Category: Faith Ponderings

Day 54 -What You Do Isn’t Who You Are…

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” 1 Corinthians 3:16

So many people worry about what they do.
Will I earn enough money.
Can I afford to go to school to become a doctor or lawyer. do
Our world has made certain professions a matter of prestige and of which to pursue and become.  But our jobs do not truly define us.  Sure, they can be an outpouring of our passion, but they are not the root identifier of who we truly are.  Many times I will go to special events and I will meet people and usually one of the first things they ask is – “So, what do you do?”  This one single question becomes the classifier of not just profession but an indicator of what kind of person you are.  It’s judgmental and assuming.

What do you say when people ask you this question?
Perhaps you could shock them by saying something like “I’m an ambassador of the eternal King” …just imagine the looks you might get then.  The truth is, it doesn’t really matter what the world around you thinks about you, and these kind of canned questions with the rehearsed and canned answers are all superficial and none of it truly speaks to WHOSE we are.

do2You are and I are sons and daughters of the Most High.
We are called to BE holy…then DO holiness in our practical living.
The Apostle Paul tells us in the above passage to recognize that we are all God’s temple.  I have this funny idea of these little steeple and temple running around, and bumping into each other at coffee shops…but the true reality is this:  we are God’s kingdom here on earth…and above all, we should live kingdom living before we even attempt the “doing”.  Today, may we all find God’s kingdom within us and through us.  May we recognize what we do is not as important as WHOSE we are.

Prayer:  Lord, grant me understanding of my purpose here on earth.  Help me to live for you and to stop worrying about my employment status in society.  Guide me in my day and lead me to live for you in all of my ways.  I love you Lord.  -Amen.

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Day 53 -A Spiritual Spa…

“He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.”  (Psalm 23:2-3)

Have you ever come to the end, or even the beginning of your day and have found that you are unsure if you will make it?  I don’t meaning living, but I do mean the stresses of life.
We all find ourselves here.
We find ourselves running on empty and at times we lose forward momentum in our relationship with Christ.
spa
These moments of fellowship that we have with God are so vital to the whole self.
It can become a monotonous, even boring practice if we only consider it an obligation.
God doesn’t require our obligation…but he longs for our fellowship.  When we find ourselves burned out, stressed out and emotionally/spiritually spent may we find the wellspring of life again through this relationship with God.  He wants to refresh our souls.  He longs to take us from the dry land, thirsty land and into a spa for the soul…to restore us, to renew us and to prepare us for his fellowship and his holy service.

Do you need the restoration of soul today?
Are you tired and emotionally or spiritually spent?
Allow a time of refreshment to take place in your life.  Perhaps this refreshment will come through your prays today.  Perhaps it will come from listening to a song in your car or on your ride to (or from) work.  Perhaps this spa will take place in a moment during lunch today.  Pay attention.  Keep your eyes, ears, hearts focused on what God is doing in your life today.  He wants to bring you to a place of refreshing and restoration.  Let Him in, and allow Him to bring his  renewal to you today.

Prayer:  Lord I desire your fellowship today.  I long for your peace in this restless heart.  Restore me today, I desire to be yours and yours alone.  Amen.

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Day 52 – Eternal Immigration

A lot has been said recently about illegal immigration and where countries and presidential ideologies clash in certain beliefs and convictions.  Regardless of what you believe in regards to this important issue, our calling as Christ-followers goes far beyond any national policy or personal conviction.  Jesus came for the whosoever, and this might take us beyond the boundaries of any one country or law.  I am not saying that we break the laws of the country we live in, but we ought to begin to recognize that Christ’s sovereignty goes far beyond any border or one nation.  In the eternal perspective race, age, gender, nationality or immigration status does not matter – we are all humans who need the love and salvation of an Almighty God.

