Category Archives: God the Father

April 17, 2013

lenses

By arpology

While eating lunch with some colleagues the other day I noticed that one of them was trying on the other’s glasses. His prescription was running out and so he was looking at a more “hip” frame for his new eyeglass prescription. Eyesight is one of those weird things that way. Not having ever needed glasses I find it hard to empathize, but from my understanding, once you receive eye glasses your prescription may always be changing (unless of course you take the laser surgery route). And so from time to time one must visit an optometrist in order to see if they need to update their prescription.

This got me reflecting on a conversation I had with a student recently who was troubled by the fact that there are so many different denominations and so many differing ideas about God in the church today. So I asked the student, “Do you think you read the Bible the same way as an African-American woman in Detroit?” (The assumption here is that my original audience was more WASP-y). “What about a middle-aged man in Key West?” The response of course was no. Then I asked the question, “Do you even think you read the Bible the same way you did five years ago?” The answer again, no.

An often quoted verse regarding scripture is Hebrew 4:12, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” God’s word is ‘living’. God’s word is ‘active’. And yet, sometimes we find people who are content to read the Bible the same way they did 10, 20, or even 50 years ago. Now I know the argument; God never changes and so His word never changes. And I am not saying that the words of the Bible magically shift and reconstruct themselves. But as time goes by, we learn more about the world of the Bible and the culture behind the voices we read. In his book An Ethic for Christians and Other Aliens in a Strange Land, William Stringfellow writes, ”They devalue the humanity of the reader or listener by assigning the person a narrow and passive role depleted of the dignity of participation in encounter with the biblical Word which the vitality of that Word itself at once invites and teaches.” The assumption is that taking the words of the Bible at face value without allowing interplay and interaction between our present culture and the ancient culture robs both the reader and the Biblical writer. 

Let’s take a more practical approach. Over the years I have collected a few notes and cards from my wife…love letters of sorts. I read them very differently today than I did when I received them. And mainly because our relationship has grown over the twelve years we have been a couple. Don’t you think that as time goes by we would read the Word a bit differently as well? And maybe if we don’t, do you think it might be time to change our lenses?

May we continue to grow in grace as we encounter the living God in his living Word.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in God the Father, scripture, walk

November 2, 2012

impracticality

By arpology

I am not the best with money. I never really have been. My dad used to always say that money burned a hole right through my pockets because as soon as I would earn it, it was spent. Unfortunately as an adult this isn’t the best approach…especially as a husband and a father to two. And so I have worked at becoming better with my money. I have striven to eliminate debt and very rarely do we as a family do anything outside the realm of practicality as far as finances are concerned (granted if it is crazy or spontaneous and free, then we are on board). But I have to share with you a couple of recent events that seem so ridiculously impractical; and yes, money is involved.

Recently I shared in my blog that our son has been going through a lot. And so as a family we have been looking for ways to make new and fun-filled memories. The first opportunity came when my wife saw that Disney on Ice was in town on a Sunday morning. I had told her that unless someone hands us the money at church (which almost never happens) that there was no way we could go. And would you believe somebody handed us the money we needed at church that morning. And it was a great night filled with smiles and laughter. The next opportunity was this week. My wife and I saw a commercial for another Disney live show and we both thought of Jonas. And the following morning I was about to tell her there is no way we can do this financially, but right before we talked, I received an unexpected check at work….so we will let you know how tomorrow goes:)

Now I know that the money we were given in both of these circumstances could have gone to something better. It maybe could have paid a bill, put gas in a car, helped boost our emergency fund, etc. but I can’t help but think that God wants us to be impractical with it for the sake of our own. After all, this is the same God who impractically lavishes love out upon us. “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” – 1 John 3:1. I almost think God is in the business of impracticality. He looks at us, in all of our brokenness and failures, and calls us His own. And furthermore asks us to go out and seek out more of his children and share the same love. We are to love the broken, the orphan, the widow, the enemy, the other…because we are all God’s children. And the plan is insanely impractical because love is impractical.

