what i believe

I was reading something the other day that made me wonder if my children know what I believe. I mean a black and white spelled out version. They have seen me living for many years, so they know what I practice. I am not sure they know in word form what I believe. So I sat down and wrote out the following…

What I believe…a partial list.

I believe Jesus is the Christ, the divine Son of God

I believe I can be drawn close to God through the shed blood of Jesus

I believe the Holy Spirit dwells within me

I believe God is actively involved in this world at this very moment

I believe I can be transformed

I believe I need community with other Christ followers

I believe I have entered into a journey that includes many, many other people, both present and past

I believe the Bible trains me, rebukes me, corrects me, teaches me.

I believe I have been invited to participate in the work God is doing in this age

I believe there will be an end to this age

I believe what I do makes a difference in this age and in the age to come

I believe I will be given responsibility in the age to come based on faithfulness in this age

I said at the beginning of the list that this is a partial list. That’s because lists are problematic for me. As soon as I write one I see other things I want to add to it. I resist the urge/practice of reducing everything down to a minimum (for instance what is the minimum you need to believe in order to be saved? or What is the ONE thing I love about my wife? what do you mean one thing I love many things about my wife)

Having said that, lists do cause me to think. I guess God isn’t opposed to lists (10 comandments, beatitudes, fruit of the Spirit, etc). 

So what do you believe? How do those beliefs shape how you live? Have you shared what you believe with those who are closest to you?

 

Staying in touch #2

It seems my relationships have rhythms to them…much like waves rolling up on the beach. If I am going to stay in touch these rhythms have to be created intentionally. So in my calendar I set aside time. Busyness or laziness sets in if I am not intentional. I firmly believe that God brings people into our lives for seasons and leads others out after seasons. Not all relationships have the same rhythm and this is not only ok but is natural. Not all relationships have the same depth or give and take…that also is natural. 

When I read about the life of Christ I see intentionality and interruption. He was intentional in some relationships about maintaining close contact. Yet he allowed interruptions from people who were not going to make it on his cell phone circle of friends list. Not that he loved or cared any less, but the contact he had with them would be one time or limited.

To help me stay in touch I ask myself a few questions on a rather frequent basis…

1. Am I staying in touch with those I should be staying in touch with (as I scroll through my phone or email list)?

2. Are there others who I should be staying in touch with more frequently or in a more involved way?

3. Is the rhythm changing in other relationships that I need to recognize?

I want to be living a relational life that is intentional. I love best when I stay in touch. For me it doesn’t just happen. How about you? What are the rhythms you experience?

How do you stay in touch?

I have been reflecting on some of my relationships this morning, specifically how I stay in touch. It seems my relationships have rhythms to them. But that is a different subject. I am basically a phone, email, cards (real paper ones), and face to face person, and not necessarily in that order. We’ve video skyped my daughter in Mexico and that is pretty cool, but she is the only one. It is a little weird to me (giving away my age) how I can send a pic with my phone to a friend in Louisianna or South Dakota from a recent family outing and yet others who live next door won’t ever see it. I haven’t gotten into facebook, myspace, twitter and some of the other ways to stay in touch. It amazes me with all of the electronic tools at our disposal yet I still have to be intentional about staying in touch. I have a circle of people with whom I regularly stay in touch. But there are others who are important to me that I can allow to go longer than I really like. And I am back to the rhythm of staying in touch…so I will come back to this next time.

My question to you is…How do you stay in touch?

 

life after death

I have been doing some thinking about life after death and life in the age to come. I plan on teaching on this in the near future and I was wondering what you are thinking. Send me your thoughts about what comes next. Where will we spend eternity? What will we be doing? Who will we be doing it with? Do clouds fit in your picture anywhere? What about the in-between stage…after death and before resurrection. Do you believe in the resurrection? What is the future hope we have as followers of Jesus Christ? Ok, enough questions to get you thinking. Please do respond!  

lwch@lwch.org

 

Thanks, gary

 

People I Admire – LD & JA

I started my journey as a Christ follower outside apart from a community of faith. About nine months into the journey I was invited to join my future wife at a weekend gathering. The pastor at her church was Lester Degroot. Lester would be used by God to change my life as I served with him and observed him. He has been at the same church, Nashville Baptist, for an incredibly long time…40 years or so…his only church. He has given his life to telling people about Jesus and helping them to get saved. He teaches plainly and convincingly. He genuinely loves helping people.

 

I had the opportunity to work for Jeff Arnett for almost five years. Jeff is an incredible leader who builds teams of people and delegates to them the responsibility of ministering to others. He is also a very gifted teacher. Jeff, like Lester, has been at his first church, Thornapple Valley Church, an incredibly long time…around 30 years. Jeff is passionate about communicating Jesus to his generation. I admire his work ethic and consistency in pursuing Christ.

 

Both men are men of faith who are willing to take risks for the sake of the kingdom of God.   

