Monday, November 30, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Are you willing to be a "James" for Jesus? (Acts 12:1-2)
Many followers of Jesus, and even some cultural Christians, have heard the story in Acts 12 about the apostle Peter being miraculously rescued from prison. But while we awe at God's plan to miraculously rescue Peter, we seem to skip over his plan for a different disciple mentioned in the same passage. God's plan for James is found in the first two verses of chapter 12. In other words, am I willing to be a "James" for Jesus?
"About that time King Herod laid hands on some from the church to harm them. He had James, the brother of John, executed with a sword." (Acts 12:1-2, NET)
The same God that sent an angel to rescue Peter from his chains is the same God who allowed James to be killed by the sword. Both the rescue of Peter and the martyrdom of James brought Him glory. Both events brought God's people to seek Him - one in prayer, the other in praise. And both were used to confound Herod - one set Herod up so he could be shone foolish through the other.
I find myself longing for Peter moments - to be released from my difficult situations so I can give glory to my God. But what if God doesn't want to release me from this difficult situation just yet? What if this trial might actually be what He uses for His glory and my good (James 1:2-8, Romans 8:28-30)? And can I still give Him praise even in the middle of my "jail cell" when I don't know the outcome?
Anonymous for God? (Acts 11:20-21)
Today starts a two-week vacation. Unfortunately, our plans to travel to Michigan to start my two-weeks off have been cancelled. The dear friends we were planning to visit have had illness running through their family this week. So with an unexpected day at home, I thought I would catch up on some blog posts that I've had in my Drafts folder for several days. Here's the first: Anonymous for God.
The book of Acts is the "history book" of the New Testament. It's filled with the acts of God done through the apostles and disciples. All through the pages, we read about the adventures of Peter, Paul, Barnabus, Stephen, and other heroes of the Christian faith.
Even though the heroes of Acts saw their days end long ago, we still have "heroes" in the Christian faith. We hold up various pastors, authors, musicians, and speakers as our contemporary heroes. I don't think this is always bad - I have various pastors and authors that God has used to inspire me in my role as a young adult pastor.
But sometimes our hero worship goes too far. I just had a trusted friend return from a conference where he felt it was more about these Christian "heroes" that were speaking than about the God they were speaking about. And I confess I've made the same mistake as the conference attenders. I mentally join "camps" with certain "tribal" leaders (sort of like the issue in 1 Corinthians 1:12). I listen to the sermons of these heroes, and skip the sermons of the lesser-knowns.
If that weren't bad enough, to compound this issue, I secretly wish I was a tribal leader. There is a part of me that wishes I was famous, to have those in my camp tell me how valuable my thoughts are, how effective my ministry is, and how I have impacted them to move deeper in their spiritual journey with Jesus. Because I know this type of pride is sin, and ministry is to be all about God and not about me, I find myself praying that God would allow me to remain anonymous, but that the message, or Scriptural insights, or spiritual counseling I gave would stick in the hearts and minds of those listening to my words.
That's why in my read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan Acts 11:20-21 jumped out at me. It wasn't just Paul and Peter and a handful of heroes "getting it done" for God. It was God's delight to allow some men from Cyprus and Cyrene to remain anonymous. We don't know their names - not even a mention! Yet the Kingdom-work they engaged in made it into the annals of Scripture. They told people about Jesus, and saw many come to believe.
If you don't struggle with pride or long for attention, this post may not be for you. But if you long to be recognized in your job, if you want to be famous in certain circles, if you keep aiming for the attention of others, let me ask you:
Are you willing to be anonymous for God?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Four reasons cohabitation is not the best plan for couples
1) Living together doesn't keep the marriage bed pure. (Hebrews 13:4) Many couples want their relationship/marriage "blessed" by God, and yet they intentionally live against his commands. God does beautiful work in the hearts of a man and a woman when they wait to share their bodies with one another - the sexual relationship will actually be better if they wait until after the rings have been exchanged. (Song of Songs 2:7)
2) Living together is practice for an affair. You are being physically and emotionally intimate with someone with whom you have not publicly exchanged vows. If you can display this deep level of affection with this man or woman, what's to say you can't do it with the next person who grabs your eye and heart when your marriage/relationship is going through a rough spot?
"But Erin," you protest. "What if a couple isn't having sex? What if they just live in the same house to save money, but they are saving sex for marriage? That would erase your first two reasons." To that I say:
3) Living together without sex practices divorce. Most divorces come long before one person has moved out. The couple usually live in the same home, sometimes even in different bedrooms, while the physical and emotional intimacy has ended. However, they still have to operate a household together. If the couple has practiced "no intimacy" while sharing living quarters, they set it up for them to repeat that pattern if difficulties appear in the relationship in the future. Living apart until after "I do" allows a couple to affirm their commitment and longing for each other in all areas.
4) Living together stops relationship growth. The reason my wife and I have date nights, read books on marriage, escape on overnight get-aways, and desire to attend marriage conferences is because marriage takes work. Because of schedules, kids, work, etc., we slip into only talking about the day to day issues of life and not the deeper issues of our relationship. The quickest way to stop the growth of a dating relationship or engagement is to live together. But when you commit to living apart until marriage, you use the time you DO get together more wisely and talk about the issues you need to discuss. Along with this, you also dream together about sharing life in the same space, which adds to the joy and excitement when you finally join households as "one flesh." (Genesis 2:24)
I have had this conversation with several couples, and surprisingly a number have agreed with me and separated until their wedding. Every couple (and I do mean every!) that has made the decision to stop living together has told me it was one the best things for their relationship and preparation for marriage.
This topic was brought to my attention again this week by a couple of articles. If you want to read more, try these links out:
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Erin Bird
erin.bird@newcovenantbible.org
Young Adult Pastor
www.newcovenantbible.org
erinbird.posterous.com
Twitter: erinbbird
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