More Than One

Reminiscent of the nine lives that cats claim to have, I claim to have more than one life. In fact, I have more than two too! [get it...TUTU...ha...I'm a dork]. I have my spiritual life, my family life, my lame joke life, my church life, my work life, my exercise life, my hobby life, my you-name-it life. They are all there, present and accounted for! Each doing it's own thing!

As if it is against the rules to start over on, say, March 3rd or December 16th, the new year certainly encourages us to start over, to begin again, and to resolve to do this or that with my food life, weight life, or work life. If you are hitting reset this year, let me offer a thought that may take some pressure off your shoulders.

My thought: my plethora of lives are more fused to be one than I think!

I have recently been on a journey to clean out my office to get it in order! Thoughts may circle around in some people's brain about how Chris is finally getting his work life organized! These thoughts, if they actually happened, would be accurate. My work life IS getting more organized and more manageable!

At the same time, a funny surprise continues to unfold in front of me. As my office is getting more organized, my financial life is getting more organized, my spiritual life is getting more attention, and my time with family is being managed better! This is cool! Work on one and get four! To be a math nerd for a second, maybe one times one CAN equal four! Awesome!

Um...no! Epic fail, Chris!

The reality is that one times one equals...wait for it...one! We have one life. Work to enhance it even in small things, and your life improves. Your one, God-breathed life--every aspect of it--responds and adjusts to every small, seemingly-insignificant tweak. It is as if we are hard-wired in the image of God to be a whole and complete living being! Nice.

So, go for it all this year with a bang as you hit reset and work on your life again! My excitement and anticipation grows as I wonder what will be affected this year as I work to get organized at work. What about you?

A New Old Friend

I shared this on our first Wednesday night two weeks ago with about 60 college students. It is written in a way that lends itself to speaking rather than reading.

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I was planning on doing this nice little testimony that is somewhat familiar, but something happened a couple of weeks ago that I have to tell you about! It kindof fits with what we are going to talk about tonight, so that is why I’m doing that instead.

Okay, so … do you have one of those friends that impacts you so much that just thinking about that person brings a smile to your face? Just picturing them in your head and…knowing who they are…they just encourage you. Many people (even many of you) really do have that affect on me, but there are two close friends of mine, David and Doug, who just the thought of them encourages me. And distance or time has no effect on that feeling. No matter how long it is between the times we talk or see each other, it is as if we just pick right back up where we left off. I love it and hope to never lose that kind of relationship that I have with these guys! In fact, I think we can only handle two or three of these kinds of relationships during our lifetime. Some people could have more, but even one of these is enough!

Here is why I say that…I ran into this guy again a couple of weeks ago that may be another one of these kind of friends for me. It is sometimes hard to know right away, but you never know. You just take it as it comes. I really hope that it happens though…

I had met him a long time ago. I actually grew up with him in Carrollton, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. My parent’s still live in the same house where I grew up, so there were a few of us who went to the same elementary school, same Junior High, and same High School. He was in that group, so that is why I’ve known him a long time. We have this unique connection (that we’ve known each other so long), even though we’ve had a kindof superficial relationship.

He was one of those “popular ones” in school (all the way through High School too!). And since I was more of a “nerd” than anything else we just ran in different circles. Every now and then I’d notice him in one of my classes, but we rarely talked or interacted. I can say, though, that…I do remember he was easy to talk to back then. I always felt like he had that ability … you know those people? … they have a unique ability to somehow relate to all the different cliques in school. It was weird, but I always wished I could do that like him.

[I still remember thinking in the middle of Junior High, “What happened between Elementary School and Junior High?” I wondered why so many kids that I regularly played with in Elementary School no longer talked to me in Junior High. It was as if we never knew each other!]

Anyway, this guy somehow connected to all those different groups of people. It was probably because I was jealous of him that he stuck out to me. So, a couple of weeks ago I was in Houston just sitting down reading something to pass the time. I happen to look up…and I saw him coming my way. I was like, “Do I know this guy?” At first, I was trying to remember where I knew him from…because he looked very familiar. [I’ve lived in so many different places that it’s sometimes hard for me to keep all the people straight.] … Then I was like “dude…that's him!”

