Since the old adage “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” carries some wisdom, I’ll refrain from doing that.  But I have had a good discussion with a friend this week about a statement (the title) on the cover of a book by a well-know Religious leader.  Here it is: “How YOU call it is how it WILL BE.”  (Emphasis in the original, not my embellishment.)

So, the content of the book may be great, but the title really disturbed me.  It certainly made me think, and that is good.  I’m not going to criticize the book because I have not read it.  But the statement made by the title is worth discussion.  Isn’t God in control?  Shouldn’t WE serve HIM instead of thinking (or demanding) HE serves US?  Even if we really were omnipotent as this title implies, would any of us really benefit from that power?  I’m personally much more comfortable and happy with a philosophy of “How GOD calls it is how it WILL BE”.

I’m not trying to sell us short, it’s just that our human nature tries to rear its head all too often, and I know I often want things that are not God’s will.  Unfortunately, I typically don’t know that until well after the fact.  If I could call down whatever I want for my life, I would have ruined it many times over.

Come on, people… let’s get our hearts right.  Is this life about us and our desires, or is it about God and His?  Let’s make a commitment to serve Him.  To steal a great quote; “Ask not what God can do for you, but ask what you can do for God”.  That’s where we’ll find real prosperity and blessing.  Anything less sells everyone, including us, short of God’s plan.

It’s the time of year when we start planning for our next annual visit to Ludlati Carepoint.  This year’s trip is scheduled for July 24th through August 4th (return home Aug 5).  We are having a trip information meeting this Saturday @ West Side Church in Champaign, IL from 9:00-10:30AM for anyone interested in traveling or supporting the travel team.

Here is the video made from pictures and footage from last year’s trip titled “Home Away From Homestead”.

We and our Ludlati friends sincerely thank God for everyone who gives time, energy, skills, supplies and finances to make the trips possible to visit our neighbor kids and people in and around Ludlati Carepoint.  KnownToMe started on the journey with Ludlati in November 2009 with a long term development plan to raise support and provide resources for the Swazi ladies (Bomake) who faithfully work at the carepoint, and build infrastructure and relationships.  All these things help to meet true needs, but these relationships we actively build are the only way to deliver encouragement, love, hope and life.  God spreads His love through us to our Ludlati neighbors and back again to us, because He loves us all individually and together as a family community.  Will you join us?

Please come to the 2012 Trip Information Session to…

•   Learn how we partner with Childrens HopeChest to support the people of the Ludlati Carepoint in Swaziland for mentoring, discipleship and caring for the children of their community.
•   Understand how the Swazi people are partnering with Children’s HopeChest and AdventuresInMissions to break the cycle of loss from dependence and the HIV/Aids epidemic in Swaziland.
•   Hear from past travelers from area churches and the reciprocal impact of visits. The Summer 2012 visit will be the third visit from our community to the Ludlati community in Swaziland.
•   Learn all the 2012 visit details and upcoming fundraising opportunities.

You can find this link to travel team information always available at the upper right corner of the right column:  2012 Swaziland Travel Team Info

This is a re-post from a couple of years ago… I stumbled across it looking for something else and decided it was worth another go-round.

Really good literature and music is a truly remarkable thing.  It makes us stop and reconsider things that we thought we knew, spurs new thoughts and helps us see past the trees to the forest itself.  I enjoy it immensly and appreciate those rare minds that can create at that level.  One of the best:  C.S. Lewis.  For any of you who don’t know, this passage is from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.  The beavers are telling the children about Aslan, who represents Jesus.

“You’ll understand when you see him.”

“But shall we see him?” asked Susan

“Why, daughter of Eve, that’s what I brought you here for.  I’m to lead you to where you will meet him,” said Mr. Beaver.

“Is—is he a man?” asked Lucy.  “Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly.  “Certainly not.  I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-The-Sea.  Don’t you know who is the King of the Beasts?  Aslan is a lion - THE lion, the great lion.”

