Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Michael Frost on Missional Church
I really appreciate what Frost has to say in this video. It is both insightful and challenging. My prayer is that we can be more intentional about engaging our community and seeking ways to be Jesus in the soil we've been planted in.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Renewal
I love springtime. Sun. Warmer temperatures. Lower heating bills. There are so many great things about this time of year.
One of my favorite things about spring is the reminder that God is a God of second chances and renewal. All winter long I have looked out the windows of my home only to see brown grass, trees without leaves, and skies that are often gray.
But the last several weeks I have seen glimmers of hope. The grass is starting to green. There are buds on the trees. The sunshine shines more often and blue skies are becoming more commonplace.
The apostle Paul wrote the following…
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:7-18)
Let springtime remind you of the unseen renewal God offers daily.
shine!
Jason
One of my favorite things about spring is the reminder that God is a God of second chances and renewal. All winter long I have looked out the windows of my home only to see brown grass, trees without leaves, and skies that are often gray.
But the last several weeks I have seen glimmers of hope. The grass is starting to green. There are buds on the trees. The sunshine shines more often and blue skies are becoming more commonplace.
The apostle Paul wrote the following…
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:7-18)
Let springtime remind you of the unseen renewal God offers daily.
shine!
Jason
Thursday, April 23, 2009
More than conquerors
This Sunday our students will be studying Romans 8:18-39. Here are a few reflections on this passage...
This is one of the most powerful passages in all of Scripture. We are a part of God’s work to redeem this world. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, the love of God, and the work of the Holy Spirit, God calls us to join his purpose. We allow so many things to distract us from our purpose and design. Nothing can separate us from God except ourselves. While God is always there and he always loves us, we can choose to construct barriers to put distance between us and God.
We must wrestle with the fact that God is not out to punish us or make us do what he wants. Rather, he views us as his children and wants what is best for us. He gave up his Son to prove his love and he gave us his Spirit to improve our relationship with him. Our God doesn’t sit on the mountaintop sending down laws. He lived them out though Jesus and empowers us with the Holy Spirit to do the same. That is why we are more than conquerors.
shine!
Jason
This is one of the most powerful passages in all of Scripture. We are a part of God’s work to redeem this world. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, the love of God, and the work of the Holy Spirit, God calls us to join his purpose. We allow so many things to distract us from our purpose and design. Nothing can separate us from God except ourselves. While God is always there and he always loves us, we can choose to construct barriers to put distance between us and God.
We must wrestle with the fact that God is not out to punish us or make us do what he wants. Rather, he views us as his children and wants what is best for us. He gave up his Son to prove his love and he gave us his Spirit to improve our relationship with him. Our God doesn’t sit on the mountaintop sending down laws. He lived them out though Jesus and empowers us with the Holy Spirit to do the same. That is why we are more than conquerors.
shine!
Jason
Monday, April 20, 2009
The good, the bad, and the ugly
This past Wednesday, I was able to share my story in Connections. I have to tell you that I was more nervous than I have been in years. Very seldom do I get nervous about public speaking, but this past Wednesday I was very anxious as the evening approached.
I have to be honest, I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction I would receive. I knew that there were parts of my past that are very dark and other parts that are pretty humorous. I shared most everything, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Thank you to those of you who came up to me afterwards with words of affirmation. I also want to thank those who sent me an email or a comment on Facebook.
I was reminded of something powerful this week. There is something about sharing your story.
To me, that is one of the most powerful aspects of the Bible. Many people look at the Bible as a list of rules and regulations to please a God who doesn’t really care about what we want. That is so counter to what the Bible really is.
In the Bible, we are introduced to the stories of hundreds of people whose lives, like mine, were full of the good, the bad, and the ugly. And while I shared my life with a few hundred people, billions of people have heard the stories of people like David and Peter. David, the “man after God’s own heart,” also violated half of the Ten Commandments in a matter of months. Peter denied Jesus three times shortly after declaring his allegiance to the Christ.
These two men, and dozens of others in the story of God’s people, accomplished much for the Kingdom of God in spite of their shortcomings.
The apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
When we begin to look at the Bible as a collection of stories of imperfect people striving to grow closer to a perfect and loving God, maybe we can begin to see how God wants to turn our shortcomings into victories rather than telling us how bad we are.
shine!
Jason
I have to be honest, I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction I would receive. I knew that there were parts of my past that are very dark and other parts that are pretty humorous. I shared most everything, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Thank you to those of you who came up to me afterwards with words of affirmation. I also want to thank those who sent me an email or a comment on Facebook.
I was reminded of something powerful this week. There is something about sharing your story.
To me, that is one of the most powerful aspects of the Bible. Many people look at the Bible as a list of rules and regulations to please a God who doesn’t really care about what we want. That is so counter to what the Bible really is.
In the Bible, we are introduced to the stories of hundreds of people whose lives, like mine, were full of the good, the bad, and the ugly. And while I shared my life with a few hundred people, billions of people have heard the stories of people like David and Peter. David, the “man after God’s own heart,” also violated half of the Ten Commandments in a matter of months. Peter denied Jesus three times shortly after declaring his allegiance to the Christ.