So, I stood up and was like, “Hey!” I had no idea if he would even remember me, but he was like, “Dude! What’s up, Chris Blair! It’s good to see you! How are ya!?” I was really taken back that he knew my name. He just started asking me to update him on things. We talked for a good while. I was overwhelmed with how easy he made it to catch up. I was also amazed at how mature he was.

Since I’m such a different person than I was in High School, I sometimes assume that people from back then would be shocked to know that I am a campus minister. But he was actually really encouraged to hear that and he talked about his relationship with God and how God has been working in his life in powerful ways! It’s so cool! You can really tell when someone is really connected to God…they are soaking up God’s word…they pray all the time, and they are just connected!

Normally in those kind of conversations, if I’m a little honest, I typically feel like I’m the one who has something to teach or offer someone else. But, with this guy, I actually started feeling like I had more to learn about how God had been working in his life than how God has been working in my life. It was an odd feeling! But…I felt good about it. He made me feel good about it!

Then…this is where it took an even more odd turn for me...he told me that he was thinking about moving to Huntsville! It is hard to describe the excitement I had after our conversation! Seriously…if he moves to Huntsville…I’m going to invite him to come around to hang out. You’ve GOT to meet this guy! He’s self-employed…well kindof (I can explain that later)…but he has a lot of time to spend with people, so that’s what he does. He spends tons of time with others. He told me…wherever he ends up…that he’d be more than happy to come speak to us and about all the ways God has worked in his life! And so, I’m really excited about that!

But…even more than just speaking to us, he said he really would like to spend serious time getting to know everyone here personally. This is what blows my mind! He told me that it really bothers him to just show up at some event, tell about God, and then everyone leaves to go their own way. He told me that he really wants to show others how God really works so that they can live the way that God made them to live. And, listen up…this guy KNOWS how God works…because he lives life to the fullest!

I KNOW this guy will change your whole life. Just listening to his stories, watching how alive he is for God, receiving a new perspective on life from him, and responding to his invitation EVERY DAY to SPEND TIME WITH HIM and to TELL OTHERS about his way of living is so…what I want to do...for the rest of my life! That is how much this guy has impacted me recently. I love spending time with my rediscovered new old friend who’s always been there…Jesus.

He wants to move in. He wants to show me everything about how God works so that I can live the way God made me to live. What is cool is that … He wants to move in with you too. He wants to show you the way God works so that you can live the way God made you to live!

I’ve heard the call, “Come and follow me!” Our invitation with the Kats for Christ is to come and experience the life that God desires to have you live. We are so about Jesus, because he is the only one who will transform you to live as he lived … completely alive!

New Beginnings

Last night marked the official announcement of the hiring of our new minister. Matt Springfield will be joining us here in Huntsville. They are moving in the middle of December with an official start date of January 3, 2010.

So, for one full year we will have been without a full-time preacher. For one year we are experiencing a desert of sorts in our transition. So much has happened during this time. Figuring out who we are as a congregation. Searching through many resumes. Having many conversations, some difficult and some exciting. Learning that I am not in control. Hearing the call to trust God. Finding clarity and confusion at the same time. Loving others. Battling Satan. Searching for God in the midst of it all. It has been a full 2009.

I stand amazed at what 40 years of this might look and feel like. The forty years of Israel's wandering in the desert is hard to comprehend on the edge of our own new beginning. We hardly setup camp and here we are moving on to something new already.

Well, despite our desert's brevity, I'm excited about this new stage in the life of our congregation! Having fresh eyes to see us and what God is doing is a much-needed thing. I'm not sure if this is blasphemous, but we will have a new voice of God in our midst, someone new to speak God's word. God certainly speaks in many ways and in various forms.

Will we have ears to listen? Will we have eyes to see? Will we have hands to serve? Will we have mouths to praise? Will we smell the aroma of Christ in our midst?

I am confident we will! I praise God for this new beginning.

Excellence

I have been wrestling with the idea of excellence in various ways since grad school. It came back to the forefront of my mind because of our visit to San Antonio. More specifically, as a result of going to church yesterday at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio.

