Growing up

“If you haven’t grown up by the time you’re 50, you don’t have to!” At least, that’s what someone’s status said on Facebook.

It’s tempting to think of how nice it would be to go back to the halcyon days of our childhood – a time with no stress and no worries. Of course, anyone who has raised children knows that this image of childhood is bunk. Being a kid is hard, and the problems kids face that seem insignificant to adults are monstrous at them. Our mistake is that we picture being kids again, but with all our adult knowledge, skill, and perspective. While staying a kid forever sounds good in fantasy, in reality it wouldn’t be so great at all.

So I wonder why there are so many believers who settle for being “Peter Pan Christians.” So many have never gotten beyond a Sunday School understanding of our faith, and are trying to use tools appropriate for spiritual children to wrestle with adult problems and needs.

Is your faith growing? Can you name at least one way that you’ve become more spiritually mature in the past year? Five years? Something you’ve learned? Some way you’ve come to know God better or love God more? Some way you’re living more faithfully or obediently in the grace of God?

Spiritual growth doesn’t happen by accident, and attending worship on Sunday mornings is simply not enough food to grow the spiritual soul. That’s why we try so hard to get everyone into a Growth Group – a place where you can wrestle with your faith, dig into the meat of God’s word. If Growth Groups aren’t your thing, I challenge you to develop a spiritual growth plan, and stick to it! Don’t know how? Give us a call. We’ll be glad to help.

Do You Believe in Miracles?

Tomorrow night I’ll be beginning a new Growth Group (Small Group) studying the book You Were Born for This: 7 Keys to a Life of Predictable Miracles. I mention this because when I was given a review copy of YWBFT, I was expecting to hate it.

The author, Bruce Wilkinson, is best known as the author of The Prayer of Jabez, and frankly, I found Jabez a bit thin. It was inspiring, but to this day I don’t think the biblical prayer says or even implies all that Wilkinson says it does.

So, I was pleasantly surprised to find that YWBFT is not only built on solid, biblical ground. It’s also a book that has completely challenged my understanding of how God works miracles in everyday life. It has really challenged my traditional reformed and Presbyterian comfort zone.

Wilkinson’s premise is that God uses everyday people to work miracles in the lives of people around them. If we want to be bearers of God’s miracles, we have to be aware of opportunities that God places in our path, open to being used when the opportunities arise, ready to give up our agenda to follow God’s agenda, and guided by the Holy Spirit so that whatever God does through us is to God’s greater glory.

The book is replete with stories of Wilkinson feeling a “nudge” from God when doing something very ordinary such as flying in an airplane, driving down the road, or walking down the sidewalk. His attention is drawn to a person he would otherwise overlook. Recognizing God’s prompting, he initiates a conversation with this friend or stranger, only to discover that they have been asking God to help them with a problem that Wilkinson is uniquely equipped to solve. In every case it is clear to both Wilkinson and the other party that God brought them together at this time and place to miraculously provide for that need.

This isn’t a book about lame people walking, empty vessels being filled with wine, or time standing still. It’s a book about how we can learn to be available to God to meet genuine human needs, in a way that can only be explained by saying “It’s a God thing.”

When Wilkinson suggested that we begin each day by praying for God to use us to do a miracle in someone’s life, it made me face my own reluctance to set aside my agenda for God’s agenda. I don’t want God to ask me to talk to a stranger. I don’t want to be delayed in reaching my destination to help someone on the side of the road. I don’t want to risk embarrassment or failure. So to ask God to use me today – not sometime, but today – requires me to demonstrate radical trust and genuine sacrifice. Perhaps the reason we see so few miracles is that so few of us are truly available to God.

So I’m leading a Growth Group, not only to teach this book, but to wrestle with my own faithfulness. I know I want God to use me. Now I just need to want it enough (and trust God enough) to actually be used!

An Idea Whose Time Will Never Come

I was driving down the road, enjoying the wooded hillsides as the trees are just starting to show their fall color. Suddenly, I noticed the brake lights of the car in front of me flash on. In fact, all of the cars around me seemed to be slowing down. And then I saw it, off to the side of the road, a Police car.

You know the feeling. The adrenaline shoots into your system. Your heart starts pounding faster. Your right foot moves toward the brake pedal while your eyes quickly shift to the speedometer. “What is the speed limit here, anyway?” Off to the right is a sign: 45 mph. Your speed: 55 mph. “Oh no. Oh, please, don’t let him stop me…” (or something to that effect)

Fortunately for me, the flashing lights never appeared in my mirror. But as I continued toward home, I came up with a practical idea that I’m certain will never be used.

You see, I’m one of those people who actually try to obey the speed limit. The main reason I’ve never gotten a speeding ticket in 38 years of driving is that I rarely speed, and when I do, it’s even more rarely on purpose.

(Confession time: I get a perverse sense of satisfaction as I drive southbound into Dunellen on Washington Ave., tap my brakes to go from 40 to 25 mph, and imagine the frustration of the rapidly moving cars behind me as they are forced to slow down. I get an even greater and more perverse sense of satisfaction when one of them decides to zip past me on the right, only then to discover the Dunellen cop watching from down the road. I know, I preach grace and mercy, but sometimes justice can be sooooo satisfying – at least when it happens to someone else!)

Even though the signs say “Speed Limit,” we all treat them like they mean “Suggested Speed. Don’t let us catch you going more than five or ten miles per hour faster than this!”

So, here’s my idea. It’s simple, elegant, and can almost certainly be accomplished with existing technology: Install a chip in every car that receives a radio signal telling it the posted speed limit from transponders installed in every major highway. Then, program the chip such that it the car simply will not go faster than the posted speed limit!

