Promises

Who will be saved?

The young man walked into the church. He was tall had sandy blonde hair and an easy gait. He was the kind of guy that exuded confidence – that you wanted to be around. He’d driven up in his Acura TL. It wasn’t too gaudy, but simply not cheap either. He had a wedding ring on, and if you were able to see into his wallet you’d see pictures of two great looking kids ages four and nearly seven – a boy and a girl. He’d married his college sweetheart; met her in English 307, his junior year. Currently he worked as an engineer specializing in environmental mining. Unlike many of his friends, his job was in high demand, and he was able to set boundaries that allow him to work no more than fifty hours a week and help coach his son’s soccer team. He wouldn’t dream of missing one of his daughter’s dance recitals and generally his marriage was happy and healthy.

On this particular day he’d set an appointment to visit with the pastor of the church he and his family had been visiting. The pastor was eager to spend some time with him. He walked in and after some small talk suddenly asked, “I’ve pretty much got everything in life I want. What I’m not sure about is what comes next. If this is all there is than, I can probably come to terms with that but I have this nagging feeling that there is something more and I want to know what it is.”

The church the man had walked into was called “The Clearing.” It’s fairly new campus hardly resembled a traditional church. It was a big campus with three buildings, on a site purchased just outside the urban growth boundary 15 years ago but well inside today. It had a glass front and a high ceiling in the entry way, and evergreen trees grew out of pots spaced around the narthex area. The office complex that the man had entered was two stories and he was greeted by a nice looking receptionist who clearly had been on the look out for him. She offered to get him a beverage while he waited for the pastor who would be out momentarily. The third building was the multiplex. It housed a gymnasium and could be used as an overflow video venue if the main sanctuary was too full. The church also rented that space out to concert promoters who were all too happy to use the acoustically friendly space for the latest Christian band. The church was perfectly designed to be attractive for the affluent eco-friendly up and comer – one such as the man who had walked through the door.

The pastor got his start with Campus Crusade right after college and then attended Western Seminary in Portland Oregon before starting this church 19 years ago. He had a passion for seeing young families like this man find healing and a spiritual home. “You know that is a really worthwhile question. Can I show you this little booklet I use when I get asked that?” He then proceeded to walk the man through the 4 Spiritual Laws, prayed the sinners prayer, and asked the man to begin praying that his wife might make a similar decision.

After a little more talk and a brief prayer they hugged, and the man left and the pastor rejoiced, for the Kingdom of God had another soul. Then he went to his computer and entered the data so he could share the story later on when the time was right.

At the same time, an NA meeting had just concluded and about eight recovering addicts huddled against the cold outside the door lighting up their cigarettes, cupping them against the force of the wind. One of them was clearly angry: “I don’t get it! I can’t seem to get clean! I’ve tried everything1 I’ve done everything you’ve asked! I’ve been coming to a meeting every day for the last 23 days! And still I can’t figure it out!”

“It sounds like you just did,” one of the others said.

“What do you mean?” the angry, unshaven man asked.

“You can’t… God can. Maybe now you’re ready to give up and let him. Why don’t you put out your cigarette, go into the bathroom, get on your knees and complain to him like you were just complaining to us, and then ask him to help?”

Broken, the young man, hung his head, threw down his cig, walked inside as he’d been asked to do, got on his knees and prayed. This is what he prayed.

“God, I need help. This shit has beaten me and there is nothing I can do about it. I’m a fuck up and I know it. You have no reason to, but I’m asking now, will you please help. I’ve got no where else to go. That old neighbor lady told me a long time ago by, that I could always pray and simply say, ‘In Jesus’ name,’ and you’d hear me, so that’s what I’m doing. ‘In Jesus’ name please help! You can have all my life. I’ll do whatever it takes. Just fucking save me from this shit! Please! I need help. I can’t do this!”

And so I ask which one of these is more likely to enter the Kingdom of Heaven?

Preaching

Good preaching is hard to find. I have always been attracted to good preachers. But recently I've begun wondering again about what makes a good preacher.

Here is my working definition of good preaching: "Proclaiming in the power of the Spirit the Word of God to move people to take action and move closer to Jesus."

Good preachers are not always good people. I was considered a good preacher even while I was living a secret life of sin. Yet, I still have former students whose lives were changed through my preaching living out the gospel as missionaries in distant lands. Three faith communities exist where there were none before I began preaching in the community. Another faith community is still thriving in part because of my preaching when the small church was nigh unto death. I don't say those things to bolster my ego; quite the contrary. I say them to point out that good preaching is not necessarily connected to good or Godly character.

One of my favourite preachers in Portland is someone that I think should be barred from pastoring (God evidently has other ideas) and someone I would try to avoid sharing the same space with. He has anger and control issues and his church has split time and again because of his sin. At the same time his preaching changes lives. Why God chooses so often to speak to his people or those he is calling to be his people through the lips of an ass is beyond me, but he seems to like to do so.