They displayed excellence in a way that I have not experienced in a while. From us driving up to knowing where we should go to what they provided for Kayla to their worship to their use of drama to their use of many different people and talents. I was overwhelmed at how they were giving God their best! We will certainly tell them about our experience yesterday morning. It was refreshing.

I have since been thinking about excellence. I don't give God my best all the time. Perhaps because I am not encouraged to this end, perhaps because I can skate by on God-given talent rather than push for excellence in areas in which I am not gifted, or perhaps because I think God will take me just as I am and give him my mediocre self.

I need to pursue excellence in my organization skills. I need to push for excellence in how present I am with my wife. I need to press on toward excellence in raising Kayla and Tyler. Excellence needs to be my focus in my preaching and teaching. God demands all of me. He desires me to be in the business of newness at my very core; he wants excellence.

Thank you, Lord, for reminding me of this calling toward perfection. It is refreshing to experience it anew. I know that I can only do this for a certain amount of time by my own power. For this reason I need your power to sustain me. Help me wake up every morning with the newness that your excellence brings. Empower me with your spirit to be excellent.

Mac arrival

My new Mac arrived on Wednesday! I am in the process of getting everything from my PC to my Mac. I am slowly learning a new way of doing things computer-wise. It is fun to learn all the little differences. I just hope I don't forget all things PC...though I would like to. We will see how things go!

Keep learning new things..especially spiritually. God is in the business of making all things new. Allow him to work today.

Living Anew with God

Below is the sermon I preached yesterday. I know that it is a long post, but for those interested...there you go.

Title: Living Anew with God

Text: 2 Kings 22:1-23:3

Focus Statement: God continues to work newness into life

Function Statement: To foster a sense of renewal in our lives

Introduction

Painting by Thomas Hart Benton in the Dallas Museum of Art. Key parts: late afternoon sun, man looking at old shack, roof about to cave in, suitcase held together by two ropes, cow skeleton, man’s hands on beard wondering something. Its name is ‘The Prodigal Son.’ In Thomas Benton’s telling of the prodigal son, we learn that the son waited too long. You’re too late! A welcoming family does not tend the house with servants, the fatted calf is now dry bones, and there is no reconciliation between father and son. The story is anything but the one I know!

Transition: But, this picture is exactly the picture I see when I look at the story of Josiah at the end of the book in 2 Kings 22. Go ahead and turn there.

Rejected Property

The book of Kings is a long series of stories about leaders…kings…“who did evil in the eyes of the Lord” (2 Kings 11:6; 15:25; 16:25, 30). Time and time again a king is described as one who “forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord” (i.e. 2 Kings 21:22). It is as if we see all over again the sin that gets worse and worse at the beginning of Genesis, which led to the flood where God totally destroyed the world.

Then, in the chapter just before we begin to read about Josiah, God makes his pronouncement: “I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle” (21:12). Even after the story of Josiah we see the lord rejecting his people: (23:27) “So the Lord said, ‘I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, “There shall my Name be.”’”

All of this was part of the covenant God established with Israel so many years ago. Keep my commands and you will be blessed; reject my commands and you will be cursed. So…because Israel rejected God’s commands…it is set…Jerusalem will fall…there is nothing you can do about it! No amount of repentance will change my mind. You can hear the distant voices saying …you are too late…just like Thomas Hart Benton’s rendition of ‘The Prodigal Son’…you waited too long…you kings of Israel.

Transition: But, you can’t just let these distance voices convince us that there is no hope…that we should just resign ourselves to inescapable destruction as rejected property! There is more in our text this morning that compels us to keep listening. The story of Josiah is filled with hope…with renewal. Let’s move in a little closer to hear the story.

Business as Usual

As the story of the Kings comes to a close (at the very end of the book), we see this story of Josiah. He is the one we have been looking for as far as walking with the Lord. “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left” (22:2). “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with the law of Moses” (23:25).

Josiah comes on the scene as an eight-year old boy (22:1). Ten years pass by without any mention of his activity. Nothing stands out as noteworthy to the narrator of 2 Kings. The years went on like usual. A young king doing what young kings are supposed to do…I guess. Business as usual for king Josiah. Even after ten years of being king we see business continuing as usual in 22:3. The kings of Israel regularly sponsored repairs and renovations on the temple. That is what you were supposed to do…repair and renovate the temple…and so…Josiah does this.

