"Go, Send, or Disobey"

Wesley summer pics & Quotes

Wesley learned many of the 'regulars' at church several months ago, but he noticed about 6 weeks ago that people kept talking to "John Mark." There were a couple of times he repeated that name after someone else had said it in a full room. We all stopped talking and one of us asked, "Where's John Mark?" After going through everyone's name in the room (including "Daddy"), Wesley was baffled about John Mark's identity.

Wesley with his second cousins. Three kids, a small pool with a slide = collisions.

One day this week the "Who is John Mark?" gig broke down - he figured it out. Today he pointed at me and said, "My John Mark."

He's gotten past some of his former hilarious pronunciations, but new ones have arisen. One of our favorites is "blue babies" or sometimes "blue beebees."

Yesterday the whole fam (minus dog) was sitting on the couch, each doing his own thing. Wesley broke that pattern by forcefully saying, "No, no! Stop it!" and swatting Laura's leg. After repeated corrections from us, I gave him his final warning before punishment. I reasoned with him - his responsibility is to obey Jesus, which in turn, means he must obey his parents. He may not tell us what to do. Jokingly, I added that he was permitted to boss the dog around if he could get the animal to pay attention. Wesley climbed off the couch, walked directly to the dog, leaned down toward where he lay, and said, "Obey Jesus!"

How Serious is Lying to Your Church?

Remember the weird story at the beginning of Acts 5 about the man & wife who play along with the trend in their church (to sell one's home and give the proceeds for the congregation's general benefit)? Both husband and wife were struck down by God for the whole plot. What does this teach us?

"So completely is the church the organ of his [i.e., the Holy Spirit's] vitality that an attempt to deceive the church is an attempt to deceive the Spirit--in other words, to deceive God himself."
-F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles (3rd ed., 1990) p. 61.

Sermon on the Mount Outline (it's long!)

I taught through the Sermon on the Mount over about 7 months for my church. Here's my take on the flow of thought:

1. Background - I think Matt. 1:21 sets the agenda in Matthew's Gospel: (a) who Jesus is, (b) who Jesus' people are, (c) how Jesus saves 'his people from their sin'. This third theme has two parts, as I see it, in Matthew's Gospel - Jesus atones for sin and he transforms sinners (discipleship).

2. Immediate Context - The 'kingdom of heaven' is the thematic vehicle Jesus uses to encompass almost everything about his identity, mission, and his people. Leading into the Sermon on the Mount, Matt. 4:17-5:1 contrasts Jesus' disciples (who are truly his people) with the crowds he attracted.

3. The Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-12) function as commands about the disciples' character, motivated by promises of rewards and happiness. With this character, the disciples will/must influence others (Matt. 5:13-16).

4. Jesus' purpose (remember Matt. 1:21 above) is not to replace the Old Testament but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17-48). Matthew carefully shows in the whole Gospel how Jesus keeps the Law and fulfills direct and typological predictions. But here, Jesus focuses on the deep transformation he intends to effect in his disciples, enabling them to keep the Law (part of saving them from their sins). In fact, the Sermon on the Mount is almost exclusively about the transformative element of Jesus' mission; or, you might say this is training for 'his people' on how to live as his disciples.

5. The disciples' entire lives are meant to be worship (Matt. 6). Jesus urges his followers to do three typical (for Jews) works of 'righteousness' (notice 6:1 picks up the same idea as 5:20) with a Godward orientation by aiming at the Father's reward, instead of doing these things with a man-centered orientation (6:1-8, 16-18). Jesus stops in the middle (6:9-15) to describe how (not what) he wants his disciples to pray, as well as to reiterate the essential practice of forgiveness (the activity of meek & merciful character).

The disciples' attitude toward what is entrusted to them (money, resources, time) should bring eternal reward and 'light' (vibrant life here and now) because they will make use of God's gifts to help others, to sustain themselves, and for any other God-honoring function. If anyone uses God's temporary gifts for ultimate satisfaction, this amounts to worshiping a false god and will bring temporary 'darkness' and eternal destruction.

