YOUR GOODNESS IS RUNNING AFTER ME

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

If I were a singer (and I am not) this song would be my musical testimony.  I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and everyday, I celebrate His life, death, and resurrection.  I am an old man now and as I look back over my life I bear witness to the truth of the following words.  

Oh Your mercy never fails me
All my days
I’ve been held in Your hands
From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
I will sing of the goodness of God

All my life You have been faithful
All my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
I will sing of the goodness of God

You have led me through the fire
In darkest nights
You are close like no other
I’ve known You as a father
I’ve known You as a friend
I have lived in the goodness of God

Your goodness is running after, 

it’s running after me
Your goodness is running after, 

it’s running after me
With my life laid down, 

I’m surrendered now, 

I give You everything
Your goodness is running after,

 it’s running after me

“Goodness of God”

© 2018 Bethel Music Publishing, Released in 2019

Written by Ed Cash, Ben Fielding, Brian Johnson, Jenn Johnson, Jason Ingram

THE MASK

 Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Years ago I discovered a poem that haunted me then and haunts me now.  I think it  speaks more meaningfully to our age than we want to admit.  What do you think?  I’m not sure who wrote it.  Everywhere it is attributed to “unknown author.”  It is called, “The Mask.”

Always a mask

Held in the slim hand, whitely,

Always she had a mask before her face –

Smiling and sprightly,

The mask.

Truly the wrist

Holding it lightly

Fitted the task;

Sometimes however

Was there a shiver,

Fingertip quiver.

Ever so slightly, -

Holding the mask?

For years and years I wondered

But dared not ask

And then -

I blundered,

I looked behind the mask,

To find - - Nothing.

She had no face.

She had become

Merely a hand

Holding the mask

With grace.

Haunting, isn’t it?  

Masks.  How easy it is to wear a mask.   How easy it is to hide behind our masks.  How easy it is to lose our identity as the mask becomes us. Maybe we should lose the masks and take our chances with the real thing.

DOES GOD REALLY CARE?

In a fallen world tragedies happen; good things happen to the good and the bad, and bad things happen to the good and the bad.  This leads some people to conclude that God cannot possibly be love.  A loving God, they say, could never let tragedies happen to anybody.

Jesus disagrees.  To drive His point home He died on the cruel cross of Calvary in a redemptive act that ultimately and finally will restore all creation to its original and intended purpose.  In the mean time God loves so much that He lets His very creation, created in His image, wander away from grace because that's really what they wanted to do.  He let them go but He never gave up on them and, in the fullness of time, Jesus was birthed into the human situation to do for us what so desperately needed to happen.

     

The truth is that we are all sinners in desperate need of facing the truth about our broken lives (Luke 13:5).  The issue is not why do bad things happen.  The issue is how far God will go to restore a hurting world to Himself.  We must never forget that God is aware of all that happens and that His grace brings His very life into all it means for us to live in a very dangerous world.   

Once upon a time God showed up in a bush that was not consumed and promised Moses that He had heard the cries of His people and that He was going to act on their behalf (Exodus 3:4, 7-8).  And, act He did.  He delivered them, called them to Himself, and began a journey with them that took Him to a hill just outside the city of Jerusalem where Jesus “emptied Himself of all but love and bled for Adam’s helpless race” (Charles Wesley).

       

Does God really care?  Yes, God does.  All the way to the cross God cares.  Let that truthful story be lived out in the world for which Jesus died.

Let’s go out and make God look good.

NOTICE THE DIRT

 Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I Think in was in a letter to a Mary Neylan (January 20, 1942), C.S. Lewis says an insightful and liberating things.  He wrote, 

I know all about the despair of overcoming chronic temptations. It is not serious, provided self-offended petulance, annoyance at breaking records, impatience etc. don’t get the upper hand. No amount of falls will really undo us if we keep picking ourselves up each time. We shall of course be very muddy and tattered children by the time we reach home. But the bathrooms are all ready, the towels put out, and the clean clothes are in the airing cupboard. The only fatal thing is to lose one’s temper and give it up. It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us; it is the very sign of His presence.  - From  The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, Volume II

Is this not an amazing thought?  “It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us;  it is the very sign of His presence.”  I love these words.  I have always thought that it is those who are closest to God who feel the most unclean.  Sinfulness in the presence of holiness, should make us squirm.  Sadly, at least in my circles, I was taught that the closer you walk with God the more aware of your holiness you would be.  However, in my life at least, I have not found this to be true.  I have found that the closer I walk to utter holiness the more aware of my unholiness I become.  Also, and because of the unbelievable grace of God, standing in His presence fully aware of my unholiness, He does not write me off.  He embraces me and draws me to Himself.

