If you parent teenagers, or even remember your own teenage years, this quote from the Lenten Reader by St. John of the Cross will resonate with you.

...God perceives the imperfections within us, and because of his love for us, urges us to grow up. His love is not content to leave us in our weakness, and for this reason he takes us into a dark night. He weans us from all of the pleasures by giving us dry times and inward darkness.

- Rob

One of the scripture readings from today's devotional in the Lenten Reader is 1 John 1:5-8:

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

What does it mean to walk in the light? I used to think that meant that we never sin again, but the context of this verse makes that unlikely. No, I believe now that this is about not letting our sin be hidden in the dark. It is when we hide our sin away to keep from being exposed that it drags us with it into darkness eventually. Therefore, walking in the light is about shining light even on our darkness so that the darkness has to leave. How do we do that?

Confession; and yes, I do mean confessing to one another. That does not mean telling everyone everything you do. But it does mean that you have a trustworthy person or persons to whom you can confess. When we confess our sins in prayer to Jesus, we receive forgiveness; but when we confess our sins to one another we walk in the light and therefore gain power over sin itself.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. James 5:16

- Rob

I hope you are finding the Lenten Reader as rich as I am. It is rich and it is doing a good job of reminding me how poor I am. That may not sound good, but it is essential for right living with the Lord.

Consider the parable from this morning in which a great harvest drives the landowner to say, "I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time." But when God shows up it becomes clear that apparent earthly security is not considered a rich soul.

For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
No; set your hearts on his kingdom, and these other things will be given you as well. There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. - excerpts from Luke 12

The two stories continue. There is Adam's story, increasing one's security, power and pleasure for this life only to lose it all. Then there is Jesus' story, obediently holding none of this life back in preparation for eternal life in God's kingdom.

Here are a few of the examen questions from the past week:
Am I searching the scriptures with and for those in fellowship with me?
Am I praying with and for those in fellowship with me?
Am I being immersed in the Bible as a means of learning about the character, presence, activity and calling of God in my life?
Am I practicing the presence of God in the midst of everyday life?

- Rob

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. - Psalm 51:5-6

There is a glaring contrast present in this wonderful passage from the Psalms. In their song Dare You to Move, Switchfoot says it this way: "The tension is here, the tension is here, between who you are and who you could be; between how it is and how it should be." We are born in need of a savior - death-vulnerable to the brokenness and rebellion in every one of us. The lies and foolishness exist deep within us before our minds are even developed enough to know. This is contrasted with the offer of our Savior - freeing truth and wisdom that he wishes to deliver to the deepest parts of us - the most vulnerable parts. BUT...

Wisdom far greater than Solomon's is right in front of you, and you quibble over 'evidence.' - Luke 11:32

The Lenten Reader's narrator goes on to say, "Watch as (Jesus) becomes more and more indignant and intolerant of the Pharisees. They don't respond to his gracious invitation, so he turns to prophetic confrontation. We soon see that prideful people who build a self-righteous religious identity are the most dangerous people on Earth. He will also show us that the most financially secure people are in the greatest danger."

Folks, the problem is NOT religion and money, but what people do with them. Turtles rely almost exclusively on their shells for protection. Whenever threat comes, they hide inside those shells where nothing can enter. The goal is to never be vulnerable. What is really common in people is to use religion and wealth to construct a "shell" that we rely on. We make ourselves believe that we are invulnerable and then we become self-reliant. But as the Psalm above says - what's in the shell is already rotten and in need of truth and wisdom. But we keep that truth and wisdom from reaching the vulnerable parts by means of the shells we construct. It makes us unresponsive to the "gracious invitation."

In the seventh chapter of Luke, two people are contrasted; a Pharisee and a woman who had led a sinful life. In the exchange, Jesus points out that it is the woman who is in the best position to receive him and his grace because she knows her need. The people most responsive to Jesus are those who have had their shells cracked open or were never allowed to build a shell.