Philippians 3:20 says this, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ…”  When Jesus came to earth he declared that the kingdom of Heaven was here.  We can begin to live this kingdom living today!  We do not need to wait until we die and go to heaven, for our Eternal Immigration has already been approved!  If we have believed in Jesus Christ as Messiah of our lives, we have this eternal kingdom already taking up residence within us in our lives.  So how can we live this eternal citizenimmigration out loud?  How can we live as kingdom people?  There are really two ways to express this…the first and most important is to the love the Lord your God.  The second is because of this outpouring of that love for God – it is the love of others…even those who may not look like you, act like you or come from where you call ‘home’.  We serve a global God, with a broad love that transcends all divides.  When His people, who are set apart and live out holiness, they are not only citizens of heaven, they begin to display this irresistible love for everyone, including our enemies.

How can you live out this eternal citizenship today?
How might you display your love for God and also this love for all who you might meet on this very day?  Pray for those you will meet today.  Ask God for wisdom and guidance in how you interact with others and in how you live out loud – this holy eternal citizenship.

Prayer:  Dear Lord, thank you for loving me!  I want to live for you alone!  Help me to love you back, and as I do also help me to love those I meet along the way.  I pray for those who are not my friends…I pray for my enemies and for those I do not get along with.  In this “living for you” grant me your eyes to see those around me.  I am your child, thank you for this great blessing of salvation!  In your name I pray these things.  -Amen.

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Dear Salvation Army, Is This Mission Drift?…

It has happened in numerous conversations.
There has been the lament of decisions made, and the ripples that flow from those decisions moving outward growing ever larger and larger.
Could it be that in some places in our Army world that we are experiencing a floundering of our mission?  How can we recognize this mission drift in our ministries and in the larger army?

Perhaps the first question we should ask ourselves is this:  What is our mission as an Army?  Have we strayed from that mission?  And if the answer is ‘yes’, then perhaps we have indeed become castaways on mission drift.

I read a fascinating article recently from The Gospel Coalition by Matt Smethurst, he was interviewing authors Peter Greer and Christ Horst who wrote the book Mission Drift: The Unspoken Crisis Facing Leaders, Charities and Churches.  In this interview, Smethurst asked Greer and Horst “Why is “mission drift” such a problem for well-intentioned Christian ministries and charitable trusts?”
Their answer really hit home with perhaps some of the issues our Army faces currently.  Here is what Greer and Horst had to say:

Through our research we confirmed that mission drift is a pressing challenge for every faith-based organization. The zeal and beliefs of the founders are insufficient safeguards. There is no immunity, no matter how concrete your mission statement is. Or how passionate your leaders are. Or how much you believe it could never happen to you.

Relatively minor decisions, when compounded by time, lead organizations to an entirely different purpose and identity.

boatDid you catch that?
Mission Drift is a challenge for EVERY faith-based organization…and I believe we are facing this imminent threat every day within our Army.  We are not immune.  We are not above this danger.  As a matter of fact, I believe that the chief danger in our Salvation Army today is mission drift within social programs, recreational programs and all other would be programs that are become increasingly devoid of any spiritual emphasis or initiative.  We have become professional outsourcers and imagined “the lost” would come banging down our doors on Sunday…yet they aren’t and our corps are dying…and we are riding wave after wave of mission drift.

When asked about money, Greer and Horst had this to say:

Q: How does money tend to factor into the mission drift equation?

“Through hundreds of hours of interviews with Christian leaders of organizations of all varieties, donor influence was identified time and again as a leading cause of drift. With almost any donation there are “strings attached.” In some instances donors—often corporate donors or government funders—will place prohibitions about how overtly Christian an organization’s work can be. Historically this restriction was perhaps most evidenced in Andrew Carnegie’s university funding, which disallowed “sectarian institutions” from receiving funding. Many colleges—including Brown and Dartmouth—cut ties with their founding Christian denominations to be eligible to receive Carnegie’s millions.”

Has money played a part of our possible mission drift in the Salvation Army?
I would say if it hasn’t, then the temptation has surely been there…and some may even rationalize “well, we will figure out a ‘work-around’ for our mission to continue as we accept these monies…” and yet the funds come and the implementation of missional, intentional Christ-centered programming gets tossed or put on the back-burner because regulations and guidelines must be followed.  Is this danger truly happening to our Army?  Is it subtle and sometimes unnoticeable?   All it takes are small, seemingly innocuous decision to take place in order for the drift to start.  Could it be happening in your corps?  Your Division?  Your Territory?