God does not demand perfection of character but humility of character.  He invites us who do not deserve to be in His presence, to live in His presence.  “The very sign of His presence,” as Lewis says is that our “dirt” drives us closer and closer to Him, and in His presence, we are more self aware than at any other moment in our lives.  

So, in Christ, we don’t give up.  We keep on bringing our lives to God who keeps on Bringing His life to us.  In Him we find the place of grace, the place of growth, the place of renewal, the place of redemption, the place of forgiving love.  We bring our broken lives to His holy love, and we are healed.

Let's go out today and make God look good.

SAYING YES TO JESUS

 Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The missionary, Hudson Taylor, once said, "God isn't looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him."  Isn’t this a very good word for those of us who are pretty much regular folks seeking to be faithful to God in our times.

Sometimes the enemy whispers into our ear that our faith is weak and that we are not capable of offering significant ministries for Christ.  I don't agree with the enemy too often, but I do on this.  In ourselves we are incapable of doing anything for God, but, then, it's not about us.  It's about God.  Somebody once said that God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.  

When God shows up, ill prepared fishermen become "fishers of men" (Matt. 4:19).  When God shows up, the gates of hell tremble and fall (Matt. 16:18).  When God shows up, Jesus builds His Church and gives His Church "the keys of the kingdom of heaven," and then commissions that church to bind and loose in His name throughout the earth (Matt. 16:19).  When God shows up the words goes forth, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come" (2 Cor. 5:17).

Perhaps the question of this age to the regular folks is, "Are we ready to follow Him?"  If the answer is "Yes," then go for it.  Let's put our life together into the sovereign care of Almighty God, and "immediately" follow Jesus (Matt. 4:20, 22).  Just go for it.  As we walk in obedience, God will qualify us.  As we keep saying yes to Jesus, God will keep opening and closing all necessary doors.  As we live for the One who is the Lord of life, God will take care of outcomes.  We are free to abide in Christ and share the fruit of that abiding relationship.  We are free to love like Jesus loves.

As we follow Him He might even roll away from some nearby tomb a boulder that is in the way. That would be something, wouldn't it?  But then He's already done that, hasn't He?  

                                          -  Rick

LIVING THE GOOD NEWS

I think it is a wonderful time to be the Church of Jesus.  What a great time to live out the meaning of the Gospel.  What a great time to be alive in the power of the Holy Spirit. What a great time to be faithful to the visions and dreams of God for His Church.  What a great time to live transformed and transforming lives.

In the end, isn’t being a Christian simply living for Jesus one moment at a time.  Hundreds of books have been written on how to touch our world for Christ.  Thousands of Websites are out there in cyber space telling us how to touch our world for Christ.  Scores of monthly magazines tell us how to touch our world for Christ.  I suppose we need all these sources but I think we’re living in an age of sensory overload, too.  I believe the best way for Christians to touch their world for Christ is simply to go and be Christian.

     

The Bible says that God’s “divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Pet. 1:3, NASB).  I’m not smart enough to know how to improve on this.  I am smart enough to know not even to try.  

     

In Christ we have everything we need to live for God in the world around us.  As we live in Him, by faith, seeking to glorify His Name, God creates in our midst a people who are rendered useful and fruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:5-8).  

     

The folks around us are going about their daily lives,  and the grace and love of God are flowing like a river.  What a wonderful time to live For God.  What a wonderful time to live out the meaning of the GOOD NEWS.