I feel like tomorrow this unexpected check may burn a hole right through my pockets, but I think as long as it makes a memory I am okay with that. May you find a new way to be impractical this week for the sake of loving like God loved us.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in child-like, family, God the Father, love

October 22, 2012

restraint

By arpology

Our family has been through a lot lately. I am not making this statement to garner sympathy or to earn a badge of honor, but rather to set the stage. Our recent drama has had an effect on all of is, but probably the greatest effect on our five year old Jonas. He has had to navigate emotions and situations that I as an adult of almost thirty five years have not even had to navigate until now. And the result of all of this? All of a sudden I am that parent…the one checking on their kid every five minutes. The one measuring his mood and emotions non-stop to make sure he is ok. I am now even the one who is constantly worrying about how other kids are treating him when I am not around. And I understand why. I want to do everything in my power to keep him from experiencing any more loss, rejection, or pain. And to keep myself from interfering takes an unbearable amount of restraint at times.

So I think about God. And I can’t help but apply the paternal role to Him. After all, we are taught to pray, ‘Our Father’. And if I apply that I can only imagine that the love that I have for my own children is infinitely small compared to the love God has for us. And so I know he has to have some of the same feelings in thinking about our well-being, our interactions with each other and the times where we hurt one another. And then I read a verse like this popular one from Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” In all things God works for the good? He restrains himself to let us work things out?

In my heart of hearts I know that I have to let my son go. I have to let him work through new relationships, friendships and the like. I even have to let him get hurt again because I know that he becomes a full person in me giving him this trust and confidence. And maybe that is what God has for us. He trusts us. He sees the full potential we have for love and so He sets us free to live into His purpose. I just think about all the restraint and love wrapped up into that singular action and I am blown away. May we learn to live into God’s trust for us and so model the love He has poured out on our behalf.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , | posted in child-like, family, God the Father

September 20, 2012

image

By arpology

So I was out on Twitter this morning (don’t act so surprised) and reading tweets of people as they prepared for their respective days. Being surrounded by rain storms many of the tweets had references to bad hair days being imminent. Or the fact that having to cross parking lots was going to do nothing for their fashionable appearance as the day went on. Can you tell I am a youth pastor on Twitter? But I am guessing that many of these early morning thoughts are reflected across the age brackets and not just limited to the musings of high school students. Our outward image and what we represent to the world seems to be escalating in importance on an exponential scale. And it is not just relegated to one gender. Turn on the TV late at night and just look at all the infomercials: new skin care, Insane fitness routines, miracle diets, etc. etc. When did all of this become so stinkin’ (Southern emphasis added) important?

Thankfully the Bible has something to say about image and it reads like this, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” – Genesis 1:27. Often times one might read this and ask themselves, ‘So how do we look like God’? And that makes perfect sense, because so often our idea of image is all about what one sees. Webster’s dictionary even defines image as, “a reproduction or imitation of the form of a person or thing.” This definitely has the ring of visual stimuli to it. But what if I told you the writer of the book of Genesis may have had something else in mind? The word used for image in Hebrew is selem. In the ancient world, whenever a king would conquer a land he would set up a selem in his place to remind that land of who he was and what he had done. So it wasn’t so much about a visual likeness as much as a constant reminder of who the king was. Often times these images would even be hollow or empty vessels….

Now bring it around to today. God has placed each one of us as His selems in the world. We are not necessarily actual visual reminders in the sense that we all look just like God, but in the sense that he has placed us all here as empty vessels with the capacity to be filled by God in order to be used by God. Think about it; being made in God’s image means that we have the capacity to be filled up with God in order to become his direct representative to a world full of other people with that same capacity/image. So all of a sudden image isn’t about physique or beauty or clothes or hair or any of those things that we obsess about that have no eternal consequence. Image is about fully allowing God to live through us so we live out Christ to the world. The apostle Paul put it this way, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” – Galatians 2:20.