Lord, show me where I have built a shell around my inmost being; where I am relying on my own means, my own understanding, my own religion or money or power. Turn these hardened parts soft again that your truth may set me free and your wisdom transform me into your image. Amen.

- Rob

"Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!" - Luke 11:28

The Lenten Reader had a Charles Wesley hymn that ends this way:

Come quickly, gracious Lord, and take
Possession of thine own;
My longing heart vouchsafe to make
Thine everlasting throne!

Consider the idea of your heart being God's throne. What would that look like in terms of how life plays out; how we treat others and respond to them, what we do and say? Considering something like this blows my mind a bit, but the verse above from Luke makes it pretty simple - hear the word of God and obey it!

Lord, again this morning I pray for a willing spirit; a natural inclination to obey you. Amen.

- Rob

Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. - Psalm 51:11-12

Over the past several years I've found that one way God works to transform me is by way of a verse of scripture that he has me just kind of sit in for a stretch of time. While I was away at seminary one semester I had such a verse that wound up being the center of my transformation for about a year (I know, I"m slow).

I have a strong sense these days that the last line of the scripture above (found often in the Lenten Reader we are sharing) will be such a verse. "Grant me a willing spirit..." One translation says "...make me want to obey!" The brilliance of this prayer is that it disposes of all the straining to be obedient. The writer is not asking for strength or help to do the right thing; rather to have the right thing be the natural choice within him.

Interestingly enough this request is not just about the writer; check out what immediately follows:

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.

The presence of the Holy Spirit in one who has a willingly obedient spirit creates just what is needed to help people turn to the Lord. I'll close with Sunday's question from the Reader: "Has the reality of God shone through my life to others as truth that can be seen, heard, tasted, touched and smelled?"

- Rob

My small group just concluded our study of Ephesians.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. - Ephesians 6:13-18

We discussed that while we are told to "put on the armor" we are also told that it is God's armor. All the things listed as armor components are gifts imparted to us and not pieces of armor that WE must construct.

It's as if Paul is saying, "you've been given real truth, salvation, good news, righteousness (the righteousness of Christ), the Word of God, access to Him in prayer; USE IT!" So often we are preoccupied with our insistence on manufacturing our own righteousness that we never put on what God has given us. The result is our vulnerability to the schemes and arrows of our enemy; schemes and arrows intended to wound us, deceive us, and separate us from God, ourselves and one another.

God is our refuge in that he has given us armor to protect us from the harm that WILL come our way. We just need to put it on. Putting it on starts with "truth," for if we do not believe deep in our souls that God loves us, Christ died for us and we are saved, then we will not believe we have the rest of the armor to wear.

- Rob

Here is a quick summary of the first 10 days of the Lenten Reader. Bold/Italics are Scripture, quotes are quotes, the rest are questions to ponder.

- Rob

Then he said to them all, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

Do I come to God in repentance, experiencing his forgiveness, and entering the divine embrace?

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God..."

Do I have the witness of the Spirit within me that I am a child of God; abiding and delighting in his holy love?

"...grant me a willing spirit."

Do I have the love of God shed abroad in my heart by the Spirit; a longing for his presence, and a desire to please him in all things?

While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, "Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men."

Do I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to God's pleasure and disposal, to love God and love my neighbor as myself?

For he who is least among you all - he is the greatest.

Am I growing more like Christ in my thinking , feeling, speaking and acting through the presence of his Spirit in me?

"The secret to life is to die before you die."

Am I dying and rising with Christ; being set free from the power of sin by the power of the Spirit in my heart and life?

I will glorify your name forever.

Am I sharing in the life and ministry of Christ, through the work of his Spirit within me?

"So often our prayer life looks like an effort to plead with God to make our story (Adam-story) work, to help us succeed in our quest upward for self-actualization. The way Jesus teaches us to pray, leads us in the way of his life working in and through us; toward the actualization of his Kingdom. In the process we become our true self."

Am I asking God to fill my life with the fruit and gifts of the Spirit?

"...every blessing flows through the dear channel of (Jesus') blood."