GOOD NEWS

I don’t think our culture cares much about what the Church thinks.  Should this surprise us?  No.  That it doesn’t surprise us, however, doesn’t let those of us in God’s Church off the hook. Actually, the ghosting of the Church by the culture is a good thing, not pleasant, particularly, but good.  Why?  Because it drives the Church further into the embrace of God’s amazing grace, and opens up the Church to the Holy Spirit’s energizing and creating imagination.

Within God’s embrace we are set free to dream and explore so as to give the Holy Spirit of God a community not limited to its own creativity but let loose to allow “God to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…” (Ephesians 3:20).  Here we are empowered to make our home in Jesus and from Him, to bear the fruit of God’s remarkable and life-changing love (see John 15:5).  

Actually, I’m pretty sure the culture doesn’t need what the Church thinks, as if there is one way the Church thinks.  What our culture needs is a Savior, a Guide, a Teacher, a Leader, a Shepherd; and we have one.  He is the One whom the Church should be sharing.  He is the One who says to a weary people, to all of us, “Come to Me…and I will give you rest” (Matthew. 11:28).  He is the One who came not “to condemn world, but to save the world” (John 3:17).

In a ghosting, disenfranchising, canceling culture, we all have a Guardian-Sentinel who calls us to Himself and brings within us the very life of God’s sacrificial self-giving love.  He is our “Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.”  He is the One who came that we “may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). 

Jesus doesn’t ghost us or cancel us or disenfranchise us.  Rather, He opens up to us the very arms of God and says to all of us, “Come to me…Welcome home…Live…You are loved…You are embraced…You matter….”  

I identify with Brennan Manning who wrote, “My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.”   

Sounds like a great reality to me.

A WORKING MODEL FOR BEING AND DOING CHURCH

In the formative days of the Church the new believers, some Jews and some Gentiles, needed guidance, direction, a foundation on which to base and build their faithfulness to Jesus and His Gospel.  There was no New Testament yet, so solid teaching and faithful witness were desperately needed.  In this new Church, the apostle Paul boldly stepped up and said, “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9).

Paul put himself out there as a model for the new Church’s blueprint and strategic plan, as it found its way in the world.  It was bold on his part, but think about it for a moment. Paul offered himself as a role model for new disciples to follow as they found their footing.  He did it by calling them to remember what they had learned and received from him, as well as what they had heard and seen in his life.  What he taught and how he lived was a witness, a testimony, for the new unfolding and growing community.

Could it be that twenty-centuries later it works the same way?  Could it be that God still uses people to model both content and lifestyle to new Believers in the Community.  Could it be that what we teach and how we live profoundly matters?

So, how are we doing in all this?

GLEANINGS OF AN OLD MAN

In a world of ongoing conflict in just about every strata of life, I am hearing some things Jesus is saying to His people.

1.    “I am the true Vine…

2.    Remain in Me…

3.    You are the branches…

4.    Remain in My love…

5.    Keep My commandments…

6.    Love one another…

7.    I chose you and appointed you that you would go 

        and  bear fruit…”                                                                                                                  - - John 15:1, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 16

I am an old man now, recognizing I have more days behind me than before me, seeking to hear and listen closely to the words of Jesus.  As I seek to hear and listen, these are the prayers of my life in this marvelous season gifted to me by the God of all grace.

Oh, God, 

• what can I do to be more aware of Your presence?
• How can I reflect Your love in this season of my life?
• How do I share Your love in a world that seems totally disinterested in the things of your grace?
• How can I be where Jesus is? (John 12:26, 17:24)
• How can I be an instrument of Your glory revealed in Jesus? (John 17:22)
• How can I live so I really do keep my eyes on Jesus? (Hebrews 12:2)
• How do I get out of the way so that Jesus can be the pragmatic and only LORD of my life?

What a great time to live and move and have our being in the God who loves us and calls us to Himself.

IT IS FINISHED...HE IS RISEN

He Is Risen!

Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”

But thanks be to God! 

He gives us the victory 

through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

I Corinthians 15:55-57 (NIV)

Before the Throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great High Priest whose name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the Just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there! The risen Lamb
My perfect, spotless Righteousness
The great unchangeable I AM
The King of glory and of grace!
One with Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased with His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ, my Savior and my God
With Christ, my Savior and my God.

