I have been aware of the season of Lent for as long as I can remember. As a child I remember people talking about it being the time that you gave up chocolate before Easter. In my mind, you wouldn’t eat it so that when you got all the candy on Easter morning, you wouldn’t gain too much weight.
Over the years I have come to understand the whole deal a bit better. 
I have come to understand the 40-day period of fasting, prayer, generosity and scripture reading as something that is much more robust than something that keeps us trim. A period that was symbolically set at the 40 days prior to Easter after the period of time that Jesus was in the wilderness fasting and preparing for his earthly ministry to begin. Simply put,and likely overly simply put, we take these days to reflect and consider what Christ did in his life, death and resurecttion. We prepare our hearts for what needs to be the biggest day on a follow of Christ’s calendar, the day he phyically showed that even death wasn’t strong enough to hold him. Even death has been overcome.
But I cannot think of the last time that I felt led by the Lord to give anything up for it. I don’t belong to a denomination or group of churches that mandates engaging in this process. So, while most years I would spend time to prepare for the resurrection of Jesus, I never fully engaged the season. I just never sensed that God would telling me to and so I chose not to.
This year is different. And I cannot fully tell you why. (more…)
This post is a part of a three part posting that started here… Welcome to the conversation!
We clearly live in a Westernized culture that has been deeply impacted by both the scientific and industrial revolutions. Both of those have been unbelievably helpful to our culture and the world. We are now able to break down complex systems (organic and inorganic) into smaller parts, study them, and in many cases reproduce or replicate them. These processes are sometimes called systematic deconstruction, we organize something, break it down to its component parts, sort it out then begin to rebuild it. How many advances in medicine can be traced back to those processes?. How many developments in the industrial sector (that we likely appreciate in our economy all the more now) as well?
One of the issues that has come with these advances, though, is that they can tend to be overused and applied in areas where they are less helpful, or even misguided. James Watson, often called the father of Behaviorism, famously stated,
“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. I am going beyond my facts and I admit it, but so have the advocates of the contrary and they have been doing it for many thousands of years.”
Even though Watson isn’t as radical as some might think him to be, he applied a deconstructionist model to parenting and most of us would say that was a misuse. (more…)
Here is the second part of a two part conversation between Bono and author Michka Assayas.
Assayas: I think I am beginning to understand religion because I have started acting and thinking like a father. What do you make of that?
Bono: Yes, I think that’s normal. It’s a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma.
Assayas: I haven’t heard you talk about that.
Bono I really believe we’ve moved out of the realm of Karma into one of Grace.
Assayas: Well, that doesn’t make it clearer for me.
Bono: You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics; in physical laws every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It’s clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I’m absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that “as you reap, so you will sow” stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff.
Assayas: I’d be interested to hear that.
Bono: That’s between me and God. But I’d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I’d be in deep s—. It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for Grace. I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity.
Assayas: The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that.
Bono: But I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says: Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there’s a mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and, let’s face it, you’re not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions. The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That’s the point. It should keep us humbled . It’s not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven.
Assayas: That’s a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it’s close to lunacy, in my view. Christ has his rank among the world’s great thinkers. But Son of God, isn’t that farfetched?
Bono: No, it’s not farfetched to me. Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn’t allow you that. He doesn’t let you off that hook. Christ says: No. I’m not saying I’m a teacher, don’t call me teacher. I’m not saying I’m a prophet. I’m saying: “I’m the Messiah.” I’m saying: “I am God incarnate.” And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet, we can take. You’re a bit eccentric. We’ve had John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey, we can handle that. But don’t mention the “M” word! Because, you know, we’re gonna have to crucify you. And he goes: No, no. I know you’re expecting me to come back with an army, and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he’s gonna keep saying this. So what you’re left with is: either Christ was who He said He was the Messiah or a complete nutcase. I mean, we’re talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson. This man was like some of the people we’ve been talking about earlier. This man was strapping himself to a bomb, and had “King of the Jews” on his head, and, as they were putting him up on the Cross, was going: OK, martyrdom, here we go. Bring on the pain! I can take it. I’m not joking here. The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me, that’s farfetched Bono later says it all comes down to how we regard Jesus:
Bono: [I]f only we could be a bit more like Him, the world would be transformed. When I look at the Cross of Christ, what I see up there is all my s— and everybody else’s. So I ask myself a question a lot of people have asked: Who is this man? And was He who He said He was, or was He just a religious nut? And there it is, and that’s the question. And no one can talk you into it or out of it.
