Revolt Towards

Closing the Door On the Notion We Need Something More Than Him

   

So last week, I was praying for a job I had bid on. The job estimate was for a decent amount of money and my prayer was this: "God, I pray that this contract comes through because you know I need it because I need the money." 

Immediately I stopped myself and stopped my prayer.

"What?!" I asked myself. What was I praying? Did I even realize the words I was saying? Well, actually, I did. It hit me very quickly that I was praying for the wrong thing and from the wrong place. The reality is this:
All I need is Jesus.

And immediately, I got this revelation:
Only when we close the door to the notion that we need something more than Him, will we position ourselves to receive all He knows we DO need.

This goes for anything we place ahead of him, be it money, love, relationships, family, career, position, titles or as hard as it may be to hear, even justice on the earth.

So I challenge each of us, like I challenged myself, to reorient my life to remember that all I need is Him. Once I have Him, all I need will come. And sometimes, we will get to some of the things we desire, but that can't be our focus. We must fix our eyes on Him, seeking His kingdom, and all we need will be given to us. 

Matthew 6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.

Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith...

Justice Isn't About Me

So yesterday I was driving home and I got off the 101 when I saw this woman holding a sign that said "Pregnant. Please help!" While I've come across signs like this before, this one was different. This woman was holding her face with her free hand as tears came streaming down her face. Through my thin car windows, I could hear the groan of her sadness and the reality of her situation made me reach for my wallet. Only I was too slow and the light was green and I'm praying, "Jesus, should I go back!? What should I do?" 

All I heard was, "Joel, this one isn't yours."

Out of all the times I've helped people and given my change, here was a woman whose tearful moaning still had my ears ringing and I was ready to do whatever it took, and all I hear, or what I think I hear is, "This one isn't yours, Joel." 

I was pissed! As I continued driving, I wanted to cry and was completely frustrated inside. 

That was when He spoke.

"Joel, my justice isn't about you."

But I was ready to sacrifice anything! Go anywhere! Do whatever it took to help this woman!

"It's not about you, Joel. It never was or will be..."

"My justice on the earth has nothing to do with you feeling good about yourself, but justice in her life is as much about you as it is about her. Justice, the kind of justice I'm looking for, is ultimately an issue of worship, Joel. My justice for you right now is to be obedient to me because your obedience—your worship by listening to me—is better than your sacrifice. This one isn't yours to tackle. This is where you trust me—an act of worship—that I'm big enough to take care of her and let justice come."

Of course, I was floored. Mad, but at the same time, taken aback at this revelation.

It's not about me. I wanted to help, but my help and action can't supersede listening to the King. If I were to have acted on my own in this situation and enacted my own sense of justice and my own sense of Joel's righteousness in the situation, then who knows what ramifications that would of had. Am I worried about the ramifications of me not helping her when I had the means to do so? Well, while something like this had never happened before, it doesn't change that Jesus quickly was teaching me to trust Him. To trust Him that me not acting doesn't mean I was inactive. I prayed for her the rest of the way home (and even wrestled with my own believes that we need to become the prayers we pray). But frankly, I would rather be pissed off at God for being obedient (because He can handle it), than to have missed this lesson all together because I just blindly acted on my compassion.

Hebrews 1:8
But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.

If I enact my own sense of what I think justice is, then I play God. I put myself as the one holding the scepter of justice. But I don't hold the scepter—only the King does and we are all subject to him. I do believe this only applies to us who call Jesus our King. The Red Cross, Oxfam, FEMA, UNICEF—they will all call their own shots. But as people who "proclaim another King", I want to make sure I also never go to the frontlines on the battlefields of justice without knowing what my King is doing. 

It's about His justice, not mine. It's about His righteousness on the earth, not mine. And both those things mean that bringing His righteousness and justice ultimately comes down to worship of Jesus and not our own ideas, plans and the best-laid intentions. 

If the pursuit of justice ever becomes about our own glory, we might as well be making a golden calf from the gold found in our lofty, compassionate pursuits. True justice on the earth from the One who sees and knows all things and all scenarios, is never about me and never will be—it will always be about Him as long as I (we) let Him have His way.

Van Gogh on Fear...

"I tell you, if one wants to be active, one must not be afraid of going wrong, one must not be afraid of making mistakes now and then. Many people think that they will become good just by doing no harm – but that's a lie, and you yourself used to call it that. That way lies stagnation, mediocrity. Just slap anything on when you see a blank canvas staring you in the face like some imbecile. You don't know how paralyzing that is, that stare of a blank canvas is, which says to the painter, You can't do a thing. The canvas has an idiotic stare and mesmerizes some painters so much that they turn into idiots themselves. Many painters are afraid in front of the blank canvas, but the blank canvas is afraid of the real, passionate painter who dares and who has broken the spell of `you can't' once and for all. 