People I admire – DLM & CHS

When I first started this journey of following Jesus I was in my early 20’s. I didn’t know the stories. I didn’t know the people who came before me. I didn’t know much of anything. But I was a reader. At the church I was attending they had a library of assorted books. I enjoyed reading stories about people so I picked up a biography on the life of Dwight L. Moody. God used it to speak to me about following Jesus…about living a sold out life for our Savior. Moody came from a working class background, didn’t attend religious schooling, and gave himself to being a witness for Jesus. I admire his tenacity, work ethic and his compelling need to tell people about Jesus. Moody overheard another saying, “the world has yet to see what God can do through a man or woman who is wholly consecrated unto him”, to which Moody responded, “I will be that man”. 

 

Another man I admire was Charles Haddon Spurgeon.  Spurgeon was a preacher in England. He was faithful in his generation of witnessing about Jesus Christ. He established schools for preachers. His sermons have been preserved and are still being used by the Holy Spirit to teach and change lives. He spoke plainly about Jesus. I admire his drive to learn, to teach and to train up other men. One of my college professors recommended the book Spurgeon wrote, Lectures to My Students. It rocked my world and helped me to realize the necessity of discipline and faithfulness. Even though it was written over a hundred years ago it is still amazingly relevant for today for those giving their lives to serving Christ.

A Night of Fun

Friday is my day off from work. I try not to answer my cell phone or check email. We try to schedule something different or fun that breaks the rhythm of daily life. Friday, we had some tickets to go and watch the Grand Rapids Griffins, our local minor league hockey team. I am not a hockey fan. I do not know the rules or strategy. I don’t even know how to skate. But, time out with my wife, daughter, son-in-law, son and son’s friend sounded like fun. So there we are on the second level near the end of the rink. The place was about half-full. The game started with some crowd warmup stuff like singing songs and doing cheers and we joined in having a good time. When our team scored we stood and cheered like we were their best fans. When they threw T-shirts we stood and yelled for them to throw one our way. We laughed and had a good time just having fun with a nice crowd of people.   

People I admire – RW

Shortly after I started pastoring, I subscribed to the weekly teaching messages from Saddleback Valley Community Church (now Saddleback Church) in California. Rick Warren is the Sr Pastor. I then read his book The Purpose Driven Church (The Purpose Driven Life came later). Over the years I’ve listened to other teaching tapes I ordered from his ministry.    

 

I have never met the man. I have never seen him teach, live in person. But he has added to my life in significant ways. Rick has a way of wording things that sticks with me. I admire how much he gives to other pastors. I admire how he has faithfully run the race marked out for him. I admire how he seems to be himself.

 

In a way he has mentored me from a distance. He has helped me in my understanding of and service to Jesus Christ. Thanks Mr. Warren! 

 

Fragmented 5

How do we help fragmented people? Do I need to tell people about Jesus if I am helping them? If I don’t tell them about Jesus aren’t I failing? If all I do is meet a physical need, emotional need, or financial need is that enough? Yes and No. We meet needs because we love people. Every time we help another person we do not need to try and squeeze in the gospel. But, and this is a big but, do we get around to sharing the Good News verbally. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Rom 1.16). How can they believe unless they have heard (Rom 10.14)? Fragmented people will never experience ONEness without Jesus Christ. We have been given the mission of telling them. Most Christ followers start choking up or backing up at this point because of several reasons. Don’t do it! If you are unclear what the Good News is, ask someone, or do a study. If you are unclear it will rob you of confidence. I am not talking about having all of the answers. Also, ask yourself what God has done in your life. Start with what you know and grow from there. Get in the habit of sharing. I was tempted to throw in a guilt phrase, but my guess is you have felt guilt often enough. Let me cheerlead for you…”You can do it!” And when you share, let me know and I will celebrate with you again. I am convinced we help fragmented people when we share the Good News with them. Are you? 

Fragmented 4

How do we help fragmented people? Keep in mind, “Fragmented” does not mean less than. It means they need help with life. Help with living the life God intends for us.

For me, the answer to this question has taken different forms over the years. Earlier in my journey, it meant sitting in a classroom with 5 year olds attempting to teach them something about Jesus. Then it meant assisting another man as we tried to influence the lives of Jr Highers. At one time it meant throwing a party where no one showed up. OK, so that was not a very successful attempt at helping fragmented people. With a friend I have found myself cleaning out a woman’s drain pipe because she couldn’t afford to hire a plumber. I have been involved in many different kinds of teaching situations. I have sat with a mom and dad as they mourned the loss of their baby. My point is, helping fragmented people looks different at different times.

What are we willing to pay to help fragmented people? So that we can obey the commission God has given to us. The cost comes in doing what needs to be done. The cost comes in the form of not going fishing. The cost comes as I stop to put gas in my gas tank. The cost comes in opening up our homes. The cost come in a variety of forms. Let me encourage you, “It is worth the price you will have to pay to be part of this adventure!”