The Stained Glass

I drew the curtains and saw the frosting on my window;
A misty film a child on some earlier morn had espied -
And others too, by the invisible now made manifest,
Which shapes and lines drew in the imagination of my eyes.

A good ten minutes passed staring at my stained-glass window
The bottom half criss-crossed in a dry but dewy dance.
Though the top of it was clear, unstained for viewing,
I was captured, contained in my close-up glassy trance.

Then the sun, until now hidden, turned on my window
And at once its light did light the far fields unexplored,
And lazily my eyes took in the panorama,
Until then, through my distraction, most visibly ignored.

I think it normal that life leaves marks upon our windows,
But living well is not found in misty men's motifs;
The light that lifts them lays bare embroidered boundaries;
It beckons us beyond – to look through, not at, our glassy leaf

Adam Clarke on the Greatest Commandment

“And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” (Matt 22:35-38 ESV)

"The ancient author of a MS. Lexicon in the late French king’s library, under the word agape, has the following definition: “A pleasing surrender of friendship to a friend:—an identity or sameness of soul.” A sovereign preference given to one above all others, present or absent: a concentration of all the thoughts and desires in a single object, which a man prefers to all others.

Apply this definition to the love which God requires of his creatures, and you will have the most correct view of the subject. 

Hence it appears that, by this love, the soul eagerly cleaves to, affectionately admires, and constantly rests in God, supremely pleased and satisfied with him as its portion: 

• That it acts from him, as its author; for him, as its master; and to him, as its end.

• That, by it, all the powers and faculties of the mind are concentrated in the Lord of the universe. 

• That, by it, the whole man is willingly surrendered to the Most High 

• And that, through it, an identity, or sameness of spirit with the Lord is acquired - the man being made a partaker of the Divine nature, having the mind in him which was in Christ, and thus dwelling in God, and God in him.
  

But what is implied in loving God with all the heart, soul, mind, strength, and when may a man be said to do this?

• He loves God with all his heart, who loves nothing in comparison of him, and nothing but in reference to him. Who is ready to give up, do, or suffer any thing in order to please and glorify him. Who has in his heart neither love nor hatred, hope nor fear, inclination, nor aversion, desire, nor delight, but as they relate to God, and are regulated by him.

• He loves God with all his soul, or rather, with all his life, who is ready to give up life for his sake - to endure all sorts of torments, and to be deprived of all kinds of comforts, rather than dishonor God. Who employs life with all its comforts, and conveniences, to glorify God in, by, and through all. To whom life and death are nothing, but as they come from and lead to God, From this Divine principle sprang the blood of the martyrs, which became the seed of the Church. They overcame through the blood of the Lamb, and loved not their lives unto the death.

• He loves God with all his strength (Mark xii. 30; Luke x. 27) who exerts all the powers of his body and soul in the service of God. Who, for the glory of his Maker, spares neither labour nor cost-who sacrifices his time, body, health, ease, for the honour of God his Divine Master. Who employs in his service all his goods, his talents, his power, credit, authority, and influence.

• He loves God with all his mind (intellect-dianoia) who applies himself only to know God, and his holy will. Who receives with submission, gratitude, and pleasure, the sacred truths which God has revealed to man. Who studies no art nor science but as far as it is necessary for the service of God, and uses it at all times to promote his glory. Who forms no projects nor designs but in reference to God and the interests of mankind. Who banishes from his understanding and memory every useless, foolish, and dangerous thought, together with every idea which has any tendency to defile his soul, or turn it for a moment from the center of eternal repose. In a word, he who sees God in all things - thinks of him at all times - having his mind continually fixed upon God, acknowledging him in all his ways - who begins, continues, and ends all his thoughts, words, and works, to the glory of his name. 

This is the person who loves God with all his heart, life, strength, and intellect. He is crucified to the world, and the world to him: he lives, yet not he, but Christ lives in him. He beholds as in a glass the glory of the Lord, and is changed into the same image from glory to glory. Simply and constantly looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of his faith, he receives continual supplies of enlightening and sanctifying grace, and is thus fitted for every good word and work. 

O glorious state! far, far, beyond this description! which comprises an ineffable communion between the ever-blessed Trinity and the soul of man!"

Big Gulps

God created everything in full color. Jesus died for everyone in full agony. The Church was birthed in a full outpouring. We have been saved to have life, and life to the full.

