LeadershipConneXtions

Paying Attention

The images in this post are all images of the Prophet Isaiah.

 

Here are the words of God through the prophet Isaiah:


  

I am the Lord your God

who teaches you what is best for you

who directs (leads) you in the way you should go.

If only you have paid attention to my commands . . .

Isaiah 48:17-18

This Old Testament language resonates with Jesus' words that His father is always working and He too is at work (John 5:17) and Paul's exhortation about keeping in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25).

And this language in Isaiah is "present tense" meaning that God is right now teaching us what is best, and God is right now directing and leading us in the way we should go.

The Presence, Work and Word of God are always present tense for us.

AND . . .

They are always personal.

It is not enough to intellectually affirm that God teaches us through His word. It is essential to believe this, but it is not enough to hold to this belief.

The vital next step is to have the Personal Knowledge of insight and guidance from God today.

What is God doing specifically in my life today?
 
What lessons does God want to teach me, specifically, today?
 
What ways does God want me to move, specifically, today?

We often spend too much time propositionally affirming "truth in general" and never take the vital, next step of personal encounter and specific knowing of what this truth means for me, right here, right now.

To take this next step, it means I must learn to PAY ATTENTION. Something the Israelites, did not do. They did not notice, they did not attend to, they did not discern, they did not engage with, they did not reflect on, they did not penetrate . . . and they did not live in to and then live out of God's Truth. 

To say it the way, theologian J.I. Packer said it in Knowing God, it is not enough to know about God, even when we have accurate knowledge about Him. The biblical reality is that we are meant to personally know God. Which means personal encounter and daily experience.

So, today, I need to pay attention.

In this ADVENT season, I especially pay attention to the God/Christ who is with us.

May you pay attention as well and be surprised with joy at attending to Immanuel.

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

A Prayer and an Exhortation (from St. John of the Cross and Thomas Merton)

The other day, my friend Gordon shared a prayer from Thomas Merton and an exhortation from St. John of the Cross. Here they are. May they move you as the moved me when they were shared.

  

However high be your endeavors, unless you renounce and subjugate your own will - unless you forget yourself and all that pertains to yourself - not one step will you advance on the road to perfection.  

St. John of the Cross, Spanish mystic (1542-1591)

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My Lord

I have no hope but in Your Cross.

You by YOur humility,

and suffering and death,

have delivered me from all vain hope.

You have killed the vanity of the present life

in Yourself,

and have given me all that is eternal

in rising from the dead. . . .
 

If I trust You,

everything else will become, for me,

strength, healthy and support.

Everything will bring me to heaven.

If I do not trust you,

everything will be my destruction.

A-men

(Thomas Merton) 

  

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

Patient Trust (by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ)

Here is a very moving thought sent to me from Randy Reimold. de Chardin was a Jesuit who ran afoul of the Roman Catholic officials for some of his less than orthodox theology.

This thought shows some of the profound spirituality the man lived in. If you know the Jesuit way of spirituality, this brief reflection makes even more sense.

For anyone who is interested in the developmental processes of life, you will enjoy this encouragementto be patient in your trust.

Thanks Randy.

bkr

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Patient Trust

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability---and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you.
Your ideas mature gradually--let them grow,
Let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don't try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.
Give our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

Self-Denial

Here is a little thought to follow up the message on reJesus: the Way of the Wild Messiah. In Mark 8:34 - 9:1, one of the spiritual practices we must do is learn the art of self-denial. Here is a (as to be expected) profound thought from C.S. Lewis on why we practice self-denial. It is his brief commentary on the command of Jesus.

Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it… Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead.   C. S. Lewis

May we learn the art of self-denial and be committed to its regular practice.

Brian Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

p.s.  C.S. Lewis was once asked, "Will we have our books in heaven?" To which he answered, "Only those which were lent out and never returned."  (paraphrased) 

reJesus: The Way of the Wild Messiah

Here is that reJesus Model out of Mark 8:34 - 9:1 as a PDF.

Download ReJesus model

I have borrowed the idea of reJesus and the way of the wild messiah from Frost and Hirsch. But the model that I put here is my own. It was launched out of their reJesus idea.

For the audio message (TO BE POSTED on Monday or Tuesday), go to:  Messy Stories From Mark.

Click on Display Message Series.

Click on reJesus.

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And check out this book as well.

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

With Jesus: The Jesuit Way

First, it should be noted that the Jesuits are the Society of Jesus (or) the Company of Jesus. It was company in the Spanish language, which was better to communicate the friendship they had with one another and with Jesus. When it was translated into the Latin, it became Society, which sounds more organizational.

It makes sense that those who have the dream (or audacity) to call themselves "a company of Jesus" had better figure out how they are going to be with Jesus in companionship. And figure it out they did.

The main tool was using the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius. Central to this process was the prayerful experience of entering the stories of Jesus through imagination, lectio divina reflections and twice daily examinations of how and where they are experiencing His Presence.