From
I have a very good friend that is a very godly guy. Over the past several weeks he (and I with many others) have been praying for a job that he would love to have. It seemed like a simple thing, it was a good job, in the field he was interested in, in an exciting city. He had a good confidence that he should go for it and felt good as he prayed for it.
He heard a couple of days ago that he didn’t get it.
Our oldest son, Noah, had the following math problem that I was helping him with last night. “If (some random) high peak in Ohio is 2480 ft above sea level and (some random) low point is 5089% lower, what is the elevation of that low point? He and I were both confused and worked on this problem for about 15 or 20 minutes. Hear that Mr. Knautz? That is dedication!
Our search for the right process was confusing and frustrating, but there was a resolution when we discovered the right way to set up a proportion, solve for x and get the low point’s elevation.
We were confused, it took a while to find the right equation, but we found it, punched in the numbers, solved for x and walked away with the right answer.
My friend’s problem isn’t that easy to solve. If God has power, awareness and love for my friend, then why didn’t he come through? There is no formulaic equation for that one. No stable x to solve for. Henri Nouwen said it like this.
“Theological formation is the gradual and often painful discovery of God’s incomprehensibility. You can be competent in many things, but you cannot be competent in God.”
Certainly there are many things that we can discover in the scriptures and cling to, I have experienced that personally. But we cannot ever get to the point that God becomes predictable to us. That we approach him in prayer and can be certain that we will get what we ask for the way we asked for it in the timeline we have in mind.
So what is the point of faith and prayer? I believe that faith receives its clearest definition in the book of Hebrews, Chapter 11. Here is what is said about faith. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11.1 NIV. It seems simple enough. It is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we don’t see.
But it isn’t that simple, is it?
First we know that we can occasionally hope for the wrong things. My motives aren’t always very good. Hopefully they are getting more aligned with Christ’s heart, but I am confronted with my brokenness daily, and that brokenness does sometimes leak out into what I ask God for. So, if I hope for something that is wrong, the book of James tells me that I won’t get it. “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James 4.3 NIV. Yup, I’ve done that plenty of times.
So, if being certain of whatever we hope for isn’t right, what should we do? Assume Hebrews 11 is wrong? I don’t think so, I think the problem is that we aren’t looking deep enough to get to what we can be assured and certain of. It needs to be a bit deeper than a specific request.
I wonder if we just misunderstand that verse a bit. On Monday I will share what I think and then help me see if I am missing anything…
Peace, Jim
So, over the course of the past few days, a bit of a fervor has been stirred up. About Rob Bell, Jesus’ love, and Hell. 
All three of those topics can lead to very intense responses if you feel that they are relevant to you and all three can seem silly if you don’t. This post would be for those who do.
Justin Taylor, wrote a about Bell’s new book In the blog he had some very strong things to say about Bell and the possibility that Bell may have embraced universalism. Universalism is the idea that God, based on his love for humanity will forgive everyone on the planet upon their death, and allow them to join him in heaven. This is regardless of their desire to be with God or to be forgiven by God. Here is one quote from Taylor…
So on that level, I’m glad that Rob Bell has the integrity to be lay his cards on the table about universalism. It seems that this is not just optimism about the fate of those who haven’t heard the Good News, but (as it seems from below) full-blown hell-is-empty-everyone-gets-saved universalism.
I want to be clear that I like several aspects of and I value its focus and voice, even if I don’t share all of its views. (If you would like any clarity on that, let me know) My issue isn’t with that. It is with the apparently over-rapid response to a book that Taylor hadn’t yet read fully. His response seems to me to have been too quick and too strong.
At this point, I will direct you to two of my friends, and , who have written a much more complete reflection on what has been going on. These are great guys, so, Jr and Eugene, take ‘er away…
First JR’s …
Now …
Thoughts?
When this is posted, I will be neck-deep into a great several days in Chevy Chase MD at the We will be spending time with church planters, leaders, and followers of Jesus from all over the country and interacting with some excellent men and women that will no doubt challenge our thinking about how we follow Jesus today and the practices we use to do that following.
That is the part I love to be involved in. Here is the thing I don’t like to do.
I won’t be posting my reflections on , until next week. Fortunately I suspect that no ones lives are going to be shut down by this truth and I also suspect that God’s plan for our world is still on track . But I had told a number of people who have asked for my take on Jennifer Wright Knust’s take that I would get the start of that out this week.
Alas… won’t happen. Have a great week and we can interact (if you are still interested) next week. If you are in the Chevy Chase area, let me know, maybe we can connect!