1 John 3:6 says, "no-one who llives in Him keeps on sinning". So many get paralyzed by trying not to sin, instead of just living in Him. You cannot half live in Him, because you have been fully placed in Him. Reckon this true, don't try to make it true.

Reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Reckon yourself a friend, and behave like one.

And now, for 2009, let's live our lives and faith out loud. Buds don't half-blossom, and eggs don't half-hatch, and the sun doesn't half-rise. Have you been declared righteous? Then you have power to live righteously! In every way!

If we are going to give, let's give generously. When we meet, let's meet passionately. If you need to forgive, forgive completely. Where you work, work diligently. If you lead, govern righteously.

All of us will need to ask for mercy, but let's do so boldly. Let’s witness courageously. Let's have quiet times noisily. Let's speak freely and listen intently. Let us become friends with the Holy Spirit intimately. Let us love God and each other with body-, soul- and spirit- integrity!

And above all, let us believe His word and promises passionately.

CS Lewis had God's wisdom when he penned these three quotable quotes...

"Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important"

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else"

"It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad"

Bless you
Nick

serving as the King's servant

““See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”” (Matt 20:18-28 ESV)

There are few of Christ’s recorded words that challenge and expose me as much as these.

“Servant” stems from the Greek “diakonos”, which means one who executes the commands of another, referring to the servant of a king. From this word we get “minister” and “ministry”.

I have come to realize in my 24 years of carrying the label “Christian”, that serving the King for the King’s sake is easier said than done. It takes deep honesty, great faith in eternity and enduring rewards, humility that comes through time and trials, and above all, high affection for God and men.

As soon as “serving” becomes a cerebral matter, serving turns to self. As soon as I aim at serving others deliberately, I get more offended by how much others take advantage of me, or how they neglect my needs.

So I would have to say that the fulfillment of Matthew 20 verses 25 to 28 takes ongoing relationship, honesty and closeness to Jesus, first and foremost.

This kind of God-love in sacrifice takes more than mental decisions of the natural order. It takes more than a firm resolution not to be unkind or selfish again. It takes the power of the Spirit activated through a living dynamic between God and creature. It takes warm prayers. It takes Word and Spirit quickened within a man through meditation, repentance, petition.

So even reading this doesn’t help, except for the awareness to repent.

Maybe it would be appropriate to note the opposite of servant-heartedness. It is not “nothingness”. There is no third way. It is as divided as soul and spirit, life and death, eternal and temporal.  When I am not serving the King in sacrifice to my fellow man, I am serving the king of self in sacrifice to earthly gains.

• I can serve a system to receive the rewards of a system

• I can serve man to be noticed and endorsed by man

• I can serve my wife to gain her sexual favor

• I can serve society’s norms so I am blessed, and not punished, by society

• I can serve as a believer to feel better about myself

• I can serve the poor to feel superior to those who don’t

• I can serve the people in the pulpit to create a spiritual career for myself

• I can serve through giving my money but only to feel justified in spending the rest of it how I like

• I can serve others publicly but serve myself privately (my private prayers are the give-away)

• I can more for my rewards than for the glory of God

In serving others as the love of Christ grows within me, what are some of the signs of this kind of Kingdom service?

• That I can serve when there is no recognition

• That I can be quick to forgive, and not tell others how I have had to forgive them

• That I can always give my best, even after the novelty has worn off

• That I can serve in small and hidden ways, not merely in the big and dramatic ways

• That I can be consistent in encouragement and meekness

• That I can speak the truth in love, not with flattery or guile

• That I can easily allow others to overtake and surpass me

• That I can get out of the way when my service is done

• That I can entrust my rewards to God, and not keep reminding others of what I am owed

• That I can smile while serving

Imagine what revival we would have in church if the majority of believers lived this way! Imagine what power the church would have in heaven! Imagine what credibility we would have with the world!

Not all that is being called “revival” is revival, without the hallmark of sacrificial and selfless service of others. I am astounded at how red-hot people can appear in public worship and how unfriendly and cold those same people can be in public and private ministry and conversation.

No, successful church is something far different to the prevailing western mindsets of success. Too often, it is now equated with the “raw power” of God, and the complementary crowds that accompany such electricity. Many tongues-speaking Christians have habitual sins, and surely many who don’t speak in tongues are holy.

1 Corinthians 13:1-4 (the futility of service without love) and Matthew 7:12-23 (the futility of Christian hypocrisy) hold an unambiguous warning for seekers of raw power…. the fruit of Christian faith is love born out in meekness and sacrificial living. Or my faith is useless, as James warns.