It takes time to learn these spiritual formation practices that bring one into the Presence of Christ. But as you gain experience you begin to discover Jesus, what he is doing and what he is saying to you. Then, the response is called for.

I am (slowly) working on putting these practices in a format that is evangelical friendly, complete with process, and capable of being done without a spiritual director (although having a skilled director is ideal, but not usually possible).

This was, perhaps, one of the most significant themes we discussed the week I was in Carlos Paz and Cordoba. We all had the sense that Christ was inviting us into a deeper experience of himself that would lead to transformative learning and missional engagement in the world.

With Jesus. It is that simple, that vital, that unusual, that difficult. But the world is still waiting to "see Jesus" (John 12;21).

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

With Jesus

reJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church

It is a very good book by two insightful missiologists from Austrailia (Frost and Hirsch).

Before I read this book, I had been thinking about the way of Jesus for developing leaders. A simple but profound pattern emerged for me as I studied the Gospels.

Jesus first invited his disciples to Be With Him. Relationship comes first. Friendship, presence, intimacy are what we are first invited to experience. The Incarnation of Christ (God with us) makes Invitation (us with God) possible. 

Now that we are with Jesus, we are able to engage in Relational Learning From Jesus. This relational learning is holistic and rooted in a context. It is not a simple academic or theoretical learning. It is holistic in the sense of learning of belief, values, character, experiences, vision, passion, relational behaviors... Jesus modeled everything for those who were with him. He revealed a comprehensive WAY.

This kind of learning makes Transformation By Jesus a real possibility and it avoids the prevailing problem of non-transformative learning. This is the way we move into the imitation of Christ the the "re-imaging of our lives" back to what was lost in the fall.

Finally, with Christ-likeness, we are now able to Do the Work of Jesus in the Way of Jesus. As the Father sent Jesus, Jesus plans to send us out into the world with his mission. But we can't and won't do his work in his way until we have been transformed and become like Jesus. That can't happen unless we are learning from Jesus and that won't occur until we are with Jesus.

SO . . . it comes down to a simple but urgent question:  How can I be with Jesus?  Frost and Hirsch believe that problems in the church (ecclesiology) are the result of not having a Wild Messiah. Likewise, problems with our mission is not having a Wild Messiah who leads us to mission. Problems with the church and mission are not going to be fixed with a new technique or strategy or method. Those things are the temptations, distraction and idols of our Christian age. They are going to be addressed when we learn how to experience God's presence, work and Word in personal and communal ways.

SO . . . again - How can I be with Jesus?

That is tomorrow's post. And maybe it won't surprise you, but the Jesuits show us one way.

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
ww.lci.typepad.com

Prayers of Surrender

I believe that issues of trust and surrender are at the deepest places of our interior world and relationship with Christ. So I am always attune to prayers that move me further along in those realities. Here are two such prayers.

The first is from Ignatius of Loyola and his Spiritual Exercises.

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, 

my memory, my understanding, and all my will -- 

all that I have and possess. 

You, Lord, have given all to me. 

I now give it back to you, O Lord. 

All of it is yours. 

Dispose of it according to your will. 

Give me love of yourself along with your grace, 

for that is enough for me.  

(Ignatius)

 The second is from Nikos Kazantzakis "as he was in old age, standing facing the abyss, tranquilly and fearlessly" (Walter Burghardt, SJ).

There are three kinds of souls,

three kinds of prayers.

One: I am a bow in your hands, Lord.

Draw me lest I rot.

Two: Do not overdraw me.

Lord, I shall break.

Three: Overdraw me, and who cares if I break.

Choose!

 (Kazantzakis)

These are two prayers worth your reflection and offering to God

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

Without God . . . (Thoughts From Augustine, not to mention Jesus and Paul)

Augustine once wrote, "Without God we cannot; without us, He will not."

Augustine was getting at the constant tightrope we walk. It is the tightrope of Divine-human interface. It is the intersection of God's Sovereignty and our responsibility. It is the converging of supernatural power and human effort.  And it is a rather messy, mysterious place to live.

How hard to I need to work?

How active must I be for fruitfulness?

What does God do and what do I do?

Does my effort even matter?

Is it mainly up to me to be faithful and diligent and disciplined?

Add a dozen more questions and we see the importance and the complexity of this interface.

In our time, I think we are in the pendulum shift that is well on the side of human effort and not understanding the sovereign, divine, empowering side. We have the tendency to look for new techniques, methodologies, formulas, and skills that will "make the difference" in my ministry or work place. We do not naturally think of nurturing and deepening our relationship with God when things are not going well. 

In a recent post, I talked about Functional Atheism and Evangelical Deism which are widespread problems among us.

 

 

Then, the other day I was spending some time on a lectio divina reading of John 15:1-8. If you have a Bible handy, it will be worthwhile for you to turn there and read that passage right now. It is the Vine and Branches text. Jesus makes it crystal clear when he says:

Apart from me you can do nothing.  (vs. 5)

I looked up the Greek word for nothing to see what it meant. After applying all my formidable, exegetical skills and linguistic acumen - I came to the realization that the Greek word for nothing means - nothing. I was kind of hoping the word really could be translated - something. Or maybe "a little." Heck, I would be satisfied if I could sneak in "just a smidgeon" as a legitimate translation. 