6. Jesus' community of disciples must practice his commands together, making progress in character and righteous acts with these two helps: humble accountability to one another (Matt. 7:1-6) and desperate prayer for God's transforming power (Matt. 7:7-11).

7. The Golden Rule is a positive, proactive summary of the whole Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 7:12).

8. Jesus concludes with four illustrations (Matt. 7:13-27) about the urgency of responding to him with obedience; Jesus offers no category within 'his people' for folks who are forgiven of sin but do not submit to his every command. Forgiven people are disciples who are being transformed (produce fruit).

9. Matthew's opinion of Jesus' teaching is summarized by the reaction of the crowd (that has gathered since the Sermon began, compare Matt. 7:28-29 to 5:1-2).

Take Time to Think

In contrast to projects in your life, learning is much more open-ended.
I study every week to understand the particular text(s) from the Bible that I plan to teach each weekend. Some parts are easier for me to understand than others, and so there can be wide variations in the time necessary just to follow the ideas in the passage (=research). Once I know the basic stuff I can get from just careful observation and using appropriate resources, there is still thinking to be done. And thinking time must not overlap with other activity, it seems. When I'm too busy to think in my normal routine (and when I entertain myself in my free time), then the bathroom becomes the place where new ideas come. You've had a good idea in the shower, right? It might mean that we need more intentionally to devote time to thinking, meditating, not adding new inputs to our maxed-out mental processors.

Matt Perman cites a book to this effect:

Don’t confuse busyness with efficiency. An organization’s best people sometimes spend their most productive time seemingly daydreaming.

Busyness may, in fact, be counterproductive.

I love the next part.
“It is necessary to be slightly underemployed if you are to do something significant,” says James D. Watson. He is a Nobel laureate who shared the prize with Francis Crick for successfully discovering the genetic code of DNA.

They had corn on display at the TX capitol. I don't get it.

happy

Wesley before 2

Here is the famous castle in Versailles, KY. It made such an impression on him that he thinks big hotels must be castles, too.









Is the TX senate ready for this?







Wesley was almost as surprised as Santa Ana that the TX army attacked during siesta.



He takes his falls pretty well.

High five, George.

Define your Results

Several months ago, my friend Ben Reed led a crash course on developing a small group ministry in any church. A key point was define a 'win'. This was sage advice! No matter which of your responsibilities you are addressing, you should always define what results you want to achieve before you busy yourself with hard work that may or may not lead to a desirable result.

Seth Godin recently said too many people in business let "tactics drown out strategy." (His blog cracks me up and cuts me deep in 6-10 sentences.) Here's the potent insight:

Most of us are afraid of strategy, because we don't feel confident outlining one unless we're sure it's going to work. And the 'work' part is all tactical, so we focus on that. (Tactics are easy to outline, because we say, "I'm going to post this." If we post it, we succeed. Strategy is scary to outline, because we describe results, not actions, and that means opportunity for failure.)

BTW: Thanks for your thoughtful interaction in the comments. I hope to have a few fun Wesley posts up in the next day or two.

The Armor from God: Who's Got My Back?

If you've been around evangelical churches a few years, I imagine you have heard about the armor of God that Christians are supposed to put on our person. Maybe you have heard the observation that usually is shared with appropriate gravitas: all the parts of the armor are for the front part of the body. Therefore, the observation goes, God has designed Christians always to be on the offensive, never to retreat.

It occurred to me this morning (call it an impression, maybe) that God inspired Paul to describe the armor from God at the end of the letter to the Ephesians. The previous parts of the letter address our vulnerable spots. First, the Spirit of wisdom and revelation guides us into knowing the Lord, transforming our inner man. Also, the unity of the Spirit among those who belong to Christ is the basis for speaking the truth in love to one another. It's not that I am a lone soldier who must always be on the offensive in order not to be vulnerable (though there is something to that idea); the picture is more like I'm one soldier in the ranks of God's army, and to attack my vulnerable spots the enemy must break through the line of Jesus' mighty saints.

Hey Christian - whose back you got?