Sabbath

Life is busy, its also hard.  We get so wrapped up in what we are doing.  Yet we often miss the joy of life.  The opportunity to sit at the Masters feet and be still.

Life is super busy for me (one of the reasons I haven’t posted much new stuff here).  I work a full time job, going to school full time, two side projects I am working on and try to maintain some sort of social life. Plus managing the regular routines of life such as, laundry, exercise, eating healthy, and most importantly spending time with the Father.   God has provided incredible friendships and relationships with some amazing people, investing the time with them, takes time.  Time well worth spent. So, I need to add one more thing to my schedule right? Well, actually, yes. God has really been challenging to take a STOP.  A STOP?  Yes.  Why should I stop everything when I have so much to do? Why did God rest on the seventh day? Why should I rest at all?  God, I believe, did this as a model of how we should live our lives.  God intended us to do this.

We get this crazy idea that the Sabbath is church time, and the day you watch football, but Mark 2:27 says differently, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”  Hebrew 4:10-11 makes an interesting statement about the Sabbath also, “For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.”

It is critical for a follower of Christ to enter such rest.  I think the result of falling is to dangerous.  People overwork themselves, miss opportunities to spend time with family, focus on gaining wealth, and push out other important priorities in life.  We literally work ourselves to death.  This probably explains medicated people dealing with depression, anxiety, stress and other personal issues. God never intended this for us.  How is this living in a way that is making the most of what God has given us?

I am positive that I could go in depth into studies of why to take a Sabbath, but I will let that up to you, the reader to explore.  I write this, because I have been really challenged lately to seek a STOP time.  I’ve been able to experience this for a few hours over the past three weeks or so.  Some times I go hiking, others I’ve simply taken a nap.  It is my desire to enter this time silently, shutting off things that distract me such as cell phones, music, computers and escape.  I want to listen to God, I want to enjoy his presence, and take a mini-holiday in Him. I’ve walked back into life feeling refreshed, renewed and focused on the tasks ahead.  There is nothing magical about this, its just something God has lead me into, and I desire to be obedient to Him.  This is something God has been teaching me lately. Something I have been challenged with.

My fear is that I make this time an interlude to the insane schedule I have.  I don’t want that, I want it something that defines who I am, shapes me into the the man God wants me to be. To find clarity and life in Christ and where he wants me to serve and seek others.  I don’t have this down yet, and I am sure God will teach me in these times to listen, enjoy and play more intently in and with Him.

Sabbath is not an interlude, but the climax of living. -Heschel

Blessings,

-Chris

A place that lets you live..

Noel Heikkinen posted this quote on his blog today from Relevant Magazine’s website. You can read the full article here, but this has stirred thoughts about stuff I’ve been thinking about over the past several years and something Don Overton has been preaching about recently.  We must look at Church and church as a place where we are a community, where we share our lives and live life together. Where we can be honest and open about who we are, what our struggles are, a place to celebrate, to cry, to laugh, to love.

Church isn’t meant to be people who mask our brokenness with good acts. It’s meant to be the place where we can freely say, “I want to sleep with that guy,” “I have slept with that girl”, “I drank too much last night” or “I lied to my colleague about that project!” It’s meant to be a place where we don’t wear these things as a badge of honour but with a spirit of confession. Church isn’t meant to be about perfect people but about confessed people. We should be able to say these things, our secrets, our sins, our mistakes, and receive love and acceptance from Jesus (and church people) when we do.

Don said something that has been something that I’m truly convinced to be true.

Jesus called us to be fishers of men, where did we get the idea that we need to clean them before we catch them.

Where did we get this idea we had to be cleaned up, or clean others up to bring them before Christ.  Why do we do this?  It’s a lie from the pit of hell.  I love the two final thoughts made by Noel:

- We shouldn’t flaunt our sin, but confess it.
- We should love on those who are struggling through these issues, just like Jesus does.

To love…

To love at all is to be vulnerable.  Love anything, and your heat will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.  If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal.  Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.  But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change.  It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.  The alternative to tragedy, or at least the risk of tragedy is damnation.  The only place outside heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is hell.

- Clive Lewis

To piggy back my last post from Rob Bell’s, Sex God, I remembered stumbling across this quote a few months back.  I think both posts speak truthfully, honestly, beautifully and open about love.  Just wanted to share this as well.

Love is…

Rob Bell writes in “Sex God”:

Love is handing your heart to someone and taking the risk that they will hand it back because they don’t want it.  That’s why it’s such a crushing ache on the inside. We gave away a part of ourselves and it wasn’t wanted.

Love is a giving away of power.  When we love, we give the other person the power in the relationship. They can do what they choose.  They can do what they like with our love. They can reject it, they can accept it, they can step toward us in gratitude and appreciation.

Love is a giving away. When we love, we  put ourselves out there, we expose ourselves, we allow ourselves to be vulnerable.

Love is giving up control. It’s surrendering the desire to control the other person.  The two – love and controlling power over the person – are mutually exclusive.  If we are serious about loving someone, we have to surrender all of the desires within us to manipulate the relationship.

I don’t have much to say about this, its probably best I don’t…but reading this has resonated so much with me.  It’s something I’ve learned, am learning and will continue to learn.  This has been something in the forefront of my thoughts.  It’s something that I pray to God that He makes a new in my life each and every day, that as I interact with others, I demonstrate this.  However there is a risk, one that can and would potentially hurt. I’ve felt that sting, It’s a good chance it could happen again.

Want vs Need

(ht: http://www.nakedpastor.com/archives/4420)

 

I hope that I will know the right things I need. That my selfishness just doesn’t get in the way.

What if…

I’ve been thinking about a lot of “What If” questions lately.  Today sitting in church I was listening to the pastor talk about how this particular church was trying to be different than others.  I got to thinking about this and asked myself the question… “What if the church stopped trying to be the church, what if the church stopped being something different than “other” churches out there, to appeal to a specific group of people? What IF…the church was the church in the sense that we worked as the body…reaching the lost as one body, changing and setting the tone for the culture.  Not letting the culture change us, or a need to appeal to the culture to make church appealing?”

I’ve thought about this a lot over the years and I wonder if we have lost “the plot” – are we more about entertaining and drawing a crowd, or are we desiring a deeper life with Christ, producing disciples, not just converts, are we influencing, perhaps changing the culture around us?  Just some thoughts I had today.

Note: I don’t believe we change this society or culture by expecting or thinking that placing key people in “high” positions, such as the government, will change things.  Sure that helps, but why should we take the lazy approach to expecting a few key people to make the difference.  Are we not all called to a higher road, a higher life? Changing and influencing those around us, showing God’s love and the values and convictions that we hold fast to.  Are we painting a picture of life that is different than those we live by? work with? or even go to church with?

What in the World?

Yes I know! Its been like 2+ months or something like that since I have last updated.  Lots of stuff has been going on!  Lots of good things.  Hoping in the next day or two I can write about this.  Thanks for your patience.

-Chris

Edit: Ok.  Make that like 3 months.