A home of shalom (part 2)

Colossians 3:12-17 (ESV)

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

We desperately desire peace in our home, family, marriage, parenting, and ministry.  But instead of a magic formula for peace, we find a command.  Last time we noticed how Paul begins with who we are in Jesus.  Our identity in Christ is the compelling motivation to obey the commands that follow.  In Jesus we are chosen, holy, and loved.

"Therefore, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."
To clothe ourselves means to intentionally choose to think and act a certain way.  It's a decision of the will, empowered by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.  God commands us to be characterized by these virtues.  These qualities should envelope our thoughts, emotions, attitudes, words, and actions.

Compassion - bowels of mercy, a heart that hurts and helps, eyes that see another person in need and hands that are moved to come alongside and meet that need - just like Jesus, Luke 7:13.

Kindness - seeking what is good for others, joyfully and generously giving what is best for another, even for an enemy - just like God, Ephesians 2:7.

Humility - selflessness, not thinking highly of ourselves, considering others better than ourselves, refusing to seek our own advantage, joyfully seeking to serve others - just like Jesus, Philippians 2:5-8.

Gentleness - meekness, renouncing violence and choosing peace, defusing aggression and fostering calm, avoiding harshness and demonstrating tenderness - just like Jesus, Matthew 11:29.

Patience - long-suffering, enduring with joy, persevering with peace, waiting in hope - just like God, II Peter 3:9.

So...
When our child falls out of their chair even after we warned them about the danger, we will ask God to fill us with his Spirit and the compassion of Jesus.

When our child poops out of their diaper, jammies, blanket, and car seat we will ask God to fill us with his Spirit and the gentleness of Jesus.

When a church member slanders us we will ask God to fill us with his Spirit and the patience of Jesus.

When our spouse exposes our sinful thinking we will ask God to fill us with his Spirit and the humility of Jesus.

BECAUSE in Jesus we are chosen, holy, and loved.  That's the first step to a peaceful home.

Stay tuned...

A home of shalom

The other day a friend reminded me of Colossians 3:12-17 (NIV),

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

I've studied this passage before, I've preached on this passage before, but this time I shared it with Jeannette and we asked each other, "Is our home a peaceful place?  Does our family enjoy peace?  Are we allowing the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts as we relate to each other in marriage, as we parent our children, and as we transition to Tanzania?"

Ouch.

Jeannette and I decided to start memorizing this passage, praying that God would convict us, challenge us, and change us more into the image of Jesus.

So let's start at the beginning.  Before Paul gives the commands, he reminds us of who we are in Christ.  Our identity in Christ gives us the compelling motivation to obey the commands.

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people."
Before the creation of the world God selected us to be holy in Christ, Ephesians 1:4.  God predestined us to be adopted as his children, Ephesians 1:5.  God predestined us to be conformed to the image of Jesus, Romans 8:29.  From the beginning God chose us to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit, II Thessalonians 2:13.  God chose us to be sanctified by the Spirit and sprinkled with the blood of Jesus, I Peter 1:2.

That's who we are!  God selected us.  Not because we were good looking.  Not because of our good works.  Not because we loved Him first.  God selected us only because of his magnificent mercy and limitless love.  God selected us because he wanted to make much of himself.

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy."
God is holy.  God is "other."  God is perfectly free from sin.  God is light and in him is no darkness.  We are sinful, we are blinded by the darkness of sin and Satan.  But through the sacrifice and death and resurrection of Jesus, we are holy, Hebrews 10:10.  We are holy in God's sight because Jesus took our guilt and sin and darkness onto himself, Colossians 1:22.  God credited Christ's righteousness to our account so God sees us as holy.  God sees us as clean, pure, and right, because we are in Jesus, covered with the blood of Jesus.  We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, making us holy, convicting us of sin, renovating our hearts to make us think and act more like Jesus, the Holy One, Romans 8:9-11; I Corinthians 3:16, 6:11.

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved."
We were lost in sin, we were blinded by sin, we were dead in sin, we were enemies of God, but God chose to love us.  But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), Ephesians 2:4-5.  Oh, how He loves us.

This is who we are!  We are chosen, we are holy, and we are loved.  Our identity in Christ compels us to obey the commands in the following verses.
Stay tuned...