Life itself, too, is forever turning an infinitely vacant, dispiriting blank side towards man on which nothing appears, any more than it does on a blank canvas. But no matter how vacant and vain, how dead life may appear to be,the man of faith, of energy, of warmth, who knows something, will not be put off so easily. He wades in and does something and stays with it, in short, he violates, "defiles" – they say. Let them talk, those cold theologians." 

 - Vincent Van Gogh (who did not pick up a paint brush until he was 30 years old)

Lessons from La Mancha

I was watching this other day and was moved by how good the lyrics are and something we could all glean from as we pursue a life bringing justice and love to the world around us.

It is the mission of each true knight... 

His duty... nay, his privilege!

To dream the impossible dream,
To fight the unbeatable foe,
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go;
To right the unrightable wrong.

To love, pure and chaste, from afar,
To try, when your arms are too weary,
To reach the unreachable star!

This is my Quest to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far,
To fight for the right
Without question or pause,
To be willing to march into hell
For a heavenly cause!

And I know, if I'll only be true
To this glorious Quest,
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest.

And the world will be better for this,
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach the unreachable stars!

The Restoration of All Things

"Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,  and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." 

- Acts 3:19-21

In this series we have walked through a lot of theology, a lot of definitions and a lot of study. We have covered why we must pursue justice, not simply from a place of "doing" good works, but from a place of intimacy with our King—every action, gesture and effort to bring the Kingdom to Earth must flow out of our friendship with Jesus.

This article opened with Acts 3:19-21, which states that we should repent so times of refreshing may come and that "He [God] may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all things".

What does this mean for us? It means that heaven and Father God have a hold on Jesus until the earth is restored to the way God intended it to be. How can this be, you might be asking? Why would the Father be withholding His Son from the world? What is God waiting for? The Father is waiting for us.

This does not mean that the Father and the Son are twiddling their thumbs while we fumble our way through our own messes, as we strived to usher in this "restoration". Jesus intentionally left the world and intentionally left His Spirit for us to be our counselor (John 16:7). In the Greek text, the word for counselor is "paracletos", which means: one called to the side of another for the purpose of helping him in any way. Many of you will hopefully find yourselves on your faces, in worship and in your prayer closets protesting through prayer the injustice in our day. It is in these places we need to give space for the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. 

THE HEART TRANSPLANT

I truly believe that heaven is waiting and the world is watching the Bride of Christ to see what we do and hear what we say. There will always be the many soothsayers out there that say Christianity is a dying religion. The 'Revival of Justice" has started, but as history reveals time and time again, revivals come and go. Frankly, simply reviving the heart of Church won't work in this next season. Even worse, the world cannot afford it. Rather, Heaven is looking to give us a complete heart transplant, where we replace our hearts with His. This transplant comes from us going to the deep places and the secret places with our God. It will only be out of intimacy that we can get there because justice and righteousness start from the inside, out. In fact, God leads us into righteousness and one day we will be judged by how much our righteousness aligned with His:

He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness (justice) 

for his name's sake.

Psalm 23:3

Judgment will again be founded on righteousness, 

and all the upright in heart will follow it.

Psalm 94:15

Our journey to usher justice and righteousness on the earth is an inner one that begins in my heart and yours and the outflow of that is supposed to reach to the ends of the earth.

THE NEW BREED OF LOVERS 

I know and believe there is a New Breed of Lovers arising who will understand the deep places found in the heart of Father, who want to see everlasting justice and righteousness here on earth. This new breed doesn't look like the generations before it. Many have swung the pendulum to one side or the other, putting too much weight on justice and action while forgetting the relationship, worship and prayer. Or on the side, spending so much time on the relationship, worship and prayer that opportunities for justice and action were ignored or missed altogether. 

This New Breed of Lovers know what it takes. They know the cost. They know that good works and deeds in the streets, alleys and public squares alone won't cut it. They also know that the prayer closets alone are too boring. But they know it takes both—starting with the secret histories alone with God so that the strategies of Heaven can be fashioned and fleshed out in the public arenas. 

I hope as you read this, you want to be a part of this new breed. Next week, I will be giving you an outlet to how all this is fleshed out with a new website I will be launching. Stay tuned, my friends. If you have any thoughts or comments, please send them my way as well. Would love to hear them!

A Public Prayer of Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving

As many of us sit down today to reflect, be thankful and eat a ton of food, this historic proclamation of “A Day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer” was supposedly issued by George Washington during his first year as President:

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor--and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their Joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be--That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions--to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us--and generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go. Washington

Prayer as Protest: Somali Christians struggle in Kenya

Let's use this day before Thanksgiving to pray and remember our friends around the world being persecuted...