Sorry... it can't be done.

Without Jesus . . . nothing!  So if I decide to work twice as hard, but without Jesus, two x nothing = a bigger amount of NOTHING.  That is, to say it mildly, a bit of a wake up call. And it supports what Augustine said in the first half of his sentence:

Without God we cannot . . .        

 
But Jesus also said that you and I are the ones to bear much fruit that lasts (verses 8 and 16). We are the ones responsible to bear fruit. God isn't the one who is doing it. We are the ones responsible to do ministry, not God. We who follow Jesus are the ones who do the work of service. This is the second half of Augustine's spiritual equation:

       . . . without us, He will not.

I'd like to recommend for your personal reflection, three very significant passages that contributes to how we think about the divine - human interface and how we can live there.  These are worth a good Bible study and a follow up lectio reflection.

Therefore . . . continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.  (Philippians 2:12-13)

(and)

To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy which so powerfully works in me.    (Colossians 1:29, see the larger context of Colossians 1:28 - 2:3)

(and)

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.    (1 Corinthians 15:10)

May you have Spirit inspired reflections on these passages.

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
ww.lci.typepad.com

Eternity in Our Heart (Huxley and Lewis and their worldviews)

Here was a great thought I found in Conformed to His Image by Kenneth Boa, page 388-389. This is copied directly from those two pages.

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Near the end of his life, Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, arrived at this conclusion: "It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one's life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than 'Try to be a little kinder.'" Without God, humanistic answers to the questions of earthly existence ultimately reduce to naive bromides and platitudes. . . .
 

Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that God has set eternity in our hearts. Since this is so, people have deeply embedded desires for meaning and fulfillment that no natural happiness will satisfy. In the Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis observes that "almost our whole education has been directed to silencing this shy, persistent, inner voice; almost all our modern philosophies have been devised to convince us that the good of man is to be found on this earth." Someone noted that while people in our culture are reading the Times, we should be reading the eternities. The more we develop a biblical perspective, the clearer we see the true emptiness and hopelessness of people without Christ.

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NOTE:   By the way, the reference to reading the Times and reading the eternities comes from Peter Kreeft, another very wise author.

A friend of mine once said it to me this way. Origins and Destinations matter supremely. If we came from nothing (origin) and are going into nothing (destination) then it is more than a little difficult to conclude that is in-between these nothings is something of significance. 

On the other hand, if we have a Creator (Ephesians 2:10) and we have a Destiny (eternally with that Creator in love or apart from that Creator in rebellion) then what lies in-between is supremely important. 

Huxley realized how silly his atheistic, humanistic views were... and he had little to say other than offer a platitude - try to be a little kinder - to which one could really ask - "Why?"

Lewis (as well as Kreeft, Boa and the author of Ecclesiastes, among others) knows that we are interacting with people who will one day be either so magnificent in their glory, that if we saw them we would fall down and worship them is if they were a god... or so horrible in their evil that we would flee from them for the horror they have become. 

Today we "get to" be about the task of building a life that reflects the glory of Christ. Today can be a really great day.

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership  ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

Psalm 90 (A short reflection)

If it has been some time since you read Psalm 90, it will be worthwhile for you to read it soon (maybe today). There are so many significant thoughts in this Psalm, but I'll focus on this thought.

This Psalm is about the brevity of life and the everlasting God. We are like dust, we are like new grass cut down, we have 70...maybe 80 years that have much difficult in them and which fly by.

Therefore, the Psalmist, Moses prays:

Teach us to number our days aright
 that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
 (90:12)

A life that is well lived and that has a legacy worth leaving is a life, that from very early, knows how short life is and orders that life in view of eternity. Especially, that means living your life in the Presence of God. That is all throughout the Psalm.

• God is the ever lasting God.
• God returns men to the dust from which they came.
• God sees all of our iniquities.
• God is a moral God who hates sin. (the anger and wrath of God is mentioned several times in the Psalm)
• God is the one who can satisfy us with his unfailing love.
• God is the one who can make us glad through the course of our lives.
• God is the one who can establish the work of our hands.

To number our days rightly, means we live knowing these things. We make decisions and establish priorities accordingly. We choose values and purpose that are fitting. And as we do this, we find that we are gaining a heart of wisdom. A well ordered life is what makes possible the gaining of wisdom... and conversely, the more wisdom we gain, the better we can "number our days aright."

A well-ordered life, a heart of wisdom - this is the way for all our works, all our labors, all our ministries, all our vision inspired efforts to be established by God. 

I read this Psalm a few days ago because a friend had just passed away and he had a wonderful legacy he left behind. As I listened to the eulogy and the message, it was very evident that this wonderful legacy was possible, because many long decades ago, he had "numbered his days aright and in doing so, he gained a heart of wisdom. His legacy, therefore, was established by the power of God.

