Those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." - Jesus

Jesus continues to lay out what it means to live in the Kingdom of God.  In the Kingdom of God those who deeply long for righteousness will be satisfied.

Righteousness

Now when I read this word I think of passages like: "Abraham believed and it was counted to him as Righteousness" or "There is none righteous, (what about...?) Nope.  Not one." .

All those and others like them cause me to think in terms of my unrighteousness and being made right through Christ's.  Maybe that's what Jesus was talking about here.  But depending on the version you use, there are 40-50 verses where justice and righteousness are coupled together in the bible.  It's clear that justice and righteousness go hand in hand and are at the heart of God. As I read these passages, I can't help but think what Jesus is talking about in the Sermon on the Mount goes beyond just desiring some fire insurance.  I believe He is talking about a longing in the soul that things would be right - in my life and in my world.

Today, I met an elderly lady through the non-profit I volunteer for each week. She was born in Germany and her brother died as a young boy because he had a cleft palate.  He basically was left to starve to death by the Nazis rather than his condition be treated.  All these years later she broke down things of the loss of her brother.  In our soul we know that's unjust.  It's not right.  That's not the way God intended it to be.  

Children with leukemia.  Abusive husbands.  Slavery.  Babies with AIDS.  People dying of hunger. War.  A gentle-hearted man being killed by a drunk driver...  And yes my own wickedness, my prideful soul that gets angry at the smallest slight and my callous heart.  And yes, the reality that many do not really know Him... even those that call Him, "Lord, Lord".   This is not right.  That's not the way God intended it to be.  That's not righteousness

Hunger and Thirst

We know what this is.  At least I think I do.   I get hungry every day around 11:30 or so when my bowl of morning cereal has worn off.  But real hunger?  Real thirst?  I have never been on the brink of starvation and I am not one of the billion in the world who will go hungry tonight.  (That reality is unjust.)  I guess I don't know except maybe when I fast.  In those oh too few times I have ventured down this path of spiritual discipline, I know it be all consuming.  

Does my soul hunger in the same way for things to be made right?  Am I consumed for justice? Do I ache for the end of oppression, poverty and pain?  Do I long for God's will? For His peace? For His plan? For His glory?  For His... righteousness?

Will Be Filled

In the Kingdom of God, these longings will have their fulfillment.  It will happen.  Things will be made right.  Justice will roll like a river.  The weapons of warfare will be refashioned into farm implements that provide food for the hungry.  There will be no more sorrow.  The King will reign, every knee will bow... and we will know Him.   

May I hunger and thirst - really hunger and thirst - for that day.   And also hunger and thirst for justice now and things to be on earth as they are in heaven.

Tragic Loss for Lafayette - John Breaux has died

Today there was a major accident on US 287 in Lafayette.  I happened to be working nearby at Starbucks.  I didn't see the accident but noticed the ambulance, police cars and that that blocked traffic from South Boulder Rd to Baseline.

I went on-line to read about it tonight and read it was a result of a driver running off the road and hitting a pedestrian.  (Some anonymous  person scolded me when I wrote 'drunk driver' which was in the article I read.  So will remove that until confirmed.) The pedestrian was a locale fixture - John Breaux.  John actually is a hero.  He was always seen picking up cans along the road and greeted everyone with a warm smile.  Everyone knew and loved him.  (If you have time to read the comments you can see an example of how the communities of Lafayette/Louisville loved him.)  Just yesterday, I was driving along another part of 287 and saw John picking up cans. 

When I read that he had died I just cried.  It was tragic anyway but even more so to read that he was him because he had such a gentle spirit.  Reading the comments, I see some called him "Jesus" because he had a beard and maybe also because he was Christ-like in how he served the community whether opening doors for everyone at a local coffee shop or just with his warm smile.  I didn't know much about John but see in the comments that he attended Flatirons church.

I am sure Boulder County will have a memorial for John and wonder if a day of picking up cans/trash and greeting others with kindness might be a good way to remember him.  Maybe more than just a day.

May you rest in peace John.  Our community has a huge hole in our heart. 

The Super Bowl

Wonder which one of the guys from my fantasy football team will do better this Sunday - Kurt Warner or Hines Ward? Considering my team was so crappy, though it doesn't count, it will still give something for my sad pathetic life.      

Though I would have loved to have seen my Falcons get past the Cards and go on the same run to the Supper Bowl, I will spend Sunday hoping for a good game and rooting for UGA grad Hines Ward & Northern Colorado grad Aaron Smith.

Words from My Favorite Author/Prophet

"The pastors of America have metamorphosed into a company of shopkeepers, and the shops they keep are churches.  They are preoccupied with shopkeeper's concerns - how to keep the customers happy, how to lure customers away from competitors down the street, how to package the goods so that the customers will lay out more money."  ~  Eugene Peterson, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity

Personally I wonder what it would look like if the church in America woke up and realized that everyone on the inside of our stained glass windows was there simply to be equipped to minister to those outside (the real customer).   I wonder what would happen if we realized that the shop exists for the sinner not the saint; that it exists for the poor, the brokenhearted, those in mourning, those held captive and imprisoned by the enemy.

