Per Venia

I saw a billboard for a new church starting in Ann Arbor, it asked that question. What is your soul craving. It’s a good question. What does my soul crave? How about you? Do we echo the words of David? Psalm 42:2 “I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and stand before him?” Good question!

That phrase has been used over and over.  “It’s all about the power, it’s all about the money, it’s all about the s*x, it’s all about control”  you get the picture don’t you.  The phrase is pretty worn out, what is it about anyway.    Last Sunday I shared some thoughts about community with our church.  Every church needs to examine themselves frequently and answer a few questions.  Why are we here? What are we doing?  What is church anyway?  To a certain extent it all comes back to the statement, “it’s all about the…”  According to John 3:16, the answer is…. people (and by that I mean you, me and everyone else).  It’s about people because God is all about people, specifically reconciling them to Himself in relationship. So our church and every church needs to be a reflection of that singular purpose, my life and every life needs to be a reflection of that purpose.  Discovering the reality of that is the adventure that God calls us to.

What a good day!  We had a good service this morning , I very much enjoyed talking about God’s resolution for us in 2009.  It’s fairly simple and not something we haven’t already heard, He wants us to be like Jesus.  Ephesians 4:22-24 lays it out in three steps, put off your old self, get a new attitude  and put on a new self.  He never says it will be easy, but there is no other way offered in the scripture.
This afternoon I took a short nap and then took the boys sledding and we had a great time!  I’m a little sore but it was worth it! 

That’s what it lloks like outside.  The snow has coated the ground and it looks so fresh and clean.  What a good feeling, to find those fresh mercies from God every morning.  No need to dwell in those failures or trials of yesterday.  Rather we can instead enjoy the freshness of our Father’s abundant grace and mercy for today.

I am writing this on my newest toy, an iPaq pda. My palm wasn’t dng to well. I found this on Craig’s list for 50 bucks and couldn’t pass it up. I know, I know I’m a hopeless geek!

Following is an excerpt from an article on the NY Times website by John Tierney … (I added the italics to distinguish the quote from my own writing.)

“This is an awkward question for a heathen to contemplate, but I felt obliged to raise it with Michael McCullough after reading his report in the upcoming issue of the Psychological Bulletin. He and a fellow psychologist at the University of Miami, Brian Willoughby, have reviewed eight decades of research and concluded that religious belief and piety promote self-control.”

Later it continues …..

“Thinking about the oneness of humanity and the unity of nature doesn’t seem to be related to self-control,” Dr. McCullough said. “The self-control effect seems to come from being engaged in religious institutions and behaviors.”

Does this mean that nonbelievers like me should start going to church? Even if you don’t believe in a supernatural god, you could try improving your self-control by at least going along with the rituals of organized religion.

But that probably wouldn’t work either, Dr. McCullough told me, because personality studies have identified a difference between true believers and others who attend services for extrinsic reasons, like wanting to impress people or make social connections. The intrinsically religious people have higher self-control, but the extrinsically religious do not”

I ran across this while working on a youth lesson about the discipline of solitude, listening and ultimately self-control.  I had to chuckle at it, It seems that they have discovered that true religion (Christianity seems to be referred to primarily)  changes people.  The author does some fairly extensive explanatory gymnastics to get around acknowledging that in Christ we are “new creatures”.  The selfishness that lies at the root of our sinfulness is only dealt with when we have a true salvation experience and our own will is submitted to His.   He even points out (in the second quote above) that just going through the motions won’t cut it, it’s got to be the real thing.  It seems there is no substitute for Jesus living in our hearts!  Gee guys, you think!? 

I’ve continued reading in 1 John today.  The challenge from God’s word today came loud and clear. It opens by reminding me of my family lineage, God loved me so much that I am called a “child of God”.  The verses that follow describe the two primary characteristics of the life of a true child of God.
1. Holiness – 1Jn 3:9  No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.

2. Love – 1Jn 3:10  This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

Sounds simple enough doesn’t it?

Challenges from God’s Word that is. 1 John 2:3 says this ” By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. ” Later in verse 9 John writes that if we hate our “brother” we’re fooling ourselves when it comes to claiming to “walk in the light”.  For those who wonder who qualifies as their brother, I would refer you Jesus story about the “good samaritan” found in Luke 10.  Matthew Henry makes a powerful comment concerning this passage.  He states the following ” Christian love teaches us to value our brother’s soul, and to dread every thing hurtful to his purity and peace. “  Lord , help me to value the souls of those around me and to hate the things that would keep them from You enough to do something about it!

1John1:6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.

This verse challenges me, is there any “darkness” that I’m choosing to walk in? When I read this verse it reminded me that I damage my fellowship with God every time I choose to allow something to exist in my my life that isn’t pleasing to Him. How about you? Any darkness you are “walking” (choosing to allow in your life) in?

Once again I wonder why God has decided to pour out so many blessings on me!  The blessing of Christ’s advent and then so much more beyond.  We had  a great Christmas surprise last night when we went to my in-laws, my wife’s older sister and family were there, we didn’t think they were going to be able to visit this year!  Everyone was there, how fantastic is that!   Prior to that we had Christmas Eve service at church with our church family and I feel humbled by the love and appreciation they give us as well.  We’ll continue to celebrate with my side of the family next week, I can’t wait!  At every turn I am surrounded by Christ’s love , I feel it in my wife’s embrace , I see it in the eyes of my children and hear it in the voices of friends and family.  Thank you Lord for more Christmas blessings than I can count and certainly more than I deserve.