May the same be true for us.

Coram Deo...

Brian K. Rice 
Leadership ConneXtions International 
www.lci.typepad.com

The Prayer of Saint Patrick

I have an interest in Celtic Christianity and Spirituality for a number of reasons, none of which I'll go into in this post.  Well, except for one . . .

Here is a well-known prayer from Saint Patrick, the 5th century missionary to Ireland. It is a prayer of trust, of need for God's strength and protection, of awareness that spiritual warfare is constant, and that Christ is present.

I encourage you to slowly pray this prayer every day for a week or so. Reflect on it, receive grace while you pray, let it shape your mind and heart.

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I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity
By invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three.
I bind this day to me for ever, by power of faith,
Christ's Incarnation; His baptism in the Jordan river;

His death on the cross for my salvation.
His bursting from the spiced tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom;
I bind unto myself today.

I bind myself today the power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch,
His might to stay,
His ear hearken to my need;
The wisdom of God to teach,
His hand to guide,
His shield to ward,
The Word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against all Satan's spells and wiles,
against false words of heresy,
against the knowledge that defiles,
against the heart's idolatry,
against the wizard's evil craft,
against the death-wound and the burning,
the choking wave,
the poisoned shaft,
protect me Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me,
Christ within me,
Christ behind me,
Christ before me,
Christ beside me,
Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ in quiet,
Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same, the Three in One and One in Three,
Of whom all nature hath creation, Eternal Father, Spirit, Word,
Praise to the Lord of my salvation; 
Salvation is of Christ my Lord.

Brian Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

Psalm 139:23-24

I was working on "Week One" in the Ignatian, Spiritual Exercises, for several weeks.

Week One is a metaphor for the time of reflecting on one's sin. I've now done 16+ exercises. I have had some powerful reflections and prayer times as I work through these exercises.

Here is a centering prayer and What I Desire combined in to one. It comes from Psalm 139:23-24.

It is the prayer that longs for self-awareness and yet knows the deceptiveness of the human heart and the difficulty of true self-assessment.

  

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me and know my anxious thoughts;

And see if there is any hurtful way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.

Watch over your heart with all diligence,

For from it flow the springs of life.

Psalm 139:23-24

I love the balance contained in these two verses. This is not self-sufficient, self-discovery. It is a searching that presupposes the prior work of the Searching God. And yet, nor is it passive. "Watch over your heart with all diligence."  It is prayer and it is action. It is neediness and obedience. It is trust and responsibility. It is the messy, mysterious, magnificent choreography of the Spirit of God in the human heart that invites us into the dance.

Perhaps this would be a good prayer for you to use in the days ahead.
  
Brian Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

A Prayer of Gratitude and Faith

Miriam Phillis recently sent me this prayer, which has been speaking to her.  It moved me as well, so I asked if I could post it and she said yes. 

On this Lord's Day, this prayer is a good one to offer; and perhaps do a little lectio divina reflection over.

For all that has been: thank you. 
 For all that will be: yes.
 Dag Hammarskjold

 

 Miriam Phillips
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Ordinary People Who Had Been With Jesus

Here is a pretty striking verse from the book of Acts. Peter and John are preaching about Christ and the Sadducees (the religious rulers who had been involved in the crucifixion of Christ come to see what is going on. Here is what these religious leaders noted about the apostles.

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

When ordinary people, who apparently don't have much going for them, learn how to be with Jesus in transformative relationship, well, to say it simply - these people can become extraordinary.

May you learn how to be with Jesus in the weeks ahead and become an extraordinary individual.

Brian Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

Pascal on Trusting God In All Things

Here is a moving prayer from Pascal, Pensees. It is a prayer of trust, of surrender, of peace and hope in the goodness and the sovereignty of God.

It is the kind of prayer that leaders must learn how to pray. For we (most of us) will struggle with self-sufficiency, independency and the tendency to ask God to bless our plans, rather than to search out His will, no matter what that will is.
 

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With perfect consistency of mind,
help me to receive all manner of events.
 
For we know not what to ask,
and we cannot ask for one event rather than another without presumption.
We cannot desire a specific action without presuming to be a judge,
and assuming responsibility for what in Your wisdom You may hide from me.

O Lord, I know only one thing,
and that is that it is good to follow You and wicked to offend You.
Beyond this, I do not know what is good for me,
whether health or sickness,
riches or poverty,
or anything else in this world.
 
This knowledge surpasses both the wisdom of men and angels.
It lies hidden in the secrets of Your providence,
which I adore,
and will not dare to pry open.

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Brian Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

Prayers of Relinquishment

I guess to some degree, authentic blogging has significant elements of spiritual autobiography in it. So, with that said, here are some prayers that I jotted down in my journal yesterday. May they be as moving for you as they were for me. Better yet, may you not need them at all, but if you do, may they be helpful.
 