There's nothing inherently wrong with calling people lay their resources, but what if they church suddenly decided to invest in efforts to reach outside outside the walls instead of funding more building of walls?  The only building programed Jesus ever was involved in was the church being built on Him... and I guess the place he is preparing for us.  

What if we stopped worrying about stealing sheep, luring other sheep, or keeping the sheep happy?  What if we were willing to leave the 99 to find the 1?  Naw... then we wouldn't be able to compare ourselves.

The Meek

"Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth."  - Jesus.

Jesus continues his explanation of what it means to live in the Kingdom of God.  And He continues to flip what we think is the normal way of living... the world's way.

The Meek

Humble... gentle... kind...   self-effacing...  unassuming...  patient... not quick-tempered...  Some might say compliant, docile or overly submissive.   I have heard it defined as 'power under control' like a bridled horse and wind in a sail.   In version of Numbers 12:3, it says "Moses was very meek, above all the men on the face of the earth".  Though this version might be hard to read and grasp, I find it interesting that 'meek' here is juxtaposed to 'above all'.  Meek is not above all, its below all.   And yet...

They will Inherit the Earth  

What does that mean?  I mean, I look at these promises of the Beatitudes and this seems the least appealing.  I get 'comfort' especially if I am mourning.  I get 'wanting to see God' or 'being filled'.  But really, I don't want to inherit the earth... do I?

Control.  We want to be in control.  I want to be in control.  Maybe I don't want to inherit the whole earth, that's cartoonish.   But i do want to control my world.   My family, my home, my finances, my work...  I get angry when things are spinning out of control.  I want to control traffic.  I want to control my sons.  I want life to be in control.

And yet life since the Fall has been spinning out of control.  My world will never be under control.  if it is for a second, entropy sets it.  Tonight my son my obey me.  Tomorrow he won't.  Things in my home may work today but tomorrow something will stop working.  It never ends.  I want to control but its out of control.

Real Power

The world says that power is what rules.  Being in control, that's leadership.  It's staring down the opponent.  It's being in charge.  It's ruling and reining, not from humility but actually from the exact opposite.

Jesus says that real power is found in being under control...  in meekness... in servitude... in humility... in not bringing glory to myself... in looking out for the needs of others.   

The meek will inherit the earth.  Oh Lord make my soul long for meekness!

Oral-B Kids Toothpaste

Just wondering why the Cars version of Oral B's Kids Stages toothpaste has a picture of Mater on it?  Is he really the right role model for kids to brush their teeth or a subtle warning?

Those who Mourn

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." - Jesus

After Jesus stated "Blessed are the Poor in Spirit", he continued to lay out what living in the Kingdom of God looks like.  

Those who Mourn

To grieve, to wail, to lament... over a lose, a regret, sin.   Abraham mourned for Sarah, Jacob over his son, Bathsheba over Uriah, David over Absalom and Rachel over her children who were no more.  Godly men mourned for Stephen

Israel mourned over their sin of unbelief.  Nehemiah mourned when he heard the wall of Jerusalem was broken and burned.  Ezra mourned over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.

Jesus wept over Jerusalem.  "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!"  When He returns, all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him - the One pierced for all.

Will be Comforted

One day there will be no more mourning.  Be even now in the Kingdom, under the reign of the King, there is comfort.  He came to heal the brokenhearted, to comfort those who mourn, to provide for those who grieve.  Comfort.  He is the God of all Comfort, the Prince of Peace.  We can enter His rest.

Blessed

Do I mourn?  Do I weep over injustice?  For the unborn?  For those living under oppression? For those without hope?  Over my own sin, my own pride, my own wretchedness?  Do I grieve and lament because the world is not the way it should be?  Is my heart broken?  Do I grieve as I would if I lost a son or my wife?

Jesus wept over Jerusalem... a city that kill prophets, a city that would kill him.  He wept because they were unwilling to surrender to His Kingship...  Does He weep over me?

January 1973

Lost Premeire Tonight

Thanks to Orangejack for keeping me abreast to Lost.  Enjoyed the synchronized update ... at least update as far as crash goes.

My 5 top theories for this year....

1.  Jack will continue to get on my nerves.

2. Sawyer will come up with some funny nicknames but I will miss many of them.  None will make me fall in the floor laughing as much as last season when he called Frank Lapidus "Kenny Rogers".   I am laughing as I recall it.

3. Locke will be the man in the coffin, Desmond & Penny will reunite and Michael will be Ben's man on the boat... oh wait a minute that was last season.

4. Some main character will die. I don't want to say who it will be and spoil it for you.  But it will be big.  Big, I tell you.

5. We will meet these guys on the island this year.   But they will be like ghosts or something.

Poor in Spirit

"Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God" - Jesus

Jesus had begun his ministry teaching that the Kingdom of God had arrived.   News of his healing power had spread and large crowds began to gather.  The people were hoping, He was the promised King who would deliver them.