Think of the benefits!

• Reduced traffic accidents because nobody is speeding
• Reduced fatalities from accidents, because they will happen at lower speeds
• Increased fuel economy with an enormous saving to our nation’s fuel supply, thus reducing our dependence on foreign oil
• No speeding tickets
• Reduced insurance premiums

“Ah,” you say. “But your forgetting the liabilities! People sometimes need to exceed the posted limit in order to perform emergency maneuvers.” Easily solved. Design the car’s computer so that when you floor the gas it automatically overrides the speed restriction, but only for a limited time or distance.

“But what about the towns that rely on revenue from tickets?” Come on, you’re really clutching at straws.

And the cost? Even if we only did major highways, and phased in the chips over a period of years, the benefits would more than pay for themselves.

But as I said, it will never happen. Even you probably don’t want it to happen, do you? Most people wouldn’t. Why? Because most of us believe we have a right to speed. Even if we don’t do it often, we want to know that we could. I don’t want ANYONE else to control what I do in my car.

I’ve come to believe that our sinful nature is most dramatically displayed in the mundane things we do. Things like driving, where we know the law, but think of ourselves as just slightly above the law – where we’ll cross the line just enough that we figure we won’t get caught.

And we rationalize:  “Everyone is going faster. I’m just going with the flow of traffic.” (Eve ate the fruit, why shouldn’t I? The other kids cheat on their tests, and I really need to pass this class. No one my age is a virgin – I feel like such a loser!)

One of my favorite definitions: RATIONALIZE = Rational Lies

Ultimately, sin is our innate desire to set ourselves above God. It’s demonstrated in our constant efforts to set ourselves to set ourselves above the authorities that God has placed over us.

Thanks be to God for his forgiveness, freely given in Christ Jesus.

As Christ-followers, we’re called to surrender our entire life to him. But sometimes, in order to surrender it all, we need to let go one piece at a time. So, today, let’s YIELD just a little more our lives to Christ’s control. “Jesus – take the wheel.”

Don't Give Up

I try to start every day  by reading God's Word and spending some time in prayer. While I confess that I don't always succeed in this goal, I can testify that the days I consciously begin in the presence of God are the best days in my life.

To help me get focused, I often read daily devotional guides that I receive by email. Two of my favorites are "The Upper Room," and "The Catch."

This morning's "Catch" knocked me off of my feet and onto my knees. I've copied it below, but better yet, I encourage you to go to John Fisher's website and sign up to get his free words of wisdom delivered to your inbox as well.

Blessings!
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Don’t give up

Posted on September 22, 2011 by jwfisch

“Don’t give up; please don’t give up.” Those were the words uttered in the mind of a dying man but never heard outside his head. And for 45 minutes, two flight attendants didn’t. They took turns administering CPR on the man’s heart and alternately breathing air into his lungs. 45 minutes of either futility or life support – no one knew. All they knew was, the man had had a heart attack and stopped breathing while on a flight, and the pilot had radioed the nearest airport, but it took 45 minutes to go through the whole landing procedure.

Forty-five minutes, sometimes sliding along the floor as the plane lurched upon impact. The landing was rough, but the women kept on. Sometimes tempted to quit, but never yielding. An emergency medical team met the plane in the airport, and with the proper machines, they were able to get a strong pulse and revive the man.

How do I know this? One of those flight attendants was my wife. It’s one of her most memorable moments as a flight attendant, her job when I met her. And as she and her co-worker came off the plane they were greeted by applause from the passengers who waited for them so they could show their appreciation. It was Marti’s fantasy come true. The only thing missing was the six o’clock news.

But the most remarkable thing about this story was what she found out later. She found out that the whole time they were keeping him alive, the man was semi-conscious. He could hear everything; he just couldn’t open his eyes or speak. And the whole time he kept thinking, “Don’t give up on me; please don’t give up.”

We all have spiritually resistant friends and relatives who appear, for all we know, to be spiritually dead. We might assume them to be in the category that Paul described as those who are not being saved, but are perishing. And yet how do we know for sure that they might not be only spiritually comatose – unable to speak, but still crying out from some place deep inside: “Don’t give up on me; please don’t give up.”

That’s why you never give up on anyone. Even the most resistant, obnoxious, foul-mouthed unbeliever might still be one who, deep down inside, is being saved. Don’t give up on them. Spiritually breathe for them. Right up until the very end, because you never know.

Connecting...

This message continues a series of thoughts about our Vision Statement:
“A multicultural family, growing in faith, connecting people with Christ.”

“Connecting.” It always amazes me that I can be in a room full of people, and still feel alone. You would think that living in New Jersey, the most densely populated state, everyone would be overwhelmed with friends. But the truth is, we live in one of the most lonely cultures on earth. People, people, everywhere, and not a friend to be found.

The Bible says that one of the reasons we so often feel disconnected from people is because we’re also disconnected from God. Our disobedience, selfishness, and inward focus creates a barrier between us and God. It’s a problem we call “sin.” And, since God made you specifically in order to be in a relationship with you, that sin-separation leaves us feeling lost and alone.

The good news is that God is always eager and ready to bridge that gap with the love and forgiveness that comes through Jesus. There’s nothing God wants more than to get connected with you, share the joys and hurts of your life, love you with perfect love. What’s more, when we get our lives plugged into a personal relationship with God, we are also invited into a community of Christ-followers (called the Church) where we can experience and share God’s love with other folks like us – in other words, imperfect people, loving God, and trying to live that out with one another.   More next week…!