My Applause

This is the second of three installments - note the previous post of 8 June 2011.

My Applause
Zach Carhart

The glamorous life has blinded us all
Our own pride has captured us, ever since the fall
We are sucked into the lie of forgetfulness
Forgetting that we were once lost and oppressed

Our faith didn’t come from a glamorous scene
The crucified Christ came to seek and redeem
The broken and crushed were always on His heart
Because when Adam sinned, the world began to fall apart

The master plan didn’t include the glitz and glam
A Savior’s body was scarred for the sake of man
Pain and suffering was His pursuit of choice
To show His love for those who had no voice

The sick and the shameful, forgotten and lost
The freedom for captives required a great cost
To lay down one's life is the greatest love of all
To imitate Christ's humility, YES THIS is our call

Satisfaction can't be sought in the acceptance of man
But in God, who holds our life in His hand
The lost and the sick, everyday they pass by
But we don’t even spend the time to look them in the eye

TURN, TURN back to the cross, and see the blood which was shed
That purchased our souls now ALIVE, not dead
Breathe this new life, let it shine in our hearts
To carry out God's plan, for this we were set apart

Love, LOVE the weak, the lost and the slave
As this is the narrow path Christ has paved
Seek the love and grace flowing from the throne of God
As we SHINE for His glory, YES this, THIS is our Applause!

Freedom

One of the pleasures of Infusion is the encouragement of artistic expression. Three of our young people blew us away with their creative articulation of what God was doing in their lives. Here is the first of three. It is worth your attention!

Freedom
Tara Petty
May 2011

Like fists pounding on inside walls of my ventricles
Splitting nerve endings and atoms
Looking for one path out, of my locked box
Like dust collects on old photos trapped in frames
I have collected fear filled memories.
And that’s how tightly sealed I have stayed
Never changing in outward appearance
But with each change for repression tissue dies
So from the outside I know I smell like decay
That is the opposite of freedom

Like Chains bind up my being
And Fears come to life and
Tie my hands behind my back
Like in the dead of the night
I let out a scream and no one hears
And again I’m all alone
Frozen in time
Like wanting to move forward
But living in the past
With no way up or down.
That is the opposite of freedom

Like when someone comes into my life
And steals my most intimate possession
Then walks away like it didn’t happen
And I have no where to turn
So the devil turns to me face to face
And then I’m not only bound up in fear
But also in self-hatred and lies
Like being entangled, entrapped, and ensnared in sin
That is the opposite of freedom

A key to a locked box
Light to a dark room
A companion to untie the knots
Like when love is no longer a four-letter word
But the one thing I cling to
Like walking right up to the Berlin wall
And knocking it down in one breath
That is freedom

Going Down!

Baptisms make me speechless (which is why many people wish I would attend them all the time).

Seriously, I struggle to find any words that adequately describe them. But as I observed six people take their stand for Jesus a few days ago, here is what I saw:

GOOD NEWS: The truth about Jesus saving traitors and betrayers continues to be true. We don't deserve His kindness, but it is certain that He loves to extend it.

POWER: Jesus in our lives changes everything. Directions change. Desires change. Purposes change. All because He recreates us back to His original intention.

COMMUNITY: The excitement of being set free brings fellow believers to their feet, clapping their hands, and raising their arms in praise to God. I wonder what it was like in heaven - the angels must have been going crazy (decently, and in order, of course).

WORSHIP: In the end, after the testimonies - after the baptisms - after the celebration - what was left was worship. And that was enough.

They were "going down" but it was a good thing, for the eternal result occurred. There was joy!

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Romans 6.4 (ESV)

I tell them...

I tell them...

If they keep singing songs I don't know (I dislike mumbling and stumbling through unfamiliar music)...

And if they keep playing the music too loud (my poor ears - have mercy!)...

And if they keep singing the same thing over and over (feed my mind, please!)...

I'm leaving!

But I stay.

I stay for them.

I find God in their midst.

And I worship.

Oh sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.

Psalm 96.1-4 (ESV)

A New Generation

I am seeing a new generation arise. And they are passionate. They are passionate about God's Word. They are passionate that it ought to be lived out - now.

I feel a bit of irony in all of this. Being a pastor of churches for 30 years, I have lived inside the repeating criticism of young people being shallow theologically and bent on emotional experience. Most commonly, it was the kind of thing said during the "worship wars" at any given church.

This is a generation that knows not hymns. They sing contemporary worship songs. They use guitars and drums, instead of an organ. Their music has a "beat." And they have cast aside many of the traditions that I grew up in.

I can criticize the casting aside of some tradition, for there is much to learn from those who have come before us. But what I cannot criticize is a motivation that comes from knowing the God of the present who says "Go" and "Proclaim good news and freedom to the oppressed."

What can I say? More power to them. Holy Spirit power, that is.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.

Isaiah 61.1 (ESV)

Get Rid of the S

Devo’s. Q.T. Quiet Time. Daily Bread. Time with God. Devotions.

Whatever you call it, it has been my assignment since the early days of following Jesus. And no doubt, it is a noble task. For how am I ever going to get to know God better if I do not spend time with Him? Taking time to read and study the Bible, as well as praying, are just plain essentials if you are going to grow in your faith.

For almost 40 years, devotions has been a task on my daily checklist that is done early and then crossed off. And if it is not done, it is an incomplete and ineffective day. In fact, it is a day that is ruined, because I have shown my priorities to be out of synch with what God requires of me.

And here lies the mystery. How is it that something that is meant to be a joy and a benefit turn into such drudgery?

Happily, the answer has not evaded me. The answer lies in that extra “s.” For years, I have been doing devotions, when all along what God has wanted is devotion. Devotion. Not devotions.

So, on my daily list, I still write “DEV” at the top, but I never cross it out. Devotion is not something done in the morning. It is done all day. And it is never finished.

In the end, I have decided, I do not want to be known for doing my devotions. I want to be known for my devotion to God.

Isn’t it odd that leaving one “s” off the end of a word can make so much of a difference?

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37.4 (NIV)

Is This Lie a Sin?

Three years ago, my favorite aunt died. Aunt Elinore died suddenly and unexpectedly. I still miss her. She only brought joy into my life. Only joy.

In a coordinated manner, her husband, my Uncle Earl, was my favorite uncle. He always had a smile on his face and a joke to tell. In contrast to the quick death of his wife, my Uncle Earl is dying a slow and painful death. Not for him, thankfully, but for the rest of us it is. He has memory loss, and whether you call it dementia, Alzheimer's, or just old age, it doesn't matter. It is slow and agonizing to those who love him much.

Uncle Earl thinks that Aunt Elinore is still with him. He is totally unable to get it into his mind that she is gone. He lives in the continual hope she is coming around the corner.

Their son, Earl Jr. (my cousin) had the sad duty to tell his dad, and my uncle cried long and hard the first time he heard the news. The next day, Uncle Earl had forgotten, and when Earl Jr. reminded him, he cried long and hard. Then came the next day, and you guessed it, my uncle cried long and hard at the news his wife had died.

Earl Jr. was in a spot no one wants to be in. Shall he speak only truth and watch his dad grieve anew every day? Or does he pretend his mom is still alive? Yikes! What a conundrum!

Compassionately, he chose the latter. His dad simply cannot get it. His mind is broken.

And as far as I can see, imperfect as it is, I believe my cousin is doing it right by lying to his father. Perhaps it is an adequate application of the biblical principle found in I Peter 4.8:

Love covers a multitude of sins.