So may you become obsessed with your image, your true image in order to reveal God to the world over which His Kingdom is coming.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , | posted in God the Father, image, Kingdom

September 13, 2012

unpredictable

By arpology

I’m not sure how many of you are like me, but I love doing other things while driving. I realize that this possibly means I am placing the lives of my family, myself and countless other motorists at risk, but I can’t help it. Now I’m not talking about texting or anything that actually deters from the driving process, but rather stuff that I feel adds to the driving experience. Whether it is looking at billboards, checking out cool cars with my son or observing people’s personal habits in their “facade of isolation” known as a car, I can’t help myself. But one of my absolute favorite things to do is to read signs in front of businesses. Usually the best ones belong to churches as they attempt to post something to draw you in or give you encouragement in a quixotic little saying. But my favorite as of late belongs to an insurance agency, of all places and it reads like this, “Life is unpredictable. Plan for it.”

Isn’t that great? Plan for that which you can’t plan for by buying our product that will give you some false sense of security so you can go on living your life that will in some way continue to defy your expectations. Now don’t get me wrong; I think it’s a good thing to have insurance…especially when very few of us have the ability to self-insure our possessions and lives. The issue for me is not necessarily what the insurance does, but what it replaces. 1 Timothy 6:17-18 reads “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” Before you get all antsy, let me place this in the proper context. If we were all being judged, present company included, as to whether or not we are rich based on Paul’s assessment in today’s world, we would all be considered wealthy.

And wealth in and of itself isn’t bad. But sometimes it replaces hope and trust in Him who we should have trust. ‘Life is unpredictable’ is probably some of the best theology I have seen on a sign of that nature. I think you could even go a step further and quote The Princess Bride, “Life is pain. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying or trying to sell you something.” I always add it up this way: Life is hard, this world is broken, but God is good. The latter being the most important. The rub comes in when those insurances, those comforts that we set aside to protect us begin to rob us of the need to walk with God. If we aren’t leaning on Him for our security and hope on a daily basis then how will we know His goodness when hard times fall upon us? If we aren’t living out Kingdom economics and trusting in the full security of the King rather than in what we can “secure” by our own means then do we really know the King? Maybe that’s why it is as difficult as a camel going through a needle’s eye.

Life is unpredictable. May we plan for it not by our own hands by by walking hand in hand with the One who is good even in the midst of the chaos.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in God the Father, journey, learning, pain

July 25, 2012

be good

By arpology

“Daddy! If we be good* will you bring us something home?” These were the words shouted at me across the lawn as I was getting ready to head off for work. Of course, being the gracious father that I am, I responded, “No way!” Don’t get me wrong. I love giving my boys treats and surprises, but to give them something for being good, for something that is expected of them…well that’s just not good parenting. Uh oh. I am in trouble now.

We often refer to God as our heavenly father. And rightfully so as that is part revelation of the Triune God. This imagery often even helps us in understanding a bit of who God is (this is not always the case for those who have never had a positive experience with an earthly father). And so it kind of led me to thinking about understanding God and our moral behavior here on earth. I think a lot of times that our earthly checklist of right and wrong becomes a ledger that we believe will eventually be fulfilled in heaven. But is it really a scorecard? Does God really want to reward us for being good…doing what is expected?

Kids have a fun way of seeing life. Essentially I think they see it as getting stuff. I get good stuff if I am good and bad stuff if I am bad. Come to think of it, I am not sure that we really grow out of this. Heaven and salvation become the good things we get when we are good and hell and damnation become the bad things if we are bad. But is that really why Jesus came? In John 10:9-10 we find these words, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Life in full…life to the fullest (I like the old school translation here)? If Jesus comes to give us life to the fullest doesn’t that imply a “now” kind of thing?

I look at it like this way. I love to do nice things for my wife. Not because she will in turn do nice things back, but because I love her (love being defined as a daily choice to put the other ahead of the “me”). If God is love and he has come to give us life to the fullest then wouldn’t that be the way we receive that life to the fullest. In other words, it is time to throw out the ledger sheet; for God, for others and even for ourselves. Being good becomes an outflow of the grace shown us. Not because of what we will receive, but because of who God is…love. May you learn to love today out of response and not out of expectation!

 

* There is still some grammatical education to be achieved.