These two men, and dozens of others in the story of God’s people, accomplished much for the Kingdom of God in spite of their shortcomings.
The apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
When we begin to look at the Bible as a collection of stories of imperfect people striving to grow closer to a perfect and loving God, maybe we can begin to see how God wants to turn our shortcomings into victories rather than telling us how bad we are.
shine!
Jason
Friday, April 17, 2009
Spirit-led living
This Sunday our students will be studying Romans 8:5-17. I just wanted to share a few brief thoughts on this powerful passage...
This passage gets to the heart of what it means to be a Christian. It’s not about rules or regulations. It’s not the law itself that God is concerned with. God is ultimately concerned about the relationship between him and his children. In Spirit-led living, we see God’s real desire. God wants us to be so intimately connected with him that we can’t help but live according to his passions and desires.
He wants to share his treasures with us. And those treasures exist in this world and the New Heaven and New Earth. When we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us, we will experience true life and real peace. It is not until we allow the Spirit to be our guide that we can really live into God’s dream for us in this world and into eternity.
shine!
Jason
This passage gets to the heart of what it means to be a Christian. It’s not about rules or regulations. It’s not the law itself that God is concerned with. God is ultimately concerned about the relationship between him and his children. In Spirit-led living, we see God’s real desire. God wants us to be so intimately connected with him that we can’t help but live according to his passions and desires.
He wants to share his treasures with us. And those treasures exist in this world and the New Heaven and New Earth. When we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us, we will experience true life and real peace. It is not until we allow the Spirit to be our guide that we can really live into God’s dream for us in this world and into eternity.
shine!
Jason
Thursday, April 16, 2009
10 Years Ago...
Ten years ago today was the day I lost my mother in a car accident. I wrote about this experience last year, so I won't revisit the story.
However, I was reminded today of the lonely and confusing world of dealing with death.
We live in a culture that doesn't always know how to deal with death and dying. We spend billions of dollars as a nation to mask our aging. In many ways we have sterilized the dying process. I often see people who are afraid, embarrassed, or unsure of how to deal outwardly with their grief. Sometimes, it seems like it is culturally unacceptable to grieve.
I am so thankful that during my time at Rochester I have interacted with John & Sara Barton, who served as missionaries to Uganda, and several students from Uganda who have attended Rochester College. Through them, and several indirect experiences with deaths in Uganda, I have learned a lot about how at least one other culture deals with death.
Last night I shared my life story with the Rochester Church. Part of that story included the deaths of my mom and Michelle's mom, who died several months apart in 1999. Any time I share my story of grieving, be it in front of a few hundred people or sitting in my office with one student wrestling with grief, there is power in community, sharing sorrow, and helping carry one another's burdens.
I wonder what kind of difference it would make in our churches if we could become more transparent and honest about the times we are hurting. Not only could it help those dealing with the pain, I believe it would draw our churches closer together and move us closer to the koinonia community that God desires.
shine!
Jason
However, I was reminded today of the lonely and confusing world of dealing with death.
We live in a culture that doesn't always know how to deal with death and dying. We spend billions of dollars as a nation to mask our aging. In many ways we have sterilized the dying process. I often see people who are afraid, embarrassed, or unsure of how to deal outwardly with their grief. Sometimes, it seems like it is culturally unacceptable to grieve.
I am so thankful that during my time at Rochester I have interacted with John & Sara Barton, who served as missionaries to Uganda, and several students from Uganda who have attended Rochester College. Through them, and several indirect experiences with deaths in Uganda, I have learned a lot about how at least one other culture deals with death.
Last night I shared my life story with the Rochester Church. Part of that story included the deaths of my mom and Michelle's mom, who died several months apart in 1999. Any time I share my story of grieving, be it in front of a few hundred people or sitting in my office with one student wrestling with grief, there is power in community, sharing sorrow, and helping carry one another's burdens.
I wonder what kind of difference it would make in our churches if we could become more transparent and honest about the times we are hurting. Not only could it help those dealing with the pain, I believe it would draw our churches closer together and move us closer to the koinonia community that God desires.
shine!
Jason
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Outside the walls
This week while at one of the Christian colleges, something interesting happened. I was sitting in a contemplative chapel where we were lead in prayers through the Stations of the Cross.
There’s something else that happened during our prayer time that I want to share with you. Overlooking the arena where we were having chapel, there is a room that has floor to ceiling windows.
While we were in the arena with dimmed lights and experiencing prayer, there was a group of people enjoying a luncheon in that room. The bright light and moving bodies was a bit of a distraction since it was clearly visible to all who were a part of the chapel.
It made we wonder how many of us are often like the people at the luncheon, who seemed oblivious to the hundreds of students sitting just outside their window.
How often is God at work in plain view around us and we completely miss it? How many of us get so wrapped up in our days that we don’t see what God is doing right under our noses?