Having said all that, good preachers always proclaim the Word of God. They are more often than not expositors of the Bible rather than topical communicators who seem to see the Bible as merely a launching pad to give them a boost to say whatever it is they have to say.

Good preachers have an anointing that gives their words power to change lives. They speak not only to people's minds, nor to only their emotions, but to their entire being. The anointing comes from the Holy Spirit. It is miraculously not dependent upon holiness or sinlessness on the part of the preacher but only upon the work of the Spirit indwelling the words proclaimed.

Good preaching always moves people to take action in the Kingdom or toward the Kingdom of God. It is not mere teaching designed to impart knowledge, it is not mere emotion designed to illicit feeling and a large offering (please take note Carmen). A good preacher crafts words to move people to make decisions, and to act and follow through on those decisions.

Thinking About Tomorrow

One of the rules I try to live by is to only ask God for the knowledge of His will for me and the power to carry it out. Practically speaking this means that I try not to tell God what He ought to be doing but rather spend time listening for Him to tell me what I ought to be doing. Practically speaking it means that I look only to do the next right thing instead of worrying about all the things I could be doing. There is only one I should be doing and it is whatever is before me to do. OK, it is not quite that simple, but it comes close.

I firmly believe that the biggest enemy of the “Best” is the “Good”. I tend to complicate things by getting caught up in the good and forgetting the best. In this day and age it isn’t only the good that is the enemy, it is the mediocre.

I was pretty sure I knew before this trip where I was heading and what the next right thing was. I knew and still know that I am supposed to get a counseling degree and find a small group of people to minister alongside. But life is rarely that simple…

India confuses things for me. It doesn’t change what I know I need to be moving toward, though it may change the timetable. But it certainly adds to it. I am good at raising money for causes I believe in. I can ask people to pull out their wallets with little or no difficulty if I truly believe that in so doing people will be blessed, and they will be helped. With 600 million people living on less than $2 a day in India alone, it gets pretty easy for me to start mobilizing relief, not only for India, but other parts of the world who suffer in similar ways. This is something I need to do. I cannot touch 600 million lives but I can make a difference in the lives a few and I must.

So now the question is how does this fit with the direction I am already traveling? I wanted to minister among recovering addicts. Is there a way that their 12^th step which traditionally has meant taking the message to another suffering addict could be expanded to taking a message of hope and tangible relief to 600 million starving people. (The UN says that number worldwide will go over 850 million by 2020.) Can you imagine that, 850 million starving people? And I have the nerve to stuff Big Macs in my mouth like there is no tomorrow. Sometimes I make myself sick.

So now, as I begin thinking of home… As I begin pondering what comes next, especially in light of my need to move to another school for my studies, I have some thinking and praying to do. I need the courage to pray and wait to see what comes next. Then I need the courage, strength and perseverance to see it through, so maybe that number is slightly less than 850 million. It is going to be an interesting run.

Doctrine of Revelation

So here is my doctrine of revelation. I am not entirely happy with it. My professor asked me to cover more than I wanted to cover. It is lengthier than I want, and though it says things I believe, I am not sure that all of them are set in concrete anymore. I think what I will do is put some editorial comments and explanations in a different colored font.

Catching Up

So much has been happening and I haven't taken time to write. This will probably be long and rambling and so if you want to stop reading stop here...

Goals

    My time with Bankers was not misspent. I learned a ton while there. My boss continually drilled into us that goals are what make life happen. it was not necessarily a new concept to me but it resurrected some dormant ones. I thought it would be fun to begin that list again. I will not list them all in this post but I will begin a list of the top 100. To me that means that these are 100 things that I would like to do, have or accomplish before I die. If they are out there then I will work for them.
    You'll notice that my short term goals: finish school, survive and thrive during the trip to India and Europe aren't on the list. That is because, to me, they are a means to an end not the end itself.
      I am also going to try to break the list into categories: travel, accomplish, do (or experience), and own. This is simply to help me think through it all. I have no idea as I begin to type in what order these will flow from my fingers. It certainly is not in order of priority. That will have to wait until a much later date.
    I imagine this will be on ongoing post much as my "Things they never taught me in Sunday School" post. So please bear with me.

Rules for asking questions in Grad School

1. If your question is longer than 3 sentences... don't ask it.
2. If your question requires a paragraph of explanation... don't ask it.
3. If your question is a point you are trying to make... don't make it.
4. If your question requires a life illustration from your life or any other person... don't ask it.
5. If you have the thought somewhere in the back of my mind that I need to ask a brilliant question... don't ask it.
6. If you don't know what a verbalized coherent thought is, please remain silent.
7. If you are totally lost but think you have a point... better to remain silent and let people think you a fool than to speak up and leave no doubt.

Some of us are trying to learn here!

Answering A Friend

    As I walked with a friend downtown. He asked me what I was studying at school. I told him I thought he wouldn't be interested. He said he would. So I'll take a stab at sharing what is happening in my theological world.