In a secluded house just outside the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, a group of men and women meet at least once a week to worship in secret. 

Their prayer session is simple and conducted in Somali. Elders take turns to pray or read verses from the Somali bible before a sermon is delivered. There are dozens of Somalis living in Nairobi who have converted from Islam to Christianity. Some say they have been practising Christianity for more than 10 years. But they live in constant fear of persecution from members of the Somali community, which is predominantly Muslim. There is a sizeable Somali community in Kenya, comprising ethnic Somali Kenyans, and a large number of refugees from Somalia. Most of the community lives in Nairobi's Eastleigh Estate, which is now referred to as Little Mogadishu, after Somalia's capital.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7464035.stm

Practical Thanksgiving

I'm as big a fan of Christmas as anybody, but I fear that Thanksgiving gets inadvertently tossed by the wayside in anticipation of Christmas. In an effort to remedy the situation and bring much-deserved respect back to this esteemed holiday, I propose the following. 

• Find a family in need (If you work for a church, this should not be difficult. Likewise if you attend a church. If you do neither, just pick one and call them to ask for recommendations.). Someone who has recently lost a job, someone with an illness or injury in the family, a recently-divorced single parent, or someone with a home that's been foreclosed on are all good places to start. Contact that family and find out what needs they have that you can meet. If they need food, provide it. If they need a job, make it your job to help find one. Just do what you'd do if it were your own family.


• Buy some solid-color cloth napkins for everyone at your Thanksgiving table, along with paint pens or non-toxic permanent markers. At the beginning of your feast, have everyone write one or two Thankful For items on the napkin. Wash and re-use these same napkins for many Turkey Days to come, adding new items every year. (Can also be done with a plain tablecloth.)


• Tell service workers you encounter that you're thankful for the work they do, and really mean it - people like teachers, mail carriers, law enforcement, and nurses. This might also be accompanied by an inexpensive gift like cookies, a handwritten note, or a scarf.


• Spend time thinking (alone or with your immediate family) about things you are not thankful for right now, and consider the ways in which they might be repositioned. Remember I Thessalonians 5:18: "Give thanks in all circumstances." There is something to be thankful for in every situation.  

From Beth Nelson over at Catalyst.

World Through Their Eyes:Russia

To All my Friends, Family and Readers!

I will be leaving on October 10 to October 24 on a trip to Russia and Latvia. As some of you know, I headed off to Russia in 2004 and 2005. During these trips, I made a lot of friends and it has been three years too long since seeing them. While this trip is short, I am very excited to be going back to the nation of Russia to hang out with kids and also to reestablish my friendships and connect to the country. I will also be going to Latvia to see what can be done in the way of raising up Latvian leaders and also learning about their cultural context and how they are dealing with the surge in sex trafficking.

As my friends and family, it truly excites me that you are inadvertently joining me in this endeavor as I go to Russia. In September of 2005, four of us traveled to Russia to encounter its children. Not just any children, however. These children were the lost ones, the ignored ones—the ones left behind by any number of excuses. We in the West might call them orphans. For us on this trip, it was believing through our faith that we have all been adopted as sons and daughters of heaven with no room to be left as orphans. For the four of us on this journey, we fell in love and these children became ours and we called them our own.

Engage recently compiled a book of photographs, all taken by the Russian children while we were there titled World Through Their Eyes:Russia. We are offering these 70-page photo books for sale for $33 dollars.

We have partnered with a couple groups who are on the ground in the Ryazan region and fifty-percent of the proceeds of this book go into directly helping children like these (the rest goes into printing these one-of-a-kind books). We are looking to sell 200 of them between now and Christmas. They are also the perfect gift for the holidays that are quickly approaching.

Now Ready to Print and Ship! Click here to order the book!

If you feel led, I could always use the financial support through PayPal as this trip isn't cheap and you can also purchase a new book, World Through Their Eyes:Russia to help those Russian young people in transition from the institutional life to the real world.

However, beyond finances, I really feel the best thing I could ever receive are your prayers.I would definitely appreciate all prayers while I'm away as the US and Russia relations have been tense as of late, but also prayers that the doors are open that need to be open and the Spirit of God goes before me as I reconnect there. If you can commit to giving  a 'shout out', even as you read this, that to me is all I truly need.

Quote of the Week (9.23.08)

History says, Don’t hope on this side of the grave. But then, once in a lifetime the longed-for tidal wave of justice can rise up, and hope and history rhyme.

So hope for a great sea-change on the far side of revenge. Believe that a further shore is reachable from here. Believe in miracles and cures and healing wells.

- Seamus Heaney

The Cure at Troy: A Version of Sophocles's Philocetes