He sends the secretary, Shaphan, with this message. (22:4) “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. (5) Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the Lord—(6) the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple.”

Business continues as we continue reading, but there is something new in the story…its something powerful, but not important at first. Hilkiah the high priest found a book in the temple during the course of business. He (oddly enough as a priest) doesn’t know what to do with this book, so he gives it to the secretary, Shaphan. It, apparently, isn’t too important to Shaphan either. He almost forgot to mention it to the king when he was reporting back to him about business. (vs.9) “Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: ‘Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.’” Business as usual… money… workers doing their job…normal stuff here. Oh yeah! (vs.10) “Then Shaphan…informed the king, ‘Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.’ And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.”

Transition: At this point in the story, business as usual is over! Life changes. Josiah’s response is unprecedented. Even though we don’t know what the contents of the book are until later, it must be powerful to make such a dramatic change in a person.

Josiah’s Initial Response

Josiah rips his clothes. He orders three other people (more people are involved now) to go with Hilkiah and Shaphan to inquire of the Lord through a prophetess (Huldah) to see if these things are true. It seems like Josiah fears that something bad might happen soon because of the disobedience of his predecessors. She affirms his suspicions (vs.16): “This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and provoked me to anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.”

At this point, I still don’t see anything good about this story. Nothing has changed! Destruction is still coming. There is something about the words of the Lord “my anger…will not be quenched” that doesn’t give me hope. I see the image of Thomas Benton’s prodigal son. Those voices comes around again, “Its too late.” “You can’t change anything.” “Don’t even try.” You know Josiah was probably thinking that when he received the news from the prophetess…wasn’t he? Let’s see.

Josiah’s Complete Response

2 Kings 23:1-3. What does Josiah do? He tells as many people as possible. More people need to know what is written in this book. We learn here that he is reading from the Book of the Covenant. There are many ideas of exactly what is contained in this book that Josiah read. It could be the laws of Exodus 20-23. It could be pieces of Deuteronomy. It could be the whole Pentateuch, the first five books of the OT. Whatever it is…it contains the idea of blessings and curses predominant in Deuteronomy. Meaning…those who keep the commands of God will be blessed, while those who reject the commands of God will be cursed. Josiah needs to tell everyone the contents of this book.

Beyond just telling people about the book, Josiah did something else. He also renewed the old covenant between Israel and God. He is interested in following the Lord despite the circumstances (despite the fact that God is about to destroy Israel), Josiah decides to renew the covenant in the presence of the Lord.

Taking things even further than verbally renewing the covenant, Josiah completely reforms the entire kingdom (23:4ff). He tears down idols in the temple set up to Baal and Asherah. He does away with all the pagan priests, mediums, and spiritists. He tears down the houses of prostitution. He breaks down shrines, burns other altars, scatters the ashes, and desecrates the so-called “holy places” throughout the land. He takes bones from tombs, puts them on altars, and burns them…total desecration. He slaughters all the priests of Samaria’s high places on their altars and burned human bones…again desecrating them.

On a slightly more positive note, Josiah commands all the people of the land to celebrate the Passover. The narrator says the Passover had not been celebrated since the time of the judges. They again participate in an event that defined them as a people…God showing his favor to Israel when he passed over them when he killed Egypt’s first born. They celebrate the Passover!

Overall, when you read about “Josiah’s reforms” (as they are called), you can’t help but say that it was complete reformation. Josiah truly had a heart that was responsive and humble just like the prophetess said (22:18-20). And you could tell this by the way he behaved. The narrator says (and I read it again) “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with the law of Moses” (23:25).

Transition: I can’t help but ask (when I hear the story of Josiah), “Why? … Why does Josiah respond this way? Why doesn’t he just resign to his fate and carry on business as usual? No harm in that right?”

