07.20.19 - week 12
so, i was having a low moment. you know one of those where fatigue + emotional pain + too many bad thoughts in a row takes you into a dark space? i have a playlist of worship songs on my phone that i’ve kept for years for moments like this, which although relatively few and far between, have certainly been more frequent in 2019 than any year before that.
so i loaded up the song and NOTHING. didn’t encourage or comfort me even a little.
so i tried another one. NOTHING X 5.
i may as well have been listening to some self-indulgent dave matthews song. i went back and the power was gone. all of a sudden what used to re-assure me, now just bummed me out.
and so i started to pray. and look into the sunset (which providentially was unfolding right in front of me), and this scripture came tumbling out of my memory:
remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
behold, i am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
i will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
the wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches,
for i give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
the people whom i formed for myself
that they might declare my praise.
isaiah 43:18-21
so often, we lean away from the present into nostalgia from past victories or pain from past losses. it takes us away from what god is doing right now. he’s working. it may not feel like it or seem like it to our senses in the physical realm, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. and when he’s working it’s for our good. when we live in the past, we can’t see clearly in the present. and when can’t see clearly in the present, we get crusty and stuck. so today, look up and see what’s new. to keep the analogy from the opening, find a new song.
Cup of Leadership
if you are connected to god, you must be growing.
if you are growing, you are certainly changing.
when you are changing, it’s painful before it’s profitable.
don’t quit before the payoff. the process is the hardest part of believing a promise.
#cupofleadership
Book Review
church folks are really good at creating jesus in our own image. we tend to see him through our own cultural/racial/preferential lens. it’s an important but difficult task to try and see him for who he really was 2000 years ago while on planet earth.
pastor time harlow takes on this task by asking a simple question, ‘what made jesus mad?’
the implication being, if it made him mad, we should avoid doing it. if it made him mad, it should make us mad too. the journey treads some familiar ground around removing religiosity from church. trying to filter out the man-made rules and preferences and attitudes.
i especially appreciated the tender heart the author expressed towards those caught in the trap of religion. it can be easy to become pharisaical towards those we perceive as pharisees. encouraging read, you will be blessed by it.
3 Things I Really Liked This Week
1. if you like instrumental music to study / read to, tycho has a great new album out. really good stuff.
2. i saw this article through my friend john mark. it’s an incisive look at a bunch of interesting trends.
3. very encouraging little teaching clip.