I certainly do not want to paint a doom and gloom, “let’s second guess every decision being made” – type of conversation.  But I am pondering whether we have already begun to drift away from our primary purpose for being an Army?  Later on in the interview, Greer and Horst said this, and I believe this describes my fear of mission drift in our army:

We chose the word drift intentionally. It has the image of slowly, silently, and with little fanfare carrying you away to a new destination. It’s not dramatic, and yet anyone who’s spent time on a boat of any size knows it happens.

It’s clichéd, but the moments of greatest temptation occur when you least expect it. We’ve felt the tug of secularization most when we’ve been enjoying seasons of growth. It’s so easy for success to cloud drift. But it’s always there. As Christian leaders, we must daily commit ourselves to protecting and celebrating what matters most in the institutions God has entrusted to us.

PONDER THIS:
So here is my pondering to you, Dear Army:  How do we even notice mission drift when it happens in our big Army?  And secondly, how do we course correct if our Army is Titanic and it takes all of us to turn the ship around?  Can this be done?  What are some of the indicators of mission drift that you see?  Would loss of constituents be an indicator?  Would leadership disconnect be another?  Would program not missionally based also sound alarms?  What kinds of safe-guards can we put into place to help us avoid this trap?  How might we course correct?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts, comments and concerns.
Something more for our Army to ponder today.

Source:  
Smethurst, M. (2014, March 10).  The subtle danger of mission drift. The gospel coalition.
Retrieved from https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-subtle-danger-of-mission-drift

*Disclaimer:  The thoughts and opinions written here are not necessarily the thoughts and opinions of The Salvation Army.  Reader discretion is advised.*

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Day 51 -God Given Wisdom

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James 1:5

There are certainly days when we lack the words to speak and the actions we ought to take.  Difficult days.  Days that leave us bowled over and utterly wishing we could just go back to bed and get a redo.  We’ve all been there.  When those days come can we ask God for help?  It might seem trite, but His presence with us is very real and evident if we pay attention.  For those who are Christ-followers, it is promised that wisdom will be given and given generously.

Can we seek God in the midst of our redo-seeking days?
Can we fall to our knees and make our day – His day?  God desires our fellowship and our love.  He will never force us to accept Him, or invite Him in, but when we do allow Him access in a manner of humility and love He will always provide us what we need.

Can you place your day, all your agendas, all your plans and to-do lists before God today?  Allow Him in and receive His provisions to your set-apart life!

Prayer: Dear Lord, I commit this day to your service.  I want to live for you in all that I choose to say and do today.  Lead me and I ask that when my words and wisdom fails, provide for me your wisdom and your words. Thank you for your blessings and provision!  In your name I pray these things.  -Amen.

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Day 46 – “Have You Had Enough?

“I have had enough, Lord,…” 1 Kings 19:4b
worn
Have you ever come to the point in your life where you’re just done “adulting” for one day? Perhaps the challenges at work, or the mounting house work, or the endless “to do” list has all just gotten the better of you…and you have had enough?  Have you been there?  I would imagine many of us have had those days where you contemplated why you even got out of bed.  Some days are just life that, and it seems the entire world wants a piece of you.  Rest assured, there will be better days.  All of us have experienced bad days and even bad years.  Life is certainly challenging and it isn’t always puppy dogs and rainbows, no matter how much we wish it were.  But the encouraging thing is life, and all that happens to us will eventually pass, and we have a God who journeys alongside us.  We are never alone in our struggles…and our bad days.  Another important thing to note is that our perspective on things always makes a difference.  Having a bad day?  Will you allow it to affect your spirit and the eternal joy God has given you? I hope the answer is “no”…that we will keep on keeping on despite the bad days, the trials and the set-backs.