Father, I want to know Thee
      but my coward heart fears to give up its toys.
      I cannot part with them without inward bleeding
      and I do not try to hide from Thee, the terrors of the parting.

I come trembling, but I do come.

Please root from my heart
      all those things which I have cherished so long
      and which have become a very part of my living self,
      so Thou mayest enter and dwell there without a rival.

Tozer, The Pursuit of God

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Make me ambitious to please Thee
    even if as a result
        I must sink into obscurity
              and my name be forgotten as a dream.

Tozer, uncertain as to the source

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Lord, take away any illusions I may have of becoming great and famous, since you are all those things, and you alone.    John Piper, Desiring God

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O God
I know that if I do not love Thee
with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul and with all my strength
I shall love something else with all my heart and mind, soul and strength.
Grant that putting Thee first in all my lovings
I may be liberated from all lesser loves and loyalties
and love Thee as my first love, my chiefest good and my final joy.

George Appleton, Oxford Book of Prayer

Brian Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

Don't Look at Christians . . . Look at Jesus (Who Came Up With That One?)

"Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request.'

"Sir", they said, "we would like to see Jesus."  (John 12:20-21)

I've said it before.

I've heard it said so many times.

I know why we say it.

In some ways . . . it kinda, sorta, maybe makes sense.

And yet it is utterly wrong and as far from what the Scripture says, as it can be.

Don't Look at Christians . . . Look at Jesus.

That sounds spiritual, pious, like a good thing. After all Jesus is the perfect son of God, full of love and truth, full of grace, the sacrificing servant, the brilliant debater, story-teller, teacher, and so on. And Christians, well, we are a pretty sad lot. Full of sin, hypocrisy, character flaws, suspicious political agendas, sad in-house squabbling and arguments . . . did I mention we have a few quirks as well.  

A friend of mine talks about "Stupid Christian Tricks."  (Good one Dan...). The Door has no end of material to poke fun at Christians. Why would anyone want to decide to become a Christian by looking at Christians? "So don't," the line of reasoning goes, "instead, look at Jesus."

Here is what I think the Bible (and Jesus in the Bible) teaches us instead.

Look at Jesus by looking at Christians.

(or)

Look at Christians so you can see what Jesus is like.

Here is my reasoning for this.

Paul talks about the imitation of Christ and challenges his readers to be about the work of that imitation. (See Ephesians 5:1 and 1 Thessalonians 1:6)

We are being recreated in the image of God. That image and likeness is being restored in us. There is a reconfiguring, a reforming, a restoring of Christ-likeness in us. It is the essence of being a Christian. (See Colossians 3:10)

By the way, let's not overlook the obvious. We are "Christ"ians. (Maybe that is why we like to call ourselves Methodists, Lutherans, pentecostals, evangelicals, fundamentalists . . . It is easier to look like that than to look like Jesus. (See Acts 11:26)

We are the body of Christ and the body is inseparably joined to the head. 

A disciple, by definition, is one who is like the master. A disciple is one who learns from the master, imitates the master, and represents the master.

The same is true for the word ambassador. The ambassador is an extension of the one who sent him/her (2 Corinthians 5:20). Jesus says in John 20:21 that he has sent us out into the world in the same way the Father has sent him. Like Father like Son and now like our Elder Brother Christ, we the sons and daughters of God are sent out to do his work.

God is love, Jesus is love, and that love is the fundamental descriptor and definer of our reordered lives.

God is light. Jesus is the light of the world. We are to let our light (really His light) shine.

Peter even dares to say, we participate in the nature of God.  (See 1 Peter 1:4)

Think godliness and holiness are qualities of the Christian life. Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. Be holy as I am holy, says the Lord. (Matthew 5:48;  1 Peter 1:16)

Maybe it is time we wake up and realize that . . .

They Will Only See Jesus as They See Jesus in His People.

Let's not blow off our responsibility by passing the buck back to Jesus to represent Himself.

Let's be about the radical and wonderful work of transformation, in ourseleves and in those to whom we minister, to the glory of God.

Let's do this for all those who are saying, 

"We would like to see Jesus."

Brian Rice

Leadership  ConneXtions International

Sacred Moments: Queen Esther (For Such a Time as This)

Here are some resources for anyone who wants to go deeper into the life and leadership of Queen Esther.

VIDEOS

Veggie Tales:  Esther - The Girl Who Became Queen.  Yes I know this is a a kid's video and it is cartoon at that. But Veggie Tales are outstanding. With delightful humor that speaks to kids and adults, their videos bring home the biblical lessons. This one is on Queen Esther.  

One Night With the King.  A reasonably accurate rendition of the biblical story and world. It adds a strong element of romance to the story.  The acting is okay... but it may help understand just how hard it was for a young Jewish girl to take a courageous stand.

Pay It Forward is an old movie, but deals with this theme in a pretty powerful way. We can all make a difference because we are all positioned to positively influence someone for the good.