“Ooh!” said Susan, “I thought he was a man.  Is he—quite safe?  I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just plain silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver, “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you?  Who said anything about safe?  ‘Course he isn’t safe.  But he’s good.  He’s the King, I tell you

The satire in this cuts close to home for many of us I am sure, but only because it reflects the current state of the Church so well.  But even if it ticks you off, it is worth reading for the humor - especially in the comments.

http://www.air1.com/blog/brant/post/2011/12/27/If-Jesus-Had-a-Blog-I-Told-This-Great-Story-About-a-Samaritan-Guy-and-People-Didnt-Really-Like-It.aspx

So, I have this friend… ok, last time I started a post like this it was a tongue in cheek reference to myself.  This time it is not (good thing or I would not be typing this as all my fingers – if not other appendages – would be broken), nor is it hypothetical.  And I still choose to have this friend be a friend, that’s what grace is about.  But I do need to vent, and not even so much about this friend.

You see, I recognize that my friend bears full responsibility for his decisions.  I wish him all God’s best, but unfortunately the path he has chosen will not bring him that.  We live in a world of consequences for our actions – both temporary and eternal - despite the grace that we enjoy and MUST give to others.  That’s why grace is scandalous.  In order to really be unmerited grace, it must be offered despite any actions of the recipient.  That’s offensive and scandalous, and a big reason Jesus was killed by the powers that were.

So, I have this friend who decided to leave his wife and toddler for another woman.  Beyond my agonizing over the seeming conflicts between consequences, responsibility, and scandalous grace, this raises another topic.  I’ve spouted my opinions and I know you’re probably sick of hearing them - on the dangers of the typical prosperity gospel, and the broader message that God will make his way so clear and easy that it will all come naturally.  That nothing should be hard or difficult, and that we should not force ourselves to make hard, life changing, difficult decisions that cause pain and the sacrifice of material comforts.  But this is why I will continue beating that horse until well after it is dead.

My friend heard that message and took hold of this teaching and used it to form the foundation of a spiritual justification for his actions.  I cannot help but think that a clear message of responsibility and consequences, paired with grace and blessing, would have provided some level of restraint against his decision.  Maybe enough to make him reconsider.  Probably not.  But I know this.  My kids will know all about scandalous grace, and will KNOW they cannot and need not earn anything from God.  But they will also KNOW that life in this world is not easy.  That Jesus promised that there is a wide and easy road - but that road leads to DESTRUCTION, He called us to pick up our crosses (in the context of His time, read: torture/execution devices – not the convenient religious symbol), promised that the first would become last, and that the way that seems right to man is not His way.  Given the context we were born in and the fallen state of this world, in need of redemption and in a state of conflict on a level we cannot imagine - God has no intent that our lives be easy or comfortable.  His intent is that we have joy and peace.  In HIS INCOMPREHENSIBLE WAY, joy and peace come through sacrifice, service, and submitting our desires and comfort to do hard things that He will empower us to do.  This is not about a life of dreary defeat and self-abuse.  It’s about TRUE VICTORY AND JOY when we submit to Him and put our desires down.

Another horse that may be dead, but that I will continue to beat:  scripture is dangerous if taken in snippets, and not considered and understood in the complete context of God’s entire Word, purpose, and nature.  This is just one example.  I am convinced I can find a half dozen scriptures (taken out of context, viewed in a vacuum) that will support ANY action I want to take.  We MUST understand God’s heart, His purpose, and Who He Is.  That’s what His Word is.  A description of Who He Is.  Since we are to reflect him, we must know Who He Is, and not rely on sound bites that we find pleasant.

Let’s get it right.  Live for God and for others.  Not ourselves.  All of His promises are good and real, but must be paired with – and are only realized through – true abandoning of our pursuit of our good to SERVE Him and others.  I’m frustrated right now.  His message is clear, we simply choose to concoct other arguments because we want the easy way.  And in doing so, we shortchange God, others, and ourselves.  Everyone loses.  I want everyone to win.

