Category Archives: Holy Spirit

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

December 27, 2011

happy birthday

By arpology

So I apologize if right off the bat I start offending people with this one. I have always found the whole reduction of Christmas into a “Happy Birthday Jesus” party a little off putting. It’s not that I don’t realize the whole meaning of the season, but when I think about Birthday parties I can’t help but think about balloons, cake, favors, presents, etc…are these really the things we want to associate with the God who created the universe stepping into human flesh in order to redeem humanity unto Himself? My wife and I were even talking about this the other day in reference to the presents that are given in and around Christmas and she helped me see this in a new light. On one’s Birthday usually that person is the recipient of the gifts and yet, on Jesus “birthday”, we are the ones who receive presents. And here is where my wife is absolutely brilliant. “Maybe Christmas is not so much Jesus’ birthday as much as it is ours…and then giving gifts to each other makes a little mores sense.”

Holy cow! That blows me out of the water. Christmas really is a celebration of our birthdays. Our birth into new life, our birth into right life. All of a sudden the people living in darkness have seen a great light. They have passed from death unto life…been born again. All of a sudden Jesus rooftop conversation with Nicodemus becomes the Christmas story. John 3:5-8 puts it this way, “Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit’.”

So Christmas maybe can be reduced to a birthday celebration (still not to keen on the idea of balloons and cake regardless of my lie for sweets). But not so much the birth of Christ as much as the rebirth of his Children and the promise of the life to come. So if anything, Christmas becomes a reminder of being born into new life and living like those born of the Spirit.

A couple of quick anecdotes to remind myself what this looks like. I had just stopped by the Dollar General store to pick up a couple of supplies the week of Christmas. After I came through line I noticed a very expectant Latino woman and her probably 2 year old son. She was attempting to buy a toy she thought was on special only to realize it wasn’t. Without even thinking twice I pulled out $20 (some money left over from a generous Christmas gift from a family at our church) and handed it to her with a quick “Merry Christmas”. The very next day I saw a guy walking near the church in the cold over-burdened with a couple of grocery sacks. I pulled up to him and offered a ride. He still had two miles to go in 20 degree weather and the bags weighed at least 40 lbs between the two.

I am not telling these stories in a brag fashion at all, but I can’t help but think about that idea of those who come and go living born of the Spirit. I don’t think that God moves people into our path at random. He aligns our present into His future. And our rebirth should continually dominate our thoughts in the present. Maybe we need to be reminded of our rebirth and become sensitive to the Spirit’s prodding during this season. You never know what He might bring your way.

1 comment | posted in Christmas, Holy Spirit

October 22, 2011

a little nudge

By arpology

I am not sure if people are ever curious about the preparation that someone like me puts in for a sermon/talk or not, but I thought it might be fun to flush it out here. I imagine the process is different for everyone. But for me, it always seems to vary between a few options. Sometimes it is as easy as pulling out a text that is familiar and that I have preached on before.  Sometimes I even have the old notes to accompany it. For a while it was even fun to follow the lectionary* and feel like a part of something greater (This also helped because the text was supplied for you in a fun multiple choice array). I have never been a big fan of the dart board method…opening the Bible pointing then preaching just doesn’t seem that genuine. I am pretty sure I have never employed this method. For me, the most meaningful times of opening the text for others have always been when God is working with me on the same text.

It’s kind of fun how these portions of scripture come to you. It’s almost like a conversation with the Divine and the humane. As life is lived both with God and man it is almost as if God speaks through your encounters with him and with other people. I have heard people refer to God’s speaking into these situations as “a little whisper” or “a little nudge”. These Divine promptings always seem to come at around the same time as well. I think about it this way; when you are walking arm-in-arm with someone it is very easy for them to gently nudge you or even whisper something to you. I am pretty sure that neither of these things are accomplished at great distances. It’s almost as if the text from John 15:4 comes to life here, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.(I actually like the wording in the King James better, “Abide in me”)” You can’t be in step with what God is saying to you and speaking into your life unless you are closely in step with God. I know that seems redundant, but it is so true. The more harmony in my life between God, others and myself the more I hear His whisper speaking into the everyday…the more I feel His nudge guiding me into His word for me and for others.