The prophet Elijah certainly had his fair share of bad days.  The funny thing is he had just had a monumental victorious day, when he challenged all the prophets of Baal. (see 1 Kings 18:16-46) Elijah, called down fire upon a completely soaked altar and God made Himself known thereby defeating these false prophets and their fake god Baal.  You would thing this great victory would have lasted for a while, but instead Elijah is on the run and afraid for his life.   King Ahab and wicked Queen Jezebel want him dead.  Elijah is worn and weary, emotionally and physically spent, he lays down under a boom bush in the wilderness and asks God if he could just die.   He even says to God, “I have had enough…” Imagine that!  One of the most powerful Prophets of ancient times asking to die because life had become extremely hard.  He felt defeated.  He felt alone.  He thought it would be better to be taken to heaven than live another day on earth.

We experience days like this from time to time.  Perhaps not to the extreme of Elijah…but perhaps some of us have.  When those days come, I pray that like Elijah, God will encourage you, strengthen you and remind you that you are most certainly not alone!

Prayer:  Dear Lord, I pray for those who are struggling today.  I ask that you place a hand of encouragement upon them.  Lord, I too struggle with these days, thank you for reminding me of your constant presence and that I am given strength that is not my own, but yours.  Protect me from the evil one who tries to remind me of my many failures and discourages me from carrying on.  Shine your light of hope into my life today, and fill me with your peace even amidst the many storms of life.  Thank you dear Lord for being here for me!
-Amen

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Day 43 – “A Moldy Life?”

When I was in college I had this older SUV.
I was a good vehicle, it did what it needed to do.  It got me from point A to point B.
The one issue I have with this vehicle is that it smelled.   smell
At some point in the life of this SUV, it must have gotten wet on the inside and so the carpets and fabric smelled…most likely because of mold.  I tried everything to remove the stink from my truck.  I tried car fragrances and those little trees you hang from the rear view mirror…nothing seemed to work.  I would like to tell you that I successfully removed the mold and smell from my truck, but I didn’t.  Two years later I sold it and move on – smell-free.

The thing about mold in carpets is that it can be very difficult to remove, especially in places like under seats and under carpeting that is bolted down.  Mold has to be completely eradicated in order for the smell and the spores to die.  Without a deep, thorough, time consuming cleaning, that mold will remain…and so will the smell.

Proverbs 28:13 says this: “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
    but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”  Sin is a lot like mold…if we don’t do a deep cleaning it will not be eradicated.  Are there hidden spaces in your life right now that sin still remains?  It’s time for a deep cleaning!  Do not be ashamed of it – get rid of it.  Don’t hold onto it any longer.  It really is mold to the soul, and it will limit even keep you from the Lord!   Relinquish it, and allow the Lord to clean it from your life today!  

Prayer:  Lord cleanse my heart again.  I confess and expose these spaces where sin remains hidden away.  Lord, help me with my thoughts and my motives today.  I long to serve you a lone.  Remind me of my purpose and this aim today!  In your name I pray these things.  -Amen.

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Day 44 “We Hate The ‘S’ Word…”

It’s a word everybody hates.
For some it means relinquishing our freewill.
For others it means becoming a slave…and naturally, no one wants to be a slave.
Still others thing of this word as strange and even evil.

s-wordIt’s the word ‘Submit’…as in submit someone else.
-submit to the rules…
-submit to the will or whim of others…
-submit who you are to someone else’s identity.
This content of the ‘S’ word certainly seems negative and cause us to never utter it again let alone live in submission to anything other than our own freewill.

But what would you do if God requires this from you?
How do we consider the ‘S’ word then in the context of who God is and desires from us?
Even then, many (including myself) struggle with the notion of full-submission to God.
James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

This type of submission isn’t something that will hurt us, instead it will heal us. submit2 Submission to God means we can finally become all that God knows we can be.  There is this potential within all of us, but it can only be accessed and fully realized when we completely submit ourselves to God’s will.  This is probably the most difficult thing we will ever do.  Full submission to God doesn’t mean that we will lose our identity, no, it means that we will finally have our full identity.  We are called sons and daughters of God…when we finally submit to Him, this title becomes our identity.  The difficulty is letting go and trusting Him.  It requires us to say, “Lord, my life is in your hands!”  When we submit in this way, the temptations of the evil one will diminish and we can resist sin – through the power of the Holy Spirit.