Leave a comment | posted in faith, family, God the Father, love, salvation

May 30, 2012

present

By arpology

“You’re not listening”. I think I can safely say that this is a phrase that I use every day with my oldest son (I am sure some of you can relate). And then the protest begins, “But dad, I heard you…”. “I know you heard me, but you weren’t listening. If you had been listening you would be ________” (Feel free to fill in the blank with any directive of your choosing). And I even try to be a bit lenient taking into account his degree of ADHD, but sometimes…best not finish just in case someone from Social Services is reading ;) And I am sure we can all relate. Whether it is parents with your children, wives with your husbands, husbands with your…with your…dog?

It kind of reminds me of one of Jesus statements recorded in Mark 4 at the end of the Parable of the Sower. I am sure most of you are familiar with this parable. If not, go and read it really quick. I’ll wait…All done? Good; let’s proceed. At the end of the parable Jesus makes the following statement in verse nine, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” I love it! Jesus totally get’s his audience. He knows they are hearing him speak, but are they listening to what He is saying (even more profound if you consider the message of the Parable of the Sower). The Greek word used for “hear” in Jesus statement even assumes hearing and perceiving or hearing with intent to act upon.

And I’m afraid we are not in much of a better spot today. I think the question all comes down to being present. Are we present enough in the moment of hearing (or whatever mode of message reception we might be participating in) to listen and then act upon. Just think about all that you are doing in a moment. For instance, right now I am typing, reading my screen, listening to the air vent behind me and fighting off the sensation of cotton mouth all so I can finish this post and I wonder, am I even really present?

I have been working my way, albeit ever so slowly, through the book Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus and today I stumbled across a pretty cool passage. The authors are talking about an ancient Jewish practice of establishing true presence in prayer. “There is a Hebrew word that deals with the question: kavanah, which means “intention” or “direction.” The word conveys the idea of being profoundly aware of the One to whom you are speaking as you direct your heart toward heaven.”* And the crazy thing is that I believe this kavanah, this intention, this being present shouldn’t be just reserved for prayer. I believe that God speaks all the time. Whether it is through prayer, through scripture, through art, through creation or any other creative way He seeks to speak to us (after all, He is Creator God). The question comes, are we present enough to listen to what He is saying? Many of us can barely practice kavanah in our prayer lives, let alone in our day to day walk. But what if we could? What if we were truly present in each moment? Would we see God’s Spirit at work all around us? Would we see his footprint speaking to us about His vast love for us and the world around us?

I can’t help but think that the conversation from heaven to earth may sound a bit like this, “I know you “heard” Me, but were you listening?”

 

 

* Spangler, Ann; Lois Tverberg (2009-05-19). Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith (Kindle Locations 1557-1559). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Leave a comment | posted in family, God the Father, Holy Spirit, prayer, Uncategorized

April 25, 2012

obey

By arpology

My first question had to be, “was it me?” I didn’t feel like I was asking for anything out of the ordinary. But there he was, a defiant almost seven year old refusing to respond in the way I deemed appropriate. I suppose this isn’t even necessarily just one of the joys for adoptive parents, but for parents in general. You feel like you are making wise decisions and not expecting too much of your children and then all of a sudden, Bam!: blatant defiance. And I suppose the most frustrating part is that most of the time we as parents feel like that which we ask of our kids is for their betterment and their relative social “success” in the world around them. And I know we can examine all the realms of childhood psychology and recognize that this is one of the many stages in the individual’s formation into adulthood…but I can’t help but think that perhaps our frustration in this process reflects that of our Father in Heaven at times.

In the book of Luke Jesus shares with his listeners a famous parable about a wise and a foolish builder. We all know the story well, but I am not sure we necessarily understand the context. Immediately preceding the parable we hear Jesus call out to his audience, ““Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” – Luke 6:46 And actually this is where the difficult part in Jesus’ teaching lies. In 1st century Palestine, where Jesus would have delivered this parable, everyone understood the difficulty of building a house. Foundations had to be dug by hand in the summer months in order to avoid freezing and the winter rains. The ground in the summer in Palestine had even been compared to bronze because of the high clay content. But in his book Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes Kenneth Bailey comments on what a villager in that part of the world would say regarding the foundational task. “I have asked numerous village builders about the depth they must excavate to construct a stone house. The answer is always the same. They tell me they must dig “down to the rock.” If that means one inch or ten feet, the principle remains the same. Building must be done on the rock.”* And Jesus tells us what this foundation is…”hearing and doing what he says”.