Don't Waste Your Influenza

Influenza virus

Our family battled influenza for almost the entire month of January.  Fevers, coughing, wheezing, congestion, runny noses, sleepless nights.  YUCK!  I even dislocated a rib from coughing so hard.  Many times we were tempted to give in to frustration and hopeless despair.  But every time we were tempted, the Holy Spirit changed our thinking and strengthened us to endure.  We often had to preach to ourselves the truths of Scripture...

Truth #1  Sickness will not last forever.
Revelation 21:4  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
I Peter 1:6   In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

Our hearts are so burdened for the millions of people in Tanzania suffering everyday with malaria and HIV/AIDS.

Truth #2  God's mercy has sustained others through far worse.
James 5:11  Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

Truth #3  God is sovereign.
Psalm 135:5-6  For I know that the LORD is great, and our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases He does.
Ephesians 1:11  God works all things according to the counsel of His will.

Truth #4  Pray!  God answers prayers for His glory and our good.
Luke 18:1  Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
Matthew 7:11  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

In his book Don't Waste Your Life (Crossway Books 2003) {available here} John Piper offers some helpful insight.

God designs that tribulations intensify our hope for the glory of God. Paul says in Romans 5:2 that we have access by faith into grace and “rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Then he tells us in the next two verses how that hope is preserved and sweetened: “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (verses 3-4). This hope that grows and deepens and satisfies through suffering is the hope of verse 2, the “hope of the glory of God.” We were made to see and savor this glory. And God, in love, will use whatever trials are necessary to intensify our savoring of his glory. (73-74)

Jesus said to Paul in pain—and to all of us who treasure him more than pain-free living—"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:8). Many professing Christians would get angry at this design. They might even scream, "I don’t care about your power being perfected! I am in pain! If you love me, get me out of this!" That was not Paul’s response. Paul had learned what love is. Love is not Christ’s making much of us or making life easy. Love is doing what he must do, at great cost to himself (and often to us), to enable us to enjoy making much of him forever. So Paul responds to Christ’s design, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). (76) 

Oh how we need God to deepen our love for Christ so that we can actually boast in our influenza.  We want to be people characterized by massive hope.  We're not there yet, but we're growing.  We're so thankful for the Holy Spirit living in us and empowering us.  We're so thankful for the promises of God's Word.  We're so thankful for God's people, the church, who prayed for us and encouraged us.

Ben the Translator

A friend at church told me, "I can't call you Pastor Ben anymore, now I will call you Translator Ben."

Or, I was thinking Ben the Translator.  Lots of significant characters have names with "the."

You know, like...

Bob the Builder
Larry the Cucumber
Dora the Explorer
Winnie the Pooh

Can you tell I have kids?  There are even some biblical names...

Simon the Zealot
John the Baptizer

And of course, some people of history...

Robert the Bruce
Attila the Hun
Billy the Kid

Alexander the Great
Herod the Great

Uh oh, these aren't very admirable characters, maybe I should stick with Translator Ben.

Half empty, half full, halfway there

"I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works." Psalm 9:1

God has miraculously, supernaturally, wonderfully, graciously, faithfully provided HALF of our necessary monthly financial support for Tanzania!  Thank you all for being part of our team.  We appreciate your prayers and support.

Now... let's go for 100%.
Would you consider joining our team as a monthly financial supporter?
Have you told your friends about what God is doing in Tanzania?
Is your church interested in letting us share our burden and passion?
Do you have any other ideas?
Thanks!

Home is where our family is together

Let's think of all the cheesy clichés about "home."

Home is where you hang your hat.
A house is made of walls and beams, a home is built with love and dreams.
Home is where I lay my head.
Home is the place where it feels right to walk around without shoes.
Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. - Robert Frost
Home is where the heart is.
(If you can think of more home quotes, leave a comment.)

How will we explain "home" to our children when we're living in this house for a few months, then Dallas for a few months, then Tanzania for a long time, while some of our possessions are in storage here, and our children are citizens here?  For now, we're saying home is where our family is together. 

As the kids grow older we will have to explain it in more depth.  Someday, this conversation will be a great opportunity to share Philippians 3:20, "our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."  I Peter 2:11, "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul."  Our kids will understand citizenship and alienation in very real ways.  While we are praying that this experience will give our children a larger worldview, we are also praying that the feeling of alienation will drive them to Christ as their security, identity, and joy.