who are committed to personal growth, professional development and positive change.
Here is the invitation:
We want you to invite you to partner with us. Living in the Philippines as humanitarian workers and missionaries means that we cannot work. We need to raise support to live there and do the work that God has placed in our hearts to do; AND we cannot go until we have done so...
How?
We need 220 partners who will choose to invest in us:
10 people who will commit to investing $100 a month
40 people who will commit to investing $50 a month
80 people who will commit to investing $25 a month
100 people who will commit to investing $10 a month
*all donations are tax receiptable.
I have had lots of people say to me that if they can’t contribute large amounts they feel like they are not really doing anything. That is not true. The power of participation lies in cooperation. Everyone doing a little bit creates a movement with great potential. Helen Keller said, “I am only one, but I am still one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something.”
This is the short version! Chuckle. Would you consider partnering with us?
If you want more details, we would love to chat with you. Give us a call or send us a note and we will send you more information on how that can work!
Dreaming a dream,
Jonathan, Tracey, Caleb and Rosie.
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