I often hear people ask, “Where is God?” The reality is that often God is already at work, even in the messiest of situations.
The problem is two-fold. First of all, like the people at the luncheon, we can be so consumed by what we want to do, that we miss out on what God is doing all around us.
The other problem is that we want God to work in ways we like or are comfortable with. But that’s often not how God works.
Jesus irritated the religious leaders of his day because he interacted with prostitutes, tax collectors, Samaritans, adulterers, lepers, and a host of other people who were considered “unclean” by those who ascribed to the religious status quo.
Jesus is calling us to a radical way of living. A way of life that calls us to abandon our selfish desires, allow God to transform us from the inside out, and engage a world in need of salvation.
Maybe it’s time to look outside the walls and see what God is doing all around us.
shine!
Jason
There’s something else that happened during our prayer time that I want to share with you. Overlooking the arena where we were having chapel, there is a room that has floor to ceiling windows.
While we were in the arena with dimmed lights and experiencing prayer, there was a group of people enjoying a luncheon in that room. The bright light and moving bodies was a bit of a distraction since it was clearly visible to all who were a part of the chapel.
It made we wonder how many of us are often like the people at the luncheon, who seemed oblivious to the hundreds of students sitting just outside their window.
How often is God at work in plain view around us and we completely miss it? How many of us get so wrapped up in our days that we don’t see what God is doing right under our noses?
I often hear people ask, “Where is God?” The reality is that often God is already at work, even in the messiest of situations.
The problem is two-fold. First of all, like the people at the luncheon, we can be so consumed by what we want to do, that we miss out on what God is doing all around us.
The other problem is that we want God to work in ways we like or are comfortable with. But that’s often not how God works.
Jesus irritated the religious leaders of his day because he interacted with prostitutes, tax collectors, Samaritans, adulterers, lepers, and a host of other people who were considered “unclean” by those who ascribed to the religious status quo.
Jesus is calling us to a radical way of living. A way of life that calls us to abandon our selfish desires, allow God to transform us from the inside out, and engage a world in need of salvation.
Maybe it’s time to look outside the walls and see what God is doing all around us.
shine!
Jason
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Don't wrestle alone
Why does it seem like so many Christians try to fight sin on their own? I think for those of us who are American, it’s because we have “Americanized” our Christianity. We have been shaped by the pioneering spirit and individualistic nature of our nation and our culture. We hear phrases like “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” or look at those who made it “on their own” and we want to bring that to our spiritual life.
Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. Yes, there is an aspect of our spiritual life which includes personal responsibility and choices. Yes, ultimately, we must make the decisions and deal with the consequences of our behavior. But God’s dream is not the American dream. God’s dream is echoed again and again throughout Scripture. God’s dream is about relationship.
In Deuteronomy 6, God says that we must love God and love our neighbor. Jesus echoes those very words in Matthew 22. James states that true religion is caring for widows and orphans, keeping yourself pure. God’s dream can only be realized in relationship. Relationship with God and relationship with one another.
This is just as true in our battle with sin. In Romans 7, Paul describes the challenge that even followers of Christ face in their battle with sin. Paul says, “I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” (Romans 7:18-19)
Can you relate to this? I know I can. It’s interesting that I struggle the most with sin when I try so hard to do it on my own.
Do you want to overcome sin? The answer is simple, but not easy. It begins by having a close relationship with God that includes tapping into the power of the Holy Spirit. It is further strengthened by surrounding yourself with Spirit-filled people who can encourage you and help you in your struggle.
Both of these are uncomfortable at times. When I am wrestling with sin is when I am most tempted to back away from God and fellow believers. But if we believe Paul’s words, that is the time it is more important to rely on those relationships.
shine!
Jason
Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. Yes, there is an aspect of our spiritual life which includes personal responsibility and choices. Yes, ultimately, we must make the decisions and deal with the consequences of our behavior. But God’s dream is not the American dream. God’s dream is echoed again and again throughout Scripture. God’s dream is about relationship.
In Deuteronomy 6, God says that we must love God and love our neighbor. Jesus echoes those very words in Matthew 22. James states that true religion is caring for widows and orphans, keeping yourself pure. God’s dream can only be realized in relationship. Relationship with God and relationship with one another.
This is just as true in our battle with sin. In Romans 7, Paul describes the challenge that even followers of Christ face in their battle with sin. Paul says, “I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” (Romans 7:18-19)
Can you relate to this? I know I can. It’s interesting that I struggle the most with sin when I try so hard to do it on my own.
Do you want to overcome sin? The answer is simple, but not easy. It begins by having a close relationship with God that includes tapping into the power of the Holy Spirit. It is further strengthened by surrounding yourself with Spirit-filled people who can encourage you and help you in your struggle.
Both of these are uncomfortable at times. When I am wrestling with sin is when I am most tempted to back away from God and fellow believers. But if we believe Paul’s words, that is the time it is more important to rely on those relationships.
shine!
Jason
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