I believe in the power of the Holy Ghost. But I believe firstly in His sanctifying work internally, before His supercharging work externally. I believe that spiritual ministers should have Paul’s aim, “to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 15:16).

This is a time for the letters of 1 Corinthians and James to be read again, and diligently. Who is more successful, the gifted leader of a mega-church, with his private sins and self-awareness; or the mother of 4 with a part-time nursing job, ungifted in prophecy or imagination, but raising her children and loving others as she meets them?

My conclusion is – it is time to “fix our eyes on Jesus” again. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. He was filled with the joy of the hope of seeing many come into paradise because of how He lived and died. In refusing to wear a crown, Jesus instead wrapped a towel around His waist and washed His disciples’ feet. While enjoying equality with the Father, He emptied Himself and “took on the nature of a servant”.

With my Master being such a servant, dare I elevate myself in this life?

Blessings
Nick

Acts Seventeen Verse Twenty Six

Acts 17:26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place

Beyond the steel and chrome that’s normal
And the glass that chinks “success”,
There is a dim dark line informal
Observed by prophets through the mess

Past the cigar smoke of foundries
And the never-ending cars in rows,
There is an ever-nearing boundary
Whence God descends to overthrow

As the sun’s demise is sudden,
As the matchstick quickly dies,
So this era has an ending -
A switch, a shout, a bird that flies

As with Rome and Greece and Sodom;
As with France and Britain too;
The fame and pomp of Era Modern -
All hanging limply in God’s Louvre

The might and power of Alexander,
The daring of the Spanish Fleet,
Lie buried as the men of Flanders -
The place where prince and paupers meet

Though the grave’s the final marker
And Dust is Mortal’s last true home,
There is moment even darker
When God in speaking starts to foam

Then money’s useless as a stick
That’s thin and cracked and leaned upon.
It falls, he falls fast as brick -
Faithless clay now Good Time’s gone

Still men scramble to their stations,
Running to their bunkered minds,
Looking out for new locations -
Avoiding God by driving blind

And so and by the hammer falls;
Swift clicks and drops the guillotine.
The engine stutters, coughs and stalls -
The Plane that once flew so Serene
Is now a smoking Disaster Scene

Now’s a fine time for amendment
Now’s the right time for review
To change our minds and moods and motives
To exchange our lingerie for Truth

Acts 17:27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us

Kingdom Coming

"The mentality of the Pharisee places God at the centre of everything, but He's impersonal and powerless. Their God dwells mostly in the realm of theory and supposition. They excel at traditions that are convenient and reverence that's self-serving. But there's not much in the religious community that is actually Kingdom". Bill Johnson, Dreaming with God.

Michael Eaton was right – we in missional movements are the closest potential replicas of the Pharisee – if we take just one step away from intimacy with God, from a personal walk, we have this “mentality of the Pharisee”. “Conditions that are convenient”, Johnson writes. Even the convenience of busyness. I am discovering again that walking with Jesus means the flesh must die and the private compromises must be nailed to the Cross. It also means more people genuinely on my heart; more inconveniences to my packaged routines in the day and in the week; more absorbing people’s words (less deflecting); and more resisting of the world and the devil too, in drawing close to God. John Gill writes of “beating my body" (1 Cor 9:27), that “the strong man (in the Kingdom) is he who subdues his corruption".

But there is a lot of earnest desire in us, the modern day religious church communities, and especially missional-religious communities. We long to see the power of God, so when a few dare to venture up the mountain and into the most holy place, like Israel of old the many are going to be inspired. There is a desert to cross, old habits to break, pets to forsake – but God. He is with us; He is mighty to save; He is full of compassion; His Cross is brutal; He gives grace to the humble. This is a fine time to acknowledge that our puny efforts are not what is going to advance the gospel in our gut, let alone in the world.

I am trusting for new power on old truths. For new wine in old glasses. For church-known to become church-unrecognizable. I saw the first flush of this in the churches I have been privileged to visit on this trip to South Africa. And God will bring this work to completion. For them, and I pray in Jesus’ name for me and my family too, the proud-religious will hate and envy them, the penitent will adore Christ in them, the world will fear them. Come Lord Jesus! This life was never meant to be a never-ending theory exam. It was meant to be a feast in the presence of our enemies.