Now back to my confrontation with my kids. For years we as humans struggle to form our individual identity. It is almost as if our life’s credo is independence at all costs. And yet, we as Christians declare Jesus as Lord. Our “digging for our foundation” is so contrary to who we have sought to become because it essentially becomes a journey from independence back to dependence. We dig through our hardened bronze-like resolve for personal freedom to yield our very foundation to the will and words of Christ. And I can only think of one way in which this can be achieved; intimacy. If we don’t know the words of Christ, then how do we struggle to obey them. If we aren’t allowing ourselves to be filled with the Holy Spirit daily then how do we know who to become dependent upon.

The digging is difficult through the sun-baked soil of individualism. But if we are to really embrace Jesus as Lord then we obey and obey and obey until we find ourselves bonded to His foundation…and ultimately becoming more like our Lord.

 
*Kenneth E. Bailey. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels (p. 324). Kindle Edition.

2 comments | posted in God the Father, Jesus, obedience, relationships

March 9, 2012

like a father

By arpology

So this all began when my wife and I started having a conversation about Job. It really is one of those books that you come away from scratching your head. I mean I guess there could be simple approaches to a celestial observance of a righteous man’s suffering countered by the intrusive wisdom arguments of supposed friends all driven at the holiness of mortals standing up under the sovereignty of God played out against the backdrop of the demands of freewill…but why would you want to make that simple? Anyway our discussion came around to the nature of God in the whole discussion regarding suffering and contemplating his action or lack there of regarding the life of Job or of those who are suffering in our modern world. Why doesn’t God intervene? Why do people suffer? And I realize that most anyone can try to give you some sort of simple answer but in all honesty not many of them suffice.

Fortunately in the wisdom poem that is Job we are given a response from God…and it is a doozy. God doesn’t condemn Job for questioning Him but his response is still heavy, Job 38:2-3 puts it like this “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.” Woh! And then God goes on to ask Job of his omnipotent powers which of course Job has none. Basically setting up that for Job to be able to question the moral character of God, that Job has to be God. For a lot of us this still doesn’t necessarily give an answer as to suffering, but as a dad I am beginning to catch a glimpse. Let me explain…

Often times in the church we forget that we serve a Triune God. We live by the presence of the Holy Spirit and what a friend we have in Jesus, but who wants to submit to the authority and discipline of Father God? I am not saying that God the Father is like the cruel dictator branch of the trinity, but I think that there is a lot of depth behind the revelation of God as Father. In my own life, as a dad, I have a lot of tough decisions regarding the upbringing of my children. My goal in life is to raise up Godly young men and women who are responsible for their actions, own their own behavior and have real life experience. Sometimes the means to that end is not pleasant. I can see that if my son keeps running around the house in his socks (after being warned a couple of times) that he will eventually bust and bruise his pride. But I don’t always stop him from wearing socks or burn them all to prevent future tragedy. I know that my children don’t always listen when they are warned about the consequences of their actions but does that mean I remove the consequence?

Proverbs 3:11-12 reads like this, “My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” Now I am not saying that human suffering is a discipline from God (PLEASE HEAR ME ON THAT POINT). But I think that often times our Father in Heaven sees the bigger picture.* He is like a Father to us and the things He allows us to go through I have to believe are one day redeemed. And even with redemption being an end goal I also believe that he hurts in his role as the heavenly father as much as I do, if not more, as an earthly father when my child is hurting. And the magnitude of the suffering that He endures as the Creator of all man kind…I can’t imagine.

I guess at some point we trust in His goodness despite not being able to see the whole picture. And maybe in the midst of suffering we might be able to say with Job, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him (Job 13:15).”

 

* I could really spend paragraph upon paragraph upon this subject. We will let this shortened/simplified answer ride for the sake of this blog post.

Leave a comment | posted in discipline, family, God the Father

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