BIBLE STUDY

A Study on the Mentoring Relationships You Need to Succeed.  As you read through the Book of Esther, it is quickly obvious that God brought a number of strategic people into Esther's life at just the right time. Esther enjoyed the benefits of a variety of mentors. This PDF is a study you can use to see the variety of those mentors and also help you do a little assessment of your own situation.

Download MentoringInEsther

Here is a link to a booklet published by Rose Publishing. It is, Esther: Historical Background and Biblical Insight.  

It is short, but packed with loads of background information on the culture, the history, the empires, the politics, and more going on in the book of Esther. Plus it is very readable.

It will be $3.99 plus shipping and handling. I ordered mine and received it very quickly.

Pamphlet on Queen Esther.

By the way, pardon the absolutely wrong choice of a Mid-western blond to be on the cover of a booklet about a dark haired Jewish girl!   What were they thinking?

RECOMMENDED BOOKS

If you want to read just one book that I think will give you some insight into the times in which we live, then get Serious Times by James Emory White. In this book, White describes both the impact of modernity and postmodernity and what it means for the future of the Christian faith.

NOTE:  This is not a devotional kind of book, it will require some thinking and engagement. However, there are devotional gems and nuggets throughout the book.

With that said, there are many good books that help us understand and discern our times and know what we should do in them.

Carpe Manana by Leonard Sweet is another good book. A fun and challenging read. Sweet is a real master of wordsmithing.  Perhaps we must Carpe Deium (Seize the Day) so we may actually Carpe Manana (Seize Tomorrow).

REFLECTION EXERCISE:

God believes this world is worth fighting for. Goodness, shalom, justice, healing, love, truth, the lives of people, the institutions of our society and so much more - are all worth fighting for.

God is inviting you to join with Him in fighting for these things. God has positioned you in places where you can fight for certain things.

What do you believe in so much that it is worth fighting for?

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

Waiting . . . Still Waiting

I am not a good waiter. I'm not talking about working the tables at restaurants, although I don't think I would be good at that either. I'm talking about the other kind of waiting. You know, the kind of waiting that just sits around and waits. 

I don't wait well.

I don't wait long.

I don't do waiting (if I can get away with it).

Waiting in line (any line)... waiting for results... waiting for a reply... waiting for someone to answer the phone... waiting for change... waiting in traffic... waiting for a desired outcome... I don't wait well.

The Waiting Place is not a place where I want to be.

Patience is woven into the mesh of waiting. Patience is not one of my strong suits. I guess you could say that I'm not a good patient.

I probably suffer both from personality/wiring (nature) and growing up in a society that wants immediate responses (nurture). 

Still, I can't deny the fact that patience is a quality of good character and waiting is a virtue.

The old proverb is true:  Good things come to those that wait.

The old adage is true as well:  Most of the worthwhile things in life - require waiting.

Pull out your Bible and look up Proverbs 19:11;  Galatians 5:22; Colossians 3:12;  1 Corinthians 13:4.

The Psalmist says, 

"I waited patiently for the Lord" (Psalm 40:1)

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, an in his word I put my hope" (Psalm 130:5)

The prophet Isaiah says,

 "Blessed are all who wait for him (the God of justice)"  (Isaiah 30:18).

Waiting . . . it is just part of life and part of the Christian journey.

Waiting . . . it is a skill leaders must cultivate. Without it, we will act prematurely, make hasty (and most likely foolish) decisions, blunder into areas where angels fear to go, lead rashly (and call it vision), and respond impulsively.  Think King Saul in 1 Samuel 13:7-14.

What are you waiting for? 

How well is your wait going?

In the end - faith and hope know - it will be worth the wait.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

p.s.  Jane Leech posted a beautiful story of her waiting on God in terms of some vocational longings and how God worked during her long wait.  Just click on the comments link below this post and you can read her story.  Thank-you Jane.

The Farmer's Tale and Kierkegaard's Observation (and a Brief Correction to the Sunday message)

A number of people asked me for the Farmer's Tale I mentioned this past Sunday, so here it is in the context of the message.

Kierkegaard once said, "Life is lived forward, but understood backward." 

We don't easily understand the meaning of what is happening to us until it is past... until later... until it is over... until down the road, we look back with new perspective and we have that dawning realization of hindsight.  "So that's what was going on. So that is what that was all about. Now I understand."

Here is the Farmer's Tale:

A farmer had an old mare that was his plough horse. The mare breaks through a fence and runs away. The farmer's neighbor says, "That's bad." The farmer replies: "Maybe, we'll have to see."

A week later the mare returns, with a magnificent stallion trotting alongside her. The neighbor says, "That's good." The farmer replies, "Maybe, we'll have to see."

That week, the farmer's oldest son, the one who is responsible for much of the work on the farm, goes for a ride on the stallion. The stallion rears up and throws him off. The son breaks his leg and can no longer work in the fields. The neighbor says, "That's bad."  The farmer replies, "Maybe, we'll have to see."