It doesn’t get any more traditional than this.  Yesterday, I said “perhaps my all time favorite”.  I’ll say the same again today.  From Wikipedia:

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is the mid-19th Century translation by John Mason Neale and Henry Sloane Coffin of the Latin text “Veni, veni, Emmanuel”. It is a metrical version of a collation of various Advent Antiphons (the acrostic O Antiphons), which now serves as a popular Advent hymn. Its origins are unclear, it is thought that the antiphons are from at least the 8th Century, but “Veni, veni Emmanuel” may well be 12th Century in origin. The text is based on the biblical prophecy from Isaiah 7:14 that states that God will give Israel a sign that will be called Immanuel (Lit.: God with us). Matthew 1:23 states fulfillment of this prophecy in the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.  It is believed that the traditional music stems from a 15th Century French processional for Franciscan nuns, but it may also have 8th Century Gregorian origins. It is one of the most solemn Advent hymns.

And another version that holds special meaning for me:

I was raised in a German Catholic community of about 400 residents.  For 400 residents and the surrounding countryside, there were two - yes, two Catholic churches which shared one priest.  One of the two was St. Mary’s, located in the middle of open farmland, surrounded by open views that streched for miles.  The church itself was (is) a small turn of the centry stone cathedral that looks like it was plucked out of 17th century France, complete with 20 ft tall stained glass windows, stone arches, pipe organ, and echoing with awe and mystery.  It looked and sounded very much like the second version above… only older and and with lights dim like candlelight.

My strongest memories of Christmas are of Christmas Eve mass.  Past my normal bedtime, dark, with stars shiging brightly - a bit tired, which only increased the surrealness of the setting and proceedings.  It did not matter that I was often in that building.  On that night every year, majesty and wonder was thick in the air.  The stars were brighter, the air was crisper, every noise, every action seemed amplified with heightened significance.  As we sat before mass, every rustle echoed loudly off the stone around and above us - but there were very few of those.  All were silent in the power and meaning of that night.  There was a deep, deep reverence for God in that place.  Then, from the back, a strong smell of incense as the priest and altar boys walked slowly down the aisle to the solemn chords of this hymn.  It was somehow easier to believe on that night, in that setting, with this hymn tying me to the yearning for God and Our Emmanuel - God With Us.  He was very much with us on those Christmas Eves.

I miss that reverence now.  It was an attitude that is in a different universe from the BFF image of God that is popular now.  Yes, Jesus tore the veil and opened the path to free and joyfully open communion and communication with God.  But God is still God.  The description of the heaven we will see in Revelation is much closer to the awe and majesty of the Christmas Eve mass than to any other service I’ve been to.  I’m not endorsing a return to large, non-particpatory services - in fact, I endorse the opposite - small and particapatory.  But I also endorse an awe, reverance, and yes… a healthy fear of God that is paired with our understanding of His love and grace toward us.  In tandem, that is a powerful understanding.  Knowing fear and awe without knowing grace and love is a bad place to be.  But we’re not anywhere near there in the protestant/evangelical world.  We’re in the place of embracing grace and love without a fear and awe of God.  I think that’s nearly as bad a place to be as the former extreme. 

So, I love this hymn.  Love it.  It brings tears to my eyes and floods me with memories.  It also reminds me of who my God is, and that He is worthy of my fear, reverence, and SERVITUDE.  I serve the God of that night - not the other way around.  He is worthy of any sacrifice He calls for, and I submit my freedom, wishes, and desires to be burned up and replaced with His.  Merry Christmas!  He is GOD… and is with us.

Perhaps my all time favorite Chritmas song follows.  Sung by the incredibly gifted group Over The Rhine, led by husband-wife duo of Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist.  In many literary and musical references, a white horse is used to represent forgiveness… that is what it sybolizes in this song, and the meaning is not fully understood otherwise.

It’s a song about Christmas, the hope that God provides us, life, death, and our ultimate redemption as we ride our white horse through the sky.  If not a traditional carol, it is beautiful and touching nonetheless.