("Before the Throne of God Above" by Charitie L. Bancroft, 1863) 

Holy Saturday: IT LOOKED LIKE THE FUTURE WAS DEAD

Scripture:  Lamentations 3:19-23; Matthew 27:57-66; John 19:38-42 

Focus on the Word

Saturday.  Jesus’ body has been taken down from the cross and laid in the tomb. The door of the tomb has been sealed off by a large stone. (See Matthew 27:57-66). All the possibilities have come to a screeching halt.  The future is dead.  Hope has floated away like a cloud.  It is a day of silence.  Why?  Because there’s just not much to say on this day.  It's the day after.  It's the day you wake up and realize that yesterday wasn't a bad dream or nightmare. Jesus really died.  What happened?

In the church we call this day "Holy Saturday," but it sure doesn't feel holy.  It feels awful.  There's a pit in the bottom of your stomach.  You feel like you might just throw up.  You flash back to what was and you realize it really is over. You look for words but they don't come.  You feel like you've been driven into darkness, that you have been "besieged and encompassed…with bitterness and hardship" (Lamentations 3:5, NASB).  You feel walled in, like a heavy chain has been placed around your neck.  You try to pray and you get nowhere.  You try to forget, but the thought won't go away.  All you can see is a cross, a broken body, and a tomb.

So you sit and wait; and wait and wait.  All your life you've been told that the "Lord's loving-kindnesses…never cease" and that "His compassions never fail" (Lamentations 3:22, NASB), but today you're wondering about that.  The last twenty-four hours just don't make sense.  How?  Why?  What happened? 

Where are God's loving-kindnesses today?  About the only place they could be--in hell. Look at the words of the Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.He descended into hell.

Hell. That’s where the Lord’s lovingkindness are on Holy Saturday. That’s where his never-ending compassions are. That’s where His great faithfulness is on the morning after.  Hell!  Who would have thought it?  No wonder everything is out of focus and blurred.  They killed the King of glory.  Hell must be celebrating.

Today’s Prayer

"Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."  Forgive us, too, because they only acted on our behalf.  We would like to blame "them," but we can't.  We know the truth:

In the old rugged cross, 

stained with blood so divine, 

a wondrous beauty I see;

For ’twas on that old cross 

Jesus suffered and died, 

to pardon and sanctify me.

(From "The Old Rugged Cross," by George Bennard, 1913) 

Good Friday: I SAW ONE HANGING ON A TREE

Scripture:   Isaiah 52:13—53:12 

Focus on the Word -   This is one of my favorite hymns, written by John Newton, who also gave us, the hymn “Amazing Grace."

In evil long I took delight, 

Unawed by shame or fear, 

Till a new object struck my sight, 

And stopp'd my wild career: 

I saw One hanging on a Tree 

In agonies and blood, 

Who fix'd His languid eyes on me 

As near His Cross I stood.

Sure never till my latest breath, 

Can I forget that look: 

It seem'd to charge me with His death, 

Though not a word He spoke:

My conscience felt and own'd the guilt, 

And plunged me in despair:

I saw my sins His Blood had spilt, 

And help'd to nail Him there.

Alas! I knew not what I did! 

But now my tears are vain:

Where shall my trembling soul be hid? 

For I the Lord have slain!

A second look He gave, which said, 

"I freely all forgive;

This blood is for thy ransom paid; 

I die that thou may'st live."

Thus, while His death my sin displays 

In all its blackest hue,

Such is the mystery of grace, 

It seals my pardon too.

With pleasing grief, and mournful joy, 

My spirit now is fill'd,

That I should such a life destroy, 

Yet live by Him I kill’d!

Today’s Prayer

King of my life, I crown Thee now

Thine shall the glory be

Lest I forget Thy thorn-crowned brow

Lead me to Calvary

Lest I forget Gethsemane

Lest I forget Thine agony

Lest I forget Thy love for me

Lead me to Calvary

Jennie Evelyn Hussey, 1921