Peace, Jim
So, just so we are starting off on the right foot, the title line came from a guy I was speaking to about some of his issues
with Jesus’ teaching… This will make a lot more sense if you take a look here first. And now, without further delay… Part Two…
So, to get a running start, imagine Jesus were to appear in your town today. Now imagine if he made those claims. Imagine him saying, “If you ask, I will do it. If you seek me, you will find me…”
Can you imagine the expressions on the faces of some of those in the crowd? People would clearly be running down their lists. Those lists of times where God hasn’t’ come through for them, where they asked and didn’t get. When they sought him and didn’t find him. It would seem that the expressions and thoughts weren’t so different in the crowd around Jesus. Look at what he did next.
He changed tactics. He turned the tables a bit.
“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
He didn’t deflect, he didn’t recant, and he didn’t avoid their concerns. He asked a different question that adjusted their viewpoint. In the first few verses we looked at, the people were asking, seeking, and knocking. This is the right approach for us as followers of the Messiah. He leads us, we seek him. So the imagery is right. He has authority over us.
The problem isn’t with that. Most of us that are followers of Jesus get that we are followers of Jesus. The issue arises when we don’t get what we ask for. Especially when it seems like we have some pretty straightforward language that shows we can expect to get what we ask for. Even more so when we deeply believe what we are asking for is fair or right.
So, back to Jesus turning the tables. What he did next is put us in the role of the authority. He asked what we would do if our child asked for something from us. Would we trick them, hurt them, put them in danger? Of course not! Jesus specifically chooses the relationship of parent and child because it isn’t just one of authority, but one where there is authority that is completely bound up in love.
Essentially, he puts us a bit in God’s place.
Smart move, Jesus. Smart move. :)
Doing that called on a few things that certainly any parent in that day (or ours) would almost intuitively know.
One is that the parent’s knowledge and experiential pool is greater than a kid’s. That means that there will be things that a child will believe are fine that actually aren’t. For instance, all three of our children, when they were younger, watched Tracy and I when we drove them places and let us know that not only did driving look fun, but that it looked easy. Push a pedal with your foot and turn a wheel with your hands. Done and done.
In light of their understanding of the simplicity of driving, they made many requests of us to simply hand over the keys and let them drive. When you heard them develop their arguments, it was clear that they felt very strongly that it would be fine. Why wouldn’t we just do it?
Obviously in this situation, wiser minds prevailed and so, even when a child cannot understand any reason for the restriction, they cannot drive. The larger knowledge pool wins. Driving is harder than that, it requires more coordination then they had at that age, more focus. Their belief that they were ready didn’t mean they were.
Any parent that allows their child to drive underage wouldn’t be considered a good parent, but a bad one. My point here is not that all of our requests are equivalent to a five year old asking to drive by themselves, please hear that. To compare a kid wanting to drive and some of the pain that we pray our way through our out of would be a total misunderstanding of my point. My point is rather that even if the child has no understanding of why something is the way it is, or isn’t the way they would prefer, doesn’t mean there is no point, no reason. Just because I feel there is no wisdom or purpose to a decision made by an authority of mine doesn’t mean there isn’t wisdom or purpose. Sometimes I simply don’t get what I don’t get.
We will close off this discussion on Sunday, check back if you dare!
Okay that was a bit much. See you Sunday. Or early next week… Or …
Peace, Jim
I am sure we have all heard about the new iPhone app that is intended to prepare you for confession. Here is one of the youtube clips… Take a look…
First of all, I am not a huge fan of the flippancy the reporter showed the app.
Second of all, I kind of like it. Certainly I have issues with the theology of needing to have a confessor. I strongly believe the scriptures make it clear we can go straight to Jesus with our confession, and that we should. And while I do believe in repentance, literally “to change your mind,” and that repentance involves action, I do have some significant issues with the practice of penance (or more accurately, some of the works of satisfaction.)
But that having been said, look at what it does. At its base it gives you a metric for reflecting on how you have walked with Christ. Questions to reflect on are so helpful in this way. I have some images of screen shots…
There are some great questions here.
Sorry that I cannot put these pics across the page, I am just not that awesome… Here is the next one…
If you cannot read it, you get a scripture for thought and reflection. Like that…
You can even reflect on how you have done with obeying the Ten Commandments.
First of all, I am not as positive as I am no this because it is an iphone app. Truly.
I like anything that causes us to reflect on how we are actually living out our lives of faith. Reflection is important and I find that few in my age demographic really understand its necessity and make appropriate time for it.
Again, there are questions. Does it focus on behaviors exclusively? I am not sure about that one. I would want to be challenged not just in how I follow certain standards and rules, but in how I bring those together with my soul and my life and truly live a life that looks more and more like the one Jesus lived. I wouldn’t want something to give someone the impression that they are able to live their life with Christ even more fully alone. Those of us that follow Christ have a very communal faith. We are to live it together, grow together, encourage one another together. If the app discouraged that, then that would be an additional issue.