Living Anew with God

Well…yeah there is if you’re Josiah. [pause] Apparently, if you are going to walk right and “do what is right in the eyes of the Lord,” you are going to do this regardless of the circumstances. Regardless of the fact that Judah is going to be destroyed regardless. Repenting is just the right thing to do. You do what is right, period. Josiah hears the words of the Lord and responds accordingly. He doesn’t say, “If my repentance doesn’t change God’s judgment against Judah, I am not going to repent.” Josiah instead says, “Living anew with God means responding to his words that never change.” So, he stands by the pillar and reads the words of God to everyone! That is bold.

This is the message that confronts us here today: how are we going to live anew with God and respond TODAY to his words? The world around us seems to be telling us (ever so subtly), “It doesn’t matter! If you want to do that to make you feel better…go ahead. But it really doesn’t make the world a better place by doing all these things.” They might whisper in our ears that living with God is just about going to church and saying the right things. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Living anew with God means…living according to his word. His word still speaks to us today…just like it did to Josiah. The words that God has spoken are not hidden away in the basement. Instead, they are accessible. They are alive. They are real. They guide us. They speak to us right now! Where are they? They are in the Bible.

Our job…no…our responsibility…is to stand by the pillar and read them! We must be committed to God’s unchanging word despite our circumstances. All of our circumstances change by the minute, but God’s word never changes. The message he spoke to Josiah is the message he speaks to us today. It is an invitation to life with God. His word needs to be close to our heart. Now is the time to renew yourself to God’s enduring word.

The question I have for us this morning is this: How are you going to get into God’s word this next year? Even more than that…how are you going to live according to his word? You can read the words all you want. You can even praise God for his glorious words that offer life. But it is completely empty if you don’t do anything about it. As James tells us, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says….the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:22, 25)

As we encounter God’s word again, we need to ask, “What are we going to do to live anew with God?” Reformation needs to happen.

God needs your commitment to him despite how tough times are for you right now. I really do get tired of people saying to me, “I need to do better, I know. But I am about to get this new job. Or I am about to retire. Or I am about to do this or about to do that.” There is always something. But, we can still serve God and live life anew while doing all these things. You don’t have to wait until everything is perfect before you begin. Begin now! I can’t think of a better time of the year.

Perhaps you are going through life thinking things are just business as usual. Life is going along pretty normally…nothing major is happening in my life and I am going to work on keeping it that way. But, if we are to take this passage in 2 Kings seriously, we are to be continually looking for ways to reform our lives according to God’s word in a responsive and humble manner. We want to be ones who DID right in the eyes of the Lord. Not the ones who WILL DO or ARE ABOUT TO DO right in the eyes of the Lord. We don’t want business as usual. We have that chance right in front of us. Right now. What are we going to do?

I want to close by reading the chorus of a song from a Christian band.

Watermark song: All Things New

CHORUS:

Because of who You are and who I am in you

You make all things pure

Because of who You are and who I am in You

You make all things true

You make all things new

It is because of who God is and whom he has made us to be that we can begin anew with life with God. God truly makes all things new. That is his business. He can do it. Let’s respond as a community. It is not too late! Let’s live anew with God.

Newness in Christ

I am just beginning to think through a sermon I will preach on Dec 31st. Please bear with me.

The Lord brings new things our way all the time. Many times, however, it isn't new to me. I have heard it before. I know that already. I have read this passage countless times before. How many times do I take communion? When am I not going through my routine? I let the oldness set in and stifle any newness that the Lord wants to bring.

Actually, oldness was set in with Josiah, Shaphan (the secretary), and Hilkiah (the priest). Looking at their life in 2 Kings 22, we see routine: a king doing kingly things, a secretary doing secretary things, and a priest doing priestly things (but not according to the Law apparently). They were not near newness.

That is until they discover a "new," old book of the Law in the temple. Then Josiah went throughout the kingdom bringing the newness that was intended to exist continually since the time of Moses. The newness came however, not simply because of finding this book. It was found by a responsive, humble heart (2 Kings 22:19). The newness continued with new responsibilities: the priest now had to inquire of the Lord, the king had to change the kingdom business, the people had to smash all that opposed the law, and the foreign priests had to die. The newness came with a vengeance.

Today, we have a chance to allow newness to penetrate our hearts. Our humility before the Lord will usher in new life. Our behavior will follow and thereby bring more newness. May God bring the newness found in Christ deep within ourselves and give us rest.