Have I seen the presence of God, heard the voice of God, tasted the goodness of God, touched the nearness of God, smelled the fragrance of God in my daily life?

For the faithful few who read the blog, let me first apologize for the sporadic nature of the posts. We should get better with that now. Since our church is using the Asbury Seminary Lenten Reader as a common devotional, I wanted to highlight a few things as we move over the next several weeks.

But first a brief intermission to say WOW! What a weekend we just had with Dr. Bob Tuttle at La Croix. His messages of God's grace and mercy, as well as His plan and power for our lives, were incredible. Thanks, Bob.

A quick summary of the Lenten Reader so far; there are only two stories. The first is Adam's story (our story apart from Christ), one in which we try to exalt ourselves only to come crashing down. There are two strands to this story. The first is played out by those who are delusional enough to think that they have exalted themselves and don't need God (or anyone else). They are the Kings and Queens of self-sufficiency. The second is played out by those in despair over the realization that they have failed and are spiraling downward. A quick note; it's not always easy to tell which of these two someone is living because some people are pretty good at hiding disillusionment and despair.

The second story is the story of Jesus who humbles himself completely only to have God exalt him at the appropriate time. This can be our story if we recognize our need for a savior, that is we confess our brokenness (thanks Brett and team for a great Ash Wednesday worship service), repent and humble ourselves by surrendering to the Holy Spirit. If we do, we are sanctified by the Spirit - gradually made into the image of Christ - and become who we were created to be.

Tomorrow I will complete this summary by listing the questions that have been asked to help us reflect on where we are in this process.

- Rob

Several of our small groups have done the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan and have loved it so much that I decided to do it with my group. Well, I'm not very far into the book and already I've been challenged!

"Worry implies that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives."

ouch

"Basically, these two behaviors (worry and stress) communicate that it's okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional."

double ouch

When my daughter was young, we were riding in the car and out of the clear blue she said, "Mommy, does the Bible say not to worry." I told her that was true and she said, "So does that mean that worrying is a sin?" I then asked her if her dad had put her up to asking me that (he hadn't)....and then I had to take a hard look at my heart. Worrying is a red flag that for some reason I do not trust God. I had work to do!

After reading that passage in my book today, I realize that I still have work to do.

What a shame it would be to serve the loving and capable God of all creation and not learn to trust Him completely!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take."
Proverbs 3:5-7

-Angela

I'm not much of an American Idol fan. I don't say that to sound anti-reality TV because the truth is that I'm a big Survivor fan, a moderate Amazing Race fan, and a closet Big Brother fan.

Anyway, I'm not much of an American Idol fan, but my wife and daughter are so there are times when I have no choice. Last night was one of those times. That context was not lost on me when, this morning, I read the following in Isaiah, chapter 2:

Their land is full of silver and gold;
there is no end to their treasures.
Their land is full of horses;
there is no end to their chariots.

Their land is full of idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their fingers have made.

As I was meditating on this passage, I began to think about the time, energy, emotion, resources, etc. that I commit to things made by the hands of men. Particularly in comparison to the time, energy, emotion, resources, etc. that I commit to God and his Kingdom. Now I'm not sitting in a pool of guilt and feeling terrible about this, nor do I want you to do anything like that. But as we budget our time, talents, treasures and attention, it is important to remember that what we give ourselves to is what we worship.

Back to American Idol for a final thought. The despair shown by those who do not move on in the competition is telling. Being famous (something very much made "by the hands of men") has become the end-all be-all for these folks. And for many of the ones who do move on, their identity increasingly becomes wrapped up in their success. Dangerous! I'm not judging them...I'm thinking how much I'm the same in a different environment.

Lord, please help me to worship only you; to place my trust in you alone.

- Rob

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. - Ephesians 3:18-19

My Tuesday night small group is studying Ephesians and I wanted to share this with you. Just a quick comment; I love it that Paul is praying that his audience might "know this love that surpasses knowledge." It's interesting that he is praying for us - yes, we are part of that audience now - to know something we can't ever fully know.