You might now be there yet – letting go and submitting fully to God…but He longs for you to take that step!  He will not harm you.  He loves you and desires His people be holy.

Prayer:  Lord, I confess today that I struggle with full-submission to you in my life.  I fear letting go because it could mean that I have to make changes in my life.  Help me Lord to seek you and to let go.  I want to live for you in my life.  So in my day today, show me what this submission looks like.  I desire to be like you.  -Amen.

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Day 45 – “Love Bites…”*

“(love)…it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13:5b-6

Today love is the topic for our consideration.
What is love?
How do we get it?
How do we keep it?

donaldOf course on a day like Valentine’s day, the expressions are everywhere – in the stores, in the flower shops, on commercials…you can’t go anywhere without seeing the evidence of love.  Unfortunately you can go many places and also see the void that love leaves.  This emotion, expression and way of living can be broken.  Many have experienced the brokenness of love – and it deeply hurts.  It happens when we become vulnerable to someone else.  It happens when we allow ourselves to trust someone and that trust gets broken.  Love, at times truly bites!

You can only imagine the hurt God must have felt when humanity broke His heart in the garden.  Adam and Eve walked with Him daily.  They told Him of their day.  They, creation and Creator loved each other.  But then we broke God’s heart and as punishment we were kicked out of that perfect love and into a place where atonement had to be found.  Thankheart goodness for God’s persevering, perfect love, because He made a way for us to get back to Him in the most outrageous and compassionate way – His Son.  Jesus died in our place.  While we were yet sinners Jesus died for us (Romans 5:8).  This kind of love came at an extreme cost – Death on a cross…the shedding of blood (Holy blood)…the sacrifice of the Lamb for we the hopeless, unfaithful, and broken sinner.  THIS is the love that bites.  This is the love that lasts…this is the love that Christ brings to you and me – an undeserving, love full of grace and mercy.

That love swings both ways though…will we love Him back?  Will we also reflect that love into the world?  Will we seek to be like Christ in our love for the unloved or unlovable?

Prayer:  Dear Lord, thank you for loving me!  I know that at times I have not loved you back, and I have not always lived for you.  Be with me today to express this love that I have in my life.  Help me to share that love to the world around me.  Lord, you are with me – help me to love even the unlovables in my life today.  -Amen. 

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Day 42 -“Kill Em With Kindness”

When Jesus commanded us to love our enemies, he really meant it.   Perhaps we play that game…you know the one I’m talking about – then one where we ask, “well, what does Enemy really mean?”  Sometimes we like to pick and choose who we “think” our enemies are…but never in our wildest dreams does it mean “THAT” person (you know who I’m talking about)…but indeed that is who Jesus means.  (Sorry)
love
Our enemies might never love us back, nor even show us an ounce of kindness, yet we are called to love them.  Isn’t it bazaar that we have been given that command by Jesus…and He took it to the extreme when he allowed those who hated Him to crucify Him on the cross?!  I mean, that is true love isn’t it?  It’s a kind of love that doesn’t have strings attached.  It’s a kind of love that, even if not reciprocated, is given freely.  This kind of love has truly turned enemies into friends over the course of history and permitted the Holy Spirit to work within people and the issues they had been dealing with.  Perhaps we do not know why THAT person treats others so poorly…perhaps they themselves are hurting or have been hurt in the past.  When we open the doors to even THOSE people, we begin to comprehend how deep and how wide the love of Jesus truly is.

So…kill em with kindness.
Questions:
-Do you have one of THOSE people in your life right now?
-How might you show love to them even if it is never reciprocated?
-Begin by praying for that person or those circumstances!

Prayer:  Dear Lord, help me to love the people in my life who are difficult to love.  Guide me today as I attempt to live for you in every aspect of my life.  Be with me.  In your name I pray these things.  -Amen.

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