It really is that easy and yet sometimes that hard. Sometimes it is easier to be present for myself alone. But the life that is lived when I am completely present for God and for others is truly life in the fullest. So I seek to be fully present in the moments I am given. I am attentive to God’s word and I lean in closely for that little nudge. Then all of a sudden the text that I seek to prepare for others has already been prepared for me. And giving my words over to God becomes that much easier. After all, they were already His…

* The lectionary can be simply defined as a list or book of portions of the Bible appointed to be read at a church service. It is usually used among higher liturgy churches such as the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches. For more information please visit: http://www.lectionarypage.net/

Leave a comment | posted in Holy Spirit, scripture

December 15, 2010

life before safety seals

By arpology

A few days ago I was excited about my morning cup of coffee because I knew my wife had bought me some new French Vanilla creamer. A simple thing to get excited about, but all the same. However, before I could enjoy this healthy additive I had to wrestle with the safety seal. Ah the safety seal…that lovely layer of plastic-like foam that keeps the terrorists out of my non-dairy creamer. This of course got me thinking, which is dangerous, about life before safety seals. There was life before 9th graders had to ride in child protective seats. And there was life before you had to provide 5 forms of ID and 3 DNA samples in order to board an aircraft. I know I am perhaps exaggerating a little bit, but look at the society that we live in today. We are scared of our own shadows.

Romans 8:15 says, ‘For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons…”. So why do we leave in fear? You may say to yourself, “But I don’t live in fear”. Think about it. We engineer our own safety out of a sense of paranoia which has no founding in the gospel. We attempt to control our own fate through safety devices and security systems and health-care plans and have forgot what it means to trust God for provision and protection. Don’t misread me. None of these things are inherently wrong. The problem is when our sense of fear drives us to put our faith in these things, rather than in Abba Father. And what is scary is that when these things fail we immediately cry out to God without having any foundation of a relationship with which to trust Him. Maybe we need a simpler faith in a God who is greater than any scheme we can devise for our own protection and well-being. Sometimes I think it would be easier just to go back to the time before safety seals. At least I would get to my non-dairy additive a little faster.

Leave a comment | posted in fear, Holy Spirit

December 11, 2010

that which is immeasurable

By arpology

I love the feeling of accomplishment you receive when you have done something well. For instance, yesterday, my four year old son and I took about 20 minutes and cleaned up a playroom that might have qualified as a national disaster zone. We put toys in the correct bins and unrecognizable specimens were quickly placed in the trash. But after we were through we had to step back, admire our work and then give each other a well-deserved high-five. It feels good to accomplish a task that is easily measured. But sometimes the hard part in life is to be faithful in the things that aren’t immediately measurable.

Maybe I should define this a little more. You see, not everything we do in life is measured in immediate quantifiable forms. What was my attitude like when I greeted my spouse for the first time today? How Christ-like was the tone of my voice as I sought to ‘gently’ instruct my son throughout the day? Was that the reaction I should have had when I was cut-off on the interstate today? The hard part is that there really isn’t a measure for these things and we really never know the impact that they will have on eternity. I always reach way back on these immeasurable things for my motivation. In Genesis 4:7, God says to Cain, ‘If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.’ The scary part is, that sin takes over in the immeasurable things. Not many of us are going to suddenly become murderers or thieves overnight (at least I hope not). But sometimes our attitude might be less than Christ-like…sometimes our speech might be more harsh than necessary…sometimes we might lose self-control in tense situations…

We are only human, but with the Holy Spirit as our guide, maybe we can learn to be faithful in that which is immeasurable. And maybe one day, in the eyes of the kingdom, we will see how truly great the measure of these things turned out to be.

1 comment | posted in Holy Spirit, walk

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