A week later, the king's officials come by, conscripting all the young men of the village into forced military service to fight in the war with the neighboring kingdom. Because he is laid up with a broken leg, the farmer's son does not have to go to war. The neighbor says, "That's good."  To which the farmer replies . . . "Maybe, we'll have to see."

And back to Kierkegaard . . .

This tale illustrates Kierkegaard's point. In the moment, we usually cannot understand the significance of what is happening to us. It is so hard, on the spot, to say definitively - that's good or that's bad. We have to wait and see and, later, look back and understand.

This is one way to understand all that was happening to the nation of Israel and to Moses in Exodus 1-2.

So - what about your life?

What is going on right now?

You may have to wait and see later, what the full significance of today's events are.

And our confidence is that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose.

****************************************************

And the Correction to Sunday's Message.

I can't remember if I said it at both services, I know I said it at the second...

I said that Kierkegaard had his own Burning Bush experience and used the language of fire, fire, fire to describe it. Talk about a mental blooper.  It was Pascal, the French philosopher, inventor, scientist who had that experience.

I just realized that as I was writing this post this morning.

My apologies...

Brian Rice

Leadership  ConneXtions International

Moses / Exodus 3 & 4 / Burning Bushes / Responding to God's Call

Here are some resources as a follow up to today's message at Living Word Community Church. It was the fourth message in the "Sacred Moments" series.

Here is the power point as a PDF that was used for the message.

Download MosesBurningBush PowerPoint

 

Here is the chart with the four categories on it.

Download Four Categories

 

Here is the Bible Study on Exodus 3-4, especially looking at the five fold exchange between God and Moses and inviting you to think about how it applies to you.  Again, it is a PDF.

Download Exodus 3-4 Study and Devotional

 

If you have never seen it, rent the DVD, Prince of Egypt. Yes it is a Disney Animation, but it is pretty well done.  Here is a review of the Prince of Egypt movie about Moses.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

Jacob - We'll Fix You Right Up With a Hip Replacement

There are some times that as I read the Scriptures, I realize just how incredibly counter-cultural, counter-intuitive, counter-typical Christianity, as we normally practice it, is the Word of God.

This story of Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32:22-32 is one more example of what I am talking about. In that encounter, the angel (God manifestation) touches Jacob's hip and it is wrenched and damaged.

Jacob (now Israel) will walk with a limp for the rest of his life. This limp is part of the blessing. He will wear that limp as a badge of honor. It is a forever testimony/reminder that he has faced God, struggled with God, prevailed with God, known God, been renamed by God, TOUCHED by God and now God is with him.

 

The limp will remind Jacob for the rest of his life that he can never go back to the old way of grasping, seizing, supplanting, manipulating, powering his way through life. He can never again see himself as this strong, independent, self-sufficient player. No more. Every morning when he stands up at the beginning of the day, his weakness will remind him – of God.

 

He has been given the gift of perpetual weakness

to keep him permanently dependent on God.

 

It is (in the words of  (Buechner),

 

the  Magnificent Defeat.

Do you know what we'd do about Jacob today? We'd get him to a healing service to get him "healed up." We'd get him to a doctor to get "fixed up" with a hip replacement. We'd get him to work on his levels of faith so he could live in the blessing of God. We'd get him to confess his healing and his prosperity and to walk without a limp.

 

We'd do all this and we would miss God.

 

I'll say it again: The limp is part of the blessing.

 

Paul, of course, picks up with this magnificent defeat theme in 2 Corinthians 12. Dan Allender writes about it in his great book, Leading With a Limp.

 

Counter-intuitive leadership doesn't begin to describe how radical this theology, this spirituality, this ethic is.

 

I don't want to be weak.  I don't want to have weaknesses! I want to have everything fixed and working. I want to be able to do very nicely on my own, by myself, thank you.  So I am the kind of guy who needs a perpetual weakness to keep me permanently dependant.

 

How are you doing on this?  Could you benefit from a perpetual weakness?

 

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

 

Struggling With God (Genesis 32:22-32)

A few Sunday's ago I spoke about Jacob's wrestling/struggle with God (Genesis 32:22-32). After several conversations, I realized that one of the themes I did not communicate very clearly was that the struggle is not an abnormality to the Christian life, but it is an essential part of that life. So here are a few thoughts along that line.

Jacob's name is changed. It is a wonderful thing to receive a new name. Especially when your first one named you as a deceiver, grasper, supplanter.  Now, his name is Israel…. One who struggles with God.

 

Israel is the new name of the new man. That becomes the name of the people he fathers, the name of the Jewish race. It also becomes the name of the church who is described as the New Israel and the True Israel. To be a follower of God is to be one who struggles with God.

 

And I want to emphasize, not STRUGGLED, past tense, but STRUGGLES, present tense.

 

Think of it this way. None of us start out in our story as heroes and certainly not as saints. We begin the journey as misfits, outcasts, and ragamuffins, with the secret of a great possibility within us, of which we know almost nothing. We become heroes and saints through our struggles.  Every good book worth reading, movie worth watching, story worth telling has this theme.

