Friday, January 31, 2014

Cattle in a Field of Butchers

From time to time, while reading familiar Scripture, I see something new in a verse or passage that I have never seen beforeand it excites me.  I become like a kid who finds a box of toys in the basement that they haven't seen in a long time and instantly begins playing with new vigor and imagination. 
That happened to me today while reading Matthew 10.  

Jesus is sending out his disciples for a training exercise. Until then they had seen Jesus do some amazing miracles and teach people about the Kingdom of God powerfully.  Now they are the ones being sent out to teach and heal. Classic Jesus discipleship. Starting in verse seven, the instructions go like this...

"As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,[e] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
“Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts 10 no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. 11 Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town."

There's a ton I could write here, but I'll stay on point. He is teaching them that apart from a divine (His) empowerment and provision, they would be left trying to work this thing out on their own with their own resources.  So Jesus strips them of extra earthly possessions and securities. They had to trust that the path they were being sent on was both purposeful and safe by something entirely different from their personal experience or what their logical world would tell them.  

It's the next statement that got to me, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves."

Now wait a second. If I were to be honest, I don't much like that statement.  If I were honest, I want nothing to do with wolves.  I prefer others of the ovis aries family.  At least send me among deer. If you really want me to be risky, send me to the baboons! 

I wish I could insulate myself from difficult people. Reality is that God sends us to people whom we would otherwise avoid. Jesus called it "sheep among wolves". The picture I saw in my mind was more like "cattle in a field of butchers".  Idea…better be smart or you will get yourself killed.  It takes faith.  It takes observation.  It takes courage.  It takes control.  And it takes the knowledge that there's a cowboy nearby for protection.  

What I realized today is that the resistance I feel toward the difficult people to whom God has sent me is the lack of faith I have in Jesus to work in and through me.  I live in fear. Fear of feeling ill-equipped, incompetent or unwilling to even like "those" people.  It will take supernatural faith, eyes, courage and control.  Though I know this instinctively, it went beyond that for me today….I NEED the power of Jesus in me and through me.  Time to surrender again.

Here's some craziness that grasped me just now…what if the sheep comes to the wolves and attracts them enough to get closer to the shepherd…not so the shepherd will destroy them, but to transform them?!

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Happy Little Moments…and Donuts

This morning I sit at a little shop in Canal Fulton, Ohio called Peace, Love and Little Donuts. These little cake donuts of happiness topped with sugary goodness make my mouth curl upward in a most delightful manner. Most who know me understand that I have four key weaknesses in my life that are separate from my love of Jesus. My wife, my kids, wedding cake, and donuts. This place has a great hippie feel and the people who run it are great! It's also fun to people watch here. I just overheard a lady at the counter say that she is enjoying this last donut before starting a cleanse tomorrow. Obviously she has never had one of these little fried circles of addiction. She does not know it yet, but she is in denial. She will be back in the morning. This I believe nearly as much as the resurrection itself. (insert hour and a half break from writing this post) I just got done speaking with this woman and her boyfriend. It was church around the table all the way. We pulled up a chair and processed Jesus a bit. Heaven on earth. Though I still believe she is in denial about tomorrow, I was privileged to get to know their story and can see a journey toward life in Jesus sometime in the future. I may even get a wedding out of it. Places like this help unleash a bit of my creative side and my spirituality side. Thank you Peace, Love and Little Donuts.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

The Other Side

In John 21, shortly after Jesus' resurrection, Peter and his friends take a step backward in life and decide to go back to their old occupation of life, fishing. AS the story goes, after fishing all night they caught nothing. Then, a stranger on the beach tells them to try throwing their nets on the other side of the boat. I think you know the rest of the story…the first fish fry at church. We also know the stranger was Jesus. And, at this point in the story Jesus gives Peter a new assignment…shepherd. Jesus tells Peter that if he loves him then he should feed and take care of his sheep. That's a big change and a big challenge. But one thing is clear…days of the old vocation was over. I get it. I finally get it. As I have tried over the last year to "fish" in familiar "waters" of the past, I have found little catch. No fault of the fish of course. Its about assignment. I surrender. I get it. Time to shepherd. Thank you Jesus for showing up on the beach of my life...

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

New Year - Same Vision

As 2014 is now upon us, I have done what many do; look at the big picture of life, break it down into segments, and set goals. Early last year God gave me the vision of Church Around the Table. Looking at the big picture of my life, I wondered if I should put CATT on the shelf for the next year and focus on some specific needs of the family. My circumstances said it would be a good idea but my spirit said, "No way!" A vision from God is a sacred thing. I cannot treat it with contempt. It may be slowed down, but it cannot stop unless God speaks something different. Think about it from a Biblical perspective. Whenever a vision or a task was given by God it was usually met with circumstantial obstacles. Abraham had Pharoah's interest in his wife to contend with, Moses a desert, Elijah a wicked queen, Nehemiah had leaders of surrounding countries threatening his work, Jesus had the cross, and Paul shipwrecks. In times when things don't go the way you believe they could or should, it doesn't change the assignment. The one thing we do see change is the leader. That is faith development. I press on because certain facts remain. Fact: people need to have conversations about faith. Fact: many need to have them with people they trust through friendship. Fact: most followers of Jesus I know don't know how to do that with people in their lives even though they want to. So I have set a goal. Be it by serving in a church setting, continuing to flip cars and sell Juice Plus, or any other pathway, I will (and my family will) continue to develop Church Around the Table as way to get the gospel of Jesus Christ processing in the lives of every person whom God chooses to use in this model. We ask for your prayers in 2014 as we walk forward in faith to do what is God's work for our family.