What a Book

I am reading a new book. I can't help it, ADHD. But a good friend referred me to CS Lewis' The Problem of Pain. Amazing book so far. Its pretty small and should be a short read but man, it is powerful.

Here is something to hit me today: "It (Christianity) is a not system in which we have to fit the awkward fact of pain: it is itself one of the awkward facts which have to be fitted into any system we make. In a sense, it creates, rather than solves, the problem of pain, for pain would be no problem unless, side by side with our daily experience of this painful world, we had received what we think a good assurance that ultimate reality is righteous and loving.

Needless to say, this statement is pretty loaded. What he is talking about is that Christianity was not some philosophical conclusion but a people and a movement that has changed history, from Christ's death and resurrection to now. So because of that we can see the pain the world experiences through the spectrum of Scripture as revealed to us through the Holy Spirit. Pretty relevant today.

Truefaced

God designed release of influence this way on purpose, because immature people have an incredibly negative impact on those they influence. When we don a mask:

• They too must live a two-faced life
• They too must present an idealized person
• They too must hide what is true about them
• New Life in Christ doesn't really work
• They will remain stuck in their unresolved life issues
• It is better to be unknown than to risk rejection
• Self protection is their only hope
  

As I have been reading Chapter one, I have been increasing convinced of who I am and what my Mask is. There is a huge link between mask wearing and unconfessed sin. The fact of the matter is that mask wearing is almost a refusal to recognize who we are in Christ. We want to place a higher emphasis on other people opinions, thinking they have it all together.

Oh, Sunday night most of us loved the New Testament Gamble. I found the link : The Gamble

What's our True Face?

We admire people who live the "Truefaced" life, but our loss of hope has forced us into desperately trying to discover safety from behind our masks. In a real sense, we are all performers. Because of sin, we've lost confidence that we will always please our audience, and so we put on a mask. As an unintended result, no one, not even the people we love, ever get to see our true face. -- Truefaced; page 16

Wow, so we all should have started reading the book TrueFaced, "Trusting God and others with who we really are." It has been revealing so far. The first chapter has us dealing with authenticity in our walks with God. How often do we all walk into church with the "happy face." Walking around convincing and saying to ourselves, "I'm fine," "Everything's fine," "The people around me are fine," "My life is fine." When the truth is we often want to scream to our fellow Christians, "I need help!" "I need encouragement!" Or, "I need you to pray with me, and not look down on me because of my problems." Church's need to begin to build ministries with authenticity. Environments that are safe for discipleship building and encouragement. We all need it.
So I hope that we all feel the opportunity to make posts and converse about where this study is taking us. I can't wait to see where God leads.

What happened to the Cross?

"For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with the wisdom of the words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" 1 Corinthians 1:17-18

It is time I get back to blogging about where my study is taking me right now and what I am working on for the ministry.

I am beginning to work on my next sermon which will be on April 6th. The service will be with a young adult flavor. Whatever that might mean. We don't know yet. But these verses seen above, are really sticking with me right now. When some of the top-selling books on the New York Times are about becoming better and the secret to getting things you want, I wonder if that would fit into the category of what Paul calls, "the wisdom of words."

When people want to become better (which needs to be defined), how can you leave out Jesus? How can you leave out what He accomplished in our place and finished on the cross? You don't hear that much anymore. Not in what we call "evangelical churches or circles." The cross is too scary, too depressing, or we decide to leave that for Good Friday, and do "church light" the rest of the year. Yet Paul tells that is where the power of God comes from. Why avoid teaching the cross? More to come later. Any comments let me know.

Noonan's Boy

Today Braydon had an appointment with the Geneticist to discuss his Noonans. Overall, it was a lot of good information and ideas to be proactive with the genetic defect Braydon has been diagnosed with. So more doctors and specialists are going to be added to Braydon's little black book; soon he will be the best known blue eyed baby at CHOP (sorry, I'm just a little biased). Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers, and especially keep Shelly in prayer as she goes back to work and we settle back into "normalcy"

Sleep, Baby Sleep....

Braydon is continuing to keep mom and dad on their toes, especially during the night. We were used to Braydon sleeping 8pm - 7am and now he is up every couple of hours, just like a newborn. I know that this is just a little request and we are praising God that Braydon is home and healing well when so many of his friends are still in the hospital dealing with major issues.
Please keep Braydon's friends in prayer, especially Hartley and Dylan.