- Rob

God is building a home. He's using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home. - Ephesians 2:20-22 (The Message)

God is building something and, if you have faith in Jesus, you are a part of it. I am a part of it. Your friends here at La Croix and your friends in other Christian churches are part of it. So are the people with faith in Jesus who disagree with you about issues or generally drive you bonkers. God is building something from these various raw materials; setting them on the cornerstone of Jesus and the foundation of the apostles and prophets; the Holy Spirit acting as the mortar that holds it all together.

How do you see the church? As a gigantic, God-residing, metaphorical structure with you as one of many, many, many bricks? This is the "construction" view. Or do you see it as a brick...your brick...surrounded by a bunch of other individual bricks? This is the "deconstruction" view. I say deconstruction rather than destruction because tearing something apart is never my intent when I do this. Rather, I deconstruct the whole into the parts...with my part being the most important.

I ask that question because too often I see the church through deconstuctionist eyes. Though I would never SAY that, I behave exactly that way. When I do this, I crack the mortar and create a small hole. When a bunch of people do this, an entire section of what God is building can become destabilized and vulnerable. Destruction, though never intended, is the outcome.

I pray that God continues to show me where I'm deconstructing rather than cooperating with his construction. I pray that he reveal the same to you.

- Rob Mehner

In Mark, chapter 5, there is a story of a synagogue ruler named Jairus whose 12 year old girl was sick and near death. Jairus approached Jesus and asked him to come heal her. As they were walking toward his house, news came that the girl was already dead. Jesus' response is recorded in verse 36.

Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."

There is a connection here that Jesus makes; it's between belief (faith) and fear. These things are presented as two options in a choice...we cannot choose both. They are opposed to one another. Pastor Thomas shared a story the other day in which a child is chasing her friends with a bucket she has filled with water from a nearby creek. Her friends are running away trying to avoid being soaked. One child is so afraid of a dowsing that he runs straight into the creek and falls, becoming drenched in the process. The point of the story is that fear often drives us toward the very thing we fear. Our fear and our choices made in fear often bring about the outcome we are afraid of.

The alternative is faith. When we trust God, we are free to move forward in life in wiser and healthier ways. This is why Scripture over and again encourages "Do not be afraid..."

- Rob

Edited: 01/28/2010 at 1:03 PM by rmehner

This past weekend Pastor Ron talked to us about not living in the past. I don't know about you, but I am a very nostalgic person! I love remembering happy days gone by. This Christmas my family spent time watching old home videos and spent hours laughing and remembering what life used to be like.

I also love remembering mountain top experiences with the Lord. But I was reminded of something else as he talked about the past, I was reminded of who I would have been if God had not left heaven to come to earth to seek and save those who are lost. It doesn't take much imagination to realize how hopeless and sad my life would be apart from Christ. I am aware of all that He has forgive me from and all that He spares me from:

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.Lamentations 3:21-26

The Lord is my portion, He is enough for me. I love remembering my mountaintop experiences, but I love Him more than the experiences He gives me. I rejoice in knowing that He has forgiven me and saved me, but I grieve that there are still those living far from the hope of Christ.

So we press on toward the future, blessed and rich because of how faithful God has been to us in the past. We lay all of our expectations at His feet and remember that He is our portion. He is enough! He is our reward.

-Angela

This past weekend Pastor Ron talked about David and how he was trained for greatness in the most unusual place, in a field taking care of sheep. David was anointed to be the next king of Israel when the prophet Samuel came to visit. He was so much the unlikely choice that his father didn't even think to call him in for the prophet to consider. He was chosen, anointed and then went back out in the field to continue his work, to take care of his responsibilities.

This week I got an email from a young mom who is very discouraged and is finding it challenging to take care of her new baby and not finding time to pray and have her quiet time like she did before. In her note she said, "How did you survive these times in life? I feel like I'm dying and my joy is fading by the moment."

