Author Archives: Jeff

That’s who I am.

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“[Jesus’] self-awareness is startling. No other human teacher has made anything like the claims he makes. There are plenty who have said, ‘I’m the divine consciousness.’ But they think of the divinity as being in all of us, in the trees and the rocks and the human spirit. Jesus, however, understands that there is a God who is uncreated, beginningless, infinitely transcendent, who made this world, who keeps everything in the universe going, so that all the molecules, all the stars, all the solar systems are being held up by the power of this God. And Jesus says, That’s who I am.“

—Timothy Keller, The King’s Cross, pp. 43-44

 

 

Secret Gifts.

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One Thousand Gifts

In the most recent NY Times best seller list of hardcover advice & misc. category, #10  is The Secret (the “Law of Attraction” as a key to getting what you want) while #7, One Thousand Gifts has a much different theme. That book is all about gratitude, which isn’t about getting what we WANT; it’s on becoming who God designed us to be through continual gratitude. We attract God’s will by living each moment in the present, grateful for all things.

 

In reality, the secret to a successful life of joy and purpose comes not through greed (even attracting self-defined ‘good things’). The secret is gratitude.

Having read much of both books, I can highly recommend one [a thousand times over] but not the other.

 

The implications: my death in Him.

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“I wanted to cling to one part of the gospel: His death for me. I don’t want to grapple with the implications of my death in Him. I don’t want to have to wrestle with my doubts about my own resurrection. I just want Him to forgive me, help me, give me heaven on earth. Keep my family safe and healthy, happy and secure. And bless my work for Him. I want life without death.

But Jesus gives life through death.”

—Rick McKinley, A Kingdom Called Desire: Confronted By the Love of a Risen King, p. 53.

 

Tomorrow: go without shoes.

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Because millions of kids go everyday without shoes, as I mentioned last week.

Why all the fuss? Who needs shoes?

TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie says that not having shoes puts kids at a heightened risk of injury, disease and infection. Among the soil-transmitted risks that most can’t afford to prevent and treat are:

  • Hookworm: Causes anemia, stunted physical and mental development and, on occasion, congestive heart failure. Affects up to one-fifth of the world’s population.
  • Podoconiosis or “mossy foot disease”: Causes swelling of the feet and legs due to prolonged exposure to certain types of irritant soil.
  • Chiggers: Bites on the feet and ankles from these mites can cause severe itching and hives.
  • Tetanus: Potentially fatal infectious disease caused by bacteria entering the body through cuts or other open wounds. Causes painful muscle spasms and locked jaw.

Want to give?

Our family supports the intentional Gospel-driven work of great organizations such as World Vision, Compassion, Africa New Life (Rwanda), and Open Arms (Kenya). We intentionally focus on the needs in Africa, but there are opportunities all over the globe for us to curb our consumerism and give joyfully to a cause greater than ourselves.

Maybe your Tuesday without shoes will go something like this:

 

April 5th: Go Barefoot.

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Why?

Because millions in the world go without the basics of life: water, medical access, even shoes. On April 5th join thousands of others who will show their support for those without shoes. (Don’t do it because Demi Moore is doing it, or any of the other ‘celebrities’ highlighted in the video below. We don’t celebrate them; we celebrate the courage of the mom who carries her infant daughter miles and miles daily through the mid-day heat to get quasi-safe drinking water and back the other direction for a ration of food — every step barefoot and with debilitating pain. Go without shoes for one day because there are hundreds of thousands of amazing kids who have no choice today.)

TOMS One Day Without Shoes 2011: April 5th

 

The Bunsen Burner: remember it from chemistry class?

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Yesterday marked Robert Bunsen’s 200th birthday.

The Google Doodle today commemorates the man behind the Bunsen Burner (today for some reason, and not yesterday, his birthday):

Bunsen’s best work came in the 1860s, when he discovered two new elements. Cesium — atomic number 55 — now plays an essential role in atomic clocks. Rubidium — atomic number 35 — is one of the ways to create purple fireworks. Both elements live on the far left side of the periodic table. His team named them after the Latin words caesius (sky blue) and rubidus (dark red). [Source: CSM]

See the animated doodle in action:

Bunsen made becoming a high school chemistry teacher cool. (Mine, Mr. Mohl, would blow stuff up every day, with a continual flow of natural gas running through the burner.)

 

Alive Again and Forevermore.

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For we who trust Jesus as Savior, we are awakened to the reality that every day we need Him. Not just on that final day, to take us to heaven. He came to rescue us from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Colossians 2:13-14). And he keeps on rescuing us. We have been saved, we are being saved, and we shall be saved completely in the end.

In theology these experiences are summarized as justification, sanctification, and glorification. We have been saved from the penalty of sin, justified with God through Jesus’ perfect live, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection. We are being saved from the power of sin in our daily lives, being set apart (sanctified) by God for wholeness to join in His mission in the renewal of all things. We will one day be completely rescued from the presence of sin, no longer able to bow down to idols for Christ will be all-consuming, even being the light of all eternity. These experiences overall in a convergence of grace words cannot adequately describe!

There are deeper nuances to this thrilling doctrines, for we will never stop learning of the greatness of God’s kindness towards us in Jesus (Ephesians 2:7). (If embracing these truths bores you, consider if you are alive to God. We will dwell on them for all eternity.)

Today we have a great gift to sing of these amazing truths. A musician friend reminded me that when we sing good theology we “feel a thought.” Words alone or musical sound alone cannot produce this experience. The collision of the two takes us deeper into the truth; opportunity to embrace it through and through. We who were dead in darkness have now seen a great light; He’s made us alive again. Let’s continually sing about it.

Alive Again
(by Matt Maher)

You called and You shouted
Broke through my deafness

Now I’m breathing in and breathing out
I’m alive again

You called and You shouted
Broke through my deafness

Now I’m breathing in and breathing out
I’m alive again

You shattered my darkness
Washed away my blindness

Now I’m breathing in and breathing out
I’m alive again
Continue reading →

 

Plenty.

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Our family fridge, July 15, 2010 {the last day of our grocery month}

10 How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. 
—Philippians 4:10-13, NLT

 

Conquering Anxiety.

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God will give us what we want. If we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we will get righteousness. But if we want someone else, He will let us pursue it, find it, and become fully consumed with it. That thing will leave us empty in the end. It will leave us anxious.

“Anxiety … is fear and worry about what the future holds … it is being stricken by the unavoidable and the uncontrollable.”

“… Being the captain of your own ship and the master of your destiny means you are going to sail you ship through the waters of anxiety.”

“If you want to be conformed to the image of Christ, you will be. And if you don’t, you won’t.”

—Pastor Jon Furman, “Joy That Overcomes” (series: True Joy, part 10, on Philippians 4:2-9)

The Scripture:

2 Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. 3 And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.

4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

—Philippians 4:2-9, NLT