I don’t get the sense from the clip that it does though. It is a heart preparation tool. I like that.
What is your take? Aside from pun fun… is it a helpful tool?
Peace, Jim
I get asked about tricky verses a lot. But the guy I was talking to on this day was very upset. As he told me his story, this frustration was so clear you could almost touch it. So we started to chat about it. The two instances he was talking about are recounted in Matt and Luke. In them, Jesus was talking with a group of people about how things work in the Kingdom of God. How God intended us to live. How in some ways life in the Kingdom of God is very similar to the kingdom of this world and in other ways, it is very different. Let me list both of the instances.
Matt 7.7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Luke 11.9-10 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Here we have two fairly straightforward accounts of Jesus talking about how things work with those who follow God. They sound great too. The only problem is that we all have countless examples of when they haven’t been true. Times where we have asked for things that range from the selfish to the selfless. Yes, I have asked for my share of Hokie victories and things to go my way, primarily for my benefit. But I have also asked for things that go far beyond me, very selfless things. Likely we all have. Some of those have happened and some have not.
So, either Jesus was wrong, someone got his statement written incorrectly, or I am not looking at the whole picture. As I have spent a lot of time in teachings and on the blog dealing with questions of the accuracy of the biblical scriptures, and I believe Jesus wasn’t wrong, I am going to hone in on the last option. I think we miss the point.
And I think Jesus thought the same thing. Come back Friday and see why I think that.
Peace, Jim
and I really could have ended up one another’s arch enemies. If you know J.R. and I, then you immediately get why.
He and I might be the two best looking men that are a part of the missional movement of the church. I know for a fact that he and I are the two best looking men on the board of .
But do we fight? No. Do we try to bring the other down to raise ourselves up? Not recently.
Instead, we took the road less traveled. We got to know the person behind the beauty, and (at least I) discovered, he is a great guy that I respect a great deal.
So, I am very excited to let you know about a conference that J.R. has guided into being. It is called, . Let me share an excerpt from the conference site…
The idea for this conference came from two sources: A post from J.R. Briggs, a pastor at Renew Community in Lansdale, Pa and the wildly popular site .
A few dangerous questions were asked:
-What if we offered a space that is gutsy, hopeful, courageously vulnerable for pastors to let go of the burden to be a Super Pastor?
-What if we could hold an event that was free from the thrills and frills of other pastors conferences?
-What if we came together as epic failures and sought not successful models or how-do’s but instead celebrated faithfulness in ministry because of the reality of Jesus?
-What if we were reminded that we’re not responsible for being ‘successful’ in ministry, but we are responsible for being faithful to the calling that God has laid out for us – regardless of the outcome?
-What if we had a conference that was not led not by famous pastors who are household names, but by scandalously ordinary ministers and leaders who are faithfully attempting to join with God – even in the midst of glaring obscurity and anonymity?
I love those questions!
In my experience I have run into countless examples of two extremes. I have been to many events 
where either those that are speaking or those that are attending find ways to let everyone know about the numeric success they have experienced. Sometimes this is subtly done, and other times, less subtly so. I have also seen examples of those that are so broken, usually by their reletive lack of numeric success, that they become bitter and ultimately frustrated with the very group they were trying to reach.
I can say that I have been in both of those camps. During my time at [nlcf] I have experienced multiple seasons of numeric growth and also multiple seasons of having lower numbers. Times where I have given in to the temptation to let others know how “well” we are doing and others where I have grown frustrated that the people I am trying to reach don’t want to be reached!
The thread that runs through all that, is that it is primarly about me. My kingdom building, my success.
Yes, we get that numbers matter. Each of those numbers is a person who matters a great deal to God. To that extent, there is an important place for hearing from people that have seen God bless their efforts. So, this conference doesn’t deny the value of that. Rather, it honors the fact that the life of faith is a challenge. That living our lives in an honest way before our Messiah will mean that at times we will face frustration, confusion, difficulty and failure. And in a culture that so highly values numeric success, not demonstrating that success; while not a failure, can certainly feel like it.
So, having a space where men and women can gather and be honest about what hasn’t gone right, what hasn’t shown results and what hasn’t been pleasant, could be a great thing. A space that doesn’t worship failure, but one that worships Christ in the midst of it; a space, not to be cynical, but honest, is necessary.
So, go if you can and encourage friends in the ministry to do so as well.
I like the idea so much, I am going to encourage all 2,000 people that attend our church to consider it as well. Wait, did that just drop out?
Peace, Jim
“I didn’t fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong” Ben Franklin