 

Frodo and Sam, simple, lowly Hobbits, become those who deliver Middle Earth from a great evil.

 

Strider, the obscure ranger becomes Aragorn, the returning King of Gondor.

 

Gandalf the Grey becomes Gandalf the White, guide and steward for all free people everywhere.

 

In the Matrix, Neo begins as a computer programmer and is transformed into the Savior of humanity's remnant.

 

An orphan, farmer boy (Luke) grows up to become a Jedi Knight to overthrow the dark side of the force.

 

A teenage Albanian girl becomes a Mother Teresa to the world.

 

A very ordinary black woman, Rosa Parks, takes a stand against southern segregation and a Civil Rights movement seizes the moment to take the national stage.

 

A distraught mother, Candy Lightner, at the death of her daughter by a drunk driver, begins a campaign that shapes the awareness of our nation on this thing called drunk driving when she starts MADD.

 

On and on it goes. Ordinary and less than ordinary people, through their struggles become heroes and saints.  Through the trials and tribulations, the sufferings and sadnesses, the failures, lessons and learnings, we are slowly shaped into the kind of people of whom the world is not worthy and of whom God is pleased to name as His own to that unworthy world (Hebrews 11).

When the dispersed Jewish people lost their ability to read Hebrew, the Old Testament was translated into Greek. (This translation is known as the LXX or Septuagint.) The Jewish translators used a particular Greek word for struggle. The word has the sense of grow stronger, regain one’s strength.

 

Wow!  Normally we think of struggle and we think of growing tired and exhausted.   For some struggles that happens. But there is another struggle that makes us strong and deep. The struggle with God is that kind of struggle.

 

Like the butterfly which must struggle to break out of the cocoon and the very struggle is what makes its wings strong . . . that is what our struggle with God does for us. To abort the struggle, is to short circuit the "strength gaining struggle" which will enable the butterfly to live and fly.

 

Jacob prevailed simply because he endured. He hung in there. In his desperation he clung to God and would not let go. You could not pry his fingers loose.  That is why he “overcame.”  We persevere, we prevail, we endure , not give up, and in doing all that in our struggle – we also are those who overcome.  We overcome because we grow strong as we struggle with God. This is why Buechner calls it a Magnificent Defeat.

 

So, instead of thinking there is something wrong if you are struggling with the hard things of life and God and faith, see your struggle as the way to grow strong. But persevere... go the distance... andknow your name is added to Hebrews 11.

 

I believe it was either Brennan Manning or Thomas Merton (or maybe someone else???) who said, "God loves us in our struggle to be faithful."  To which we say, yes and a-men.

 

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

Ephesians 4:25 - 5:2 and Pockets of Greatness

When my Monday Morning Bible Study group covered this passage in Ephesians, several things really hit me.

Paul is giving very practical, ethical guidance and describing what life as a follower of Christ, life as a member in the body of Christ looks like. He gives five pairs of instructions.

PUT OFF (and then he mentions a quality of the old, former way of life) and then PUT ON (and he mentions the new quality of life that is to replace the old way). This, by itself, was not so striking, but the motivation for doing this was powerful.

Normally, we are encouraged, exhorted, bribed, manipulated, cajoled into doing something, with the primary motivation being - what we gain out of it. The motivation is personal benefit, self-enhancement, the better life in some way. The motivation is MYSELF.

Not for Paul. Paul gives two different motivations for why we do this hard work of putting off old ways and embracing new ways.

The first reason is what has been called The Imitation of Christ. Our deepest motivation is to honor God by the imitation, the re-patterning, the re-imaging, the re-configuring of our life so that it is like His life. I could say it this way. Out of Love for Jesus, we now choose to live in wonderfully different ways.

And the second reason is striking. We engage in all these new behaviors - for the benefit of others! Three times and in three different ways, Paul grounds personal ethics in the community. We live in new and better ways for the sake of others. One of the most striking was when Paul says... stop stealing and get a job. Why? Not so you have money to pursue personal well being and lifestyles of the semi-rich and quasi-famous. Paul says, get a job, so you can then be generous to those who are in need!

Wow, WOW!  Double WOW-WOW.

Then it hit me one more time. Paul, the great interpreter of the Old Testament and the translator of the Messiah Jesus to the Gentile world, is simply fleshing out the Greatest Commandment. Here is what it means to love God and love others.

Pretty cool!  Really radical!  Extremely difficult!  Gloriously possible!

The guys that are in the Bible study are all businessmen. As we are moving our way through Ephesians, each one is processing how this makes a difference for their leadership in the marketplace. 

As we worked through the passage, the intense relationality and radical patterns of new emotional healthiness were hitting each of us.  Worth spending time in and pondering.

Whatever portion of Scripture you are spending time in, may you be moving into the heart of God and His will for your life. And then living out of His heart and will for the blessing of those around you. If you do, this is how you will be creating Pockets of Greatness.

 

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International