As I thought and prayed about how to encourage her, I thought of David faithfully looking after his father's sheep. I thought about what pleasure God must have taken in seeing him do the task set before him with diligence and faithfulness. Then I thought about this sweet mom faithfully loving and nurturing her baby. And I asked myself this question, does God only take delight in us when we are on our knees praying or sitting in front of our Bibles? Or does He delight in seeing us serve Him with joy in whatever task He has allowed to be in front of us.

Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? 1 Samuel 15:22

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23

I would bet that David did his job well because he was doing it as work to his God. I encouraged this young mamma to love her baby and to serve with all of her heart as unto the Lord. He is never far, always providing grace for the task at hand, and takes great delight in His children.

Whatever training ground God has you on, I pray that you will find joy and strength in every task.

-Angela

When we lived in France, my family (minus Jim) used to enjoy watching the French version of American Idol. The big treat was the guests they would have on the show each week. One week Sting, my son's all time favorite artist, was on the show.

I don't remember what he sang, but I do remember something he said (and that Jim actually watched the show with us that night). Sting was asked to give a word of advice to the contestants, who were just starting out and hoping to make it in the music industry. His advice was, "Never forget that music is its own reward."

Those words stuck with me, and I realized that I need to remember the same about my relationship with Christ. HE is my reward. Sting was saying: enjoy music, not what other rewards music will bring to you, like fame, money, etc.

So many times we live in a place of discontentment because we expect greater rewards. We look to Christ for what He can do for us. We live in a place of expecting more. We forget the amazing gift of His presence...the gift of Himself. We can even forfeit the benefit of such a reward by not enjoying His presence and fellowship.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:26

I cry to you, O LORD; I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living."
Psalm 142:5

Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing.
Psalm 16:5

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
Psalm 27:4

Never forget that Jesus IS our reward!

-Angela

...suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. - Romans 5:3b-5

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. - Ephesians 1:18-19

We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. -1 Thessalonians 1:3

The Apostle Paul has much to say about hope. These short excerpts from three of his letters give us a glimpse into Paul's understanding of hope.

There is a significant connection between suffering, endurance and hope so that we can confidently say that the hope of which he speaks is not about comfort or wealth in this life. (I'll talk more about this in my next post)

Our hope is in Jesus for an inheritance. That inheritance includes victory over death, eternal life in meaningful relationship with the author of life and with one another absent pain and sorrow.

This hope is not wishful thinking, because a signature has been written by God on our hearts; the signature being the Holy Spirit.

All of this brought back one of my favorite old hymns, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness!"

- Rob

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9

Many of you know these verses; they are incredibly important for our remembering that God's grace through Jesus Christ and nothing else - nothing we do - makes us reconciled to God. We accept that grace through faith, we don't earn it by our good works.

However, fewer are aware of the very next line of Scripture:

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Now that we have been saved by grace, through faith, we are being recreated in Christ (in his image) specifically to do the good works God intended from the beginning. By grace, through faith, we are saved in a way that moves us to good works.

So we don't earn salvation by good works, but we do use good works - or fruit - in our lives to evaluate our faith in God's saving grace. What does God's workmanship look like in your life?

- Rob

Through the series "Hope Rising" we were challenged to open our eyes and see pain and brokenness in our world. We were challenged to eat for one week like most of the world eats, very little. We were challenged to give so that hungry children in the world would eat.

I don't know about you, but I was deeply moved this Sunday when Pastor Ron gave the report that we had stepped up and met the challenge. In fact we more than tripled the challenge!!

I hope we will never forget that God told us to care about and care for people who suffer and hurt and are lonely and are hungry.

6 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
and remove the chains that bind people.

7 Share your food with the hungry,
and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

8 “Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward,
and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.

9 Then when you call, the Lord will answer.
‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.
“Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.
Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!

10 Feed the hungry,
and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.

11 The Lord will guide you continually,
giving you water when you are dry
and restoring your strength.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like an ever-flowing spring.

(from Isaiah 58)

May we never forget and live the challenge every day of our lives!

-Angela