And so Jesus begins teaching about this Kingdom.  The whole sermon on the mount is about the reality of this coming kingdom and how we should live.  Even these first little verses (Matthew 5:3-10) bookend with the promise of the Kingdom of God.  But really its all about His Kingdom.

Poor in Spirit

Poverty of the soul...  To be desperate.... to realize I can't make it on my own... I am in great need....  I need Him.  This is the condition that opens the door for God's Kingdom to Come.  It is the first cry that invites a relationship with this King.  "I Need You!"  "Have mercy on me, Oh God!"  "Come, Lord Jesus!"  It is brokenness.  It is surrender.  It is desperation.   

A person poor in spirit is not playing church or some religious game.  it is not for the sake of others.  It's the shameless wailing of the widow in Luke 18.  it is the cry of the blind man in that same chapter.  It is the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15 who will not shut up.  

It is a soul that is restless until it finds rest in Him.

Theirs is the Kingdom of God

A promise of something amazing from someone who has nothing. His Kingdom and all the glory.  

His presence, His love, His forgiveness, His fulfillment.  

Blessed.

Joy. Some use the word "happy" instead "blessed". I like "full of joy". Full of joy is the one who 

is desperate and understands their need for God. To them will be given the Kingdom of God.

May I be a soul that is desperate. May I realize I need the gospel every day. I am in deep, 

desperate need of You. May I be poor in Spirit!

Change

MLK Quotes

"Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love." - MLK

"The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty." - MLK

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil--hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars--must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." - MLK

"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true." - MLK

"I am aware that there are many who wince at a distinction between property and persons--who hold both sacrosanct. My views are not so rigid. A life is sacred. Property is intended to serve life, and no matter how much we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal being. It is part of the earth man walks on; it is not man." - MLK

"Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love." - MLK

"If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority." - MLK

"If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live." - MLK

Working out on the Home Gym in Gingham

Luke - Ben and Ellie said they were stronger than me because they are home schooled.  

Now if they meant 'smarter', they actually proved the opposite.

Drinking coffee reduces risk of Alzheimer's

I am drinking a grande cup of Anniversary Blend to this news. 

On an aside, I find it interesting on news that drinking coffee aids your health, that Yahoo has a picture of someone smoking while drinking a cup of joe.  

Maybe for the full affect, I should go outside and light up.   Otherwise I might forget why I am drinking coffee.

World Tour Pics

Home

After a busy week away at a conference while kids were home sick, it was nice to spend most of yesterday doing nothing but sitting curled up in our big green chair with three boys.

What I have been Doing of Late

Haven't posted in a while because been working long hours...

On December 30th & 31st- flew to Atlanta for one day to meet with our South African leadership who were @ the Impact Conference.  Spent the night with my sister and her family and then flew back to Denver the next day.  I probably spent more time at the airport (thanks a lot Frontier!) than on the planes or in meetings.

Sick Kids - sometime when I left for Atlanta, Drew got a cold with a bad cough and a fever.  He passed to Jack and then Jack passed it to Luke.  So Robin stayed at home with sick kids for a week+ while I...

Jan 1st to now - went down to downtown Denver for the Denver Christmas Conference .   I tend to run a mini-conference within that conference every year since I run point on all of our international missions recruiting.  This year I had a team of staff helping me which was a coupe. 

Here's a few highlights of what our team did:

~  World Changers breakfast for 80+ students who have a heart for the world.  We spent time discussing barriers to going and I shared a little devotion from Luke 5.

        ~ South Africa STINT team - our 1st STINT team to South Africa launched from DCC.  So we had a little re-briefing for them, helped make sure they had all their support, commissioned them in a main session, etc.  

~  Two Separate Summits for staff whose campuses are partnered in South Africa and Cameroon.  Didn't get to do this for all the partnerships but for those with just these two since there have been changes in leadership in these receiving countries.  

~ Breakfast with our 2009 Summer Project Leaders.

        ~ Recruiting Efforts like Breakouts for Summer Projects / STINT and information booths.  On most of these, I just oversaw it and the leaders did the work.  I did the speak at the ones for STINT.

~  Lunches, Dinners and Coffees with staff serving internationally or considering going.

and the biggie...  on the night of the 4th we had a World Tour.  Our theme of the conference was "Kingdom Come" After the main evening session on the 4th, we hosted an event with 7 experiential rooms on where the kingdom of God has not yet come..  where it is not yet on earth as it is in heaven.   We had rooms on the Major Cities of the World, Students of the World, the Least of These, the Persecuted Church, Unreached People, Human Trafficking and a Prayer Room.  We ended with time of Praise and Worship.  Our team worked a long time pulling this off.  It was great night.  

I will try to find photos to give you a better idea of what the rooms were like.  Of the 1100 or so at the conference, we estimate that around 800 participated.  It was supposed to last an hour  but really went well past 2 hours as students took their time and experienced all of these rooms.   I have heard several reports of students making decisions to be involved in his Kingdom work as a result of this night.