Thoughts on Relocation

June 20, 2008

“Two roads converged in a yellow wood,
and sorry that I could not travel both…”
-Robert Frost

In my case it’s three roads.  Three roads and then another one I’m calling “God’s Unexpected Fourth Option.”  For the past few months I’ve had my relocation options whittled down to a solid three, and I’ve been going back and forth on where to go.  Each city presents its own strengths and opportunities.  Each has its own inherent interests for me, and each their respective challenges.  And whenever I feel like I’ve made a decision, part of me starts to doubt whether I’m willing to give up on the other cities.

There are several lessons I’ve learned during my time in College Station concerning the will of God that have guided me during this decision-making process.  More recently I’ve been learning about hope and wisdom.  Hope is a word thrown around lightly in our culture.  We “hope” a movie will be good, that we can wake up on time, that there won’t be any traffic.  This “hope” is nothing more than an expression of our projected desires, and their fulfillment is anything but certain.  Scripture often uses the word “hope” in a much stronger sense.  It is used to refer to the anticipation of something certain, specifically, the return of Christ and the restoration of all things.  Paul writes “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2).  He’s not saying “I hope that God will get glory!”  God WILL glorify himself.  His glory is the reason we even exist.  His hope in the glory of God is confident enough to make him “rejoice” in it.  Paul prays for the Ephesians, that “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened…you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the sains” (Ephesians 1:18).  In 1 Thessalonians 5:8, he tells the believers to put on as a helmet “the hope of salvation.”  Do Christians sit around saying “I hope I end up saved”?  No.  Paul is much more confident, as we see in the next verse: “For God has not destined us for wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  He greets Titus “in hope of eternal life” (Titus 1:2), and shortly after we see the greatest example of Christian hope, our “blessed hope”: “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).  Such things are anything but uncertain.  Paul’s great hope was in the return of Christ, something he knew was sure to happen.  It is hope because it enables us to see past the difficulties of this life.  No matter how bad life may become, we know that its ultimate culmination is the return of Jesus to give us indestructable bodies, a new earth, and himself forever.  Hope is not hot air.

Wisdom, I have found, is letting hope of the future govern how I live in the present.  For example, how does the hope of eternal riches affect how I spend earthly riches?  Is it not foolish to spend all my resources on things I can’t have after I die?  Wisdom is to see the end of things.  That’s why wise people are often depicted as older, because they understand the desires of youth and what will follow should they be pursued and carried out to fulfillment.  A young person for example may act on sexual impulse and sleep with many people.  A wise person would look ahead though and see the outcomes of such actions.  In Psalm 73 (one of my favorites), Asaph is struggling with God, trying to understand why such wicked people seem to prosper while he, a God-fearing man, doesn’t.  They are at such ease in their sinful lives.  “But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task…”  What helped him though? “…until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end” (Psalm 73:16-17).  Meditating in God’s presence, Asaph was comforted by a fresh realization of the end of sin.  Sin may profit in this life, and as a Christian this can be very discouraging to watch.  God does love you and has a wonderful eternity for you, but he may break you in this life to get you there.  And we can only find comfort when we discern the end of the alternative.  And that is the inherent joy of wisdom.

So how has this helped me in the relocation decision?  God has given me help from Hebrews 11.  After receiving the promise of a land for his descendants, it is said that Abraham was looking beyond that “to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10).  Speaking of the Israelites it says “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.  For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.  But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city” (Hebrews 11:13-16).  For a decision like where to move, and thousands of others like it, the Bible doesn’t tell us the answer.  I’m no closer to knowing which city I’m going to end up in than I was a couple months ago.  But I care less.  I’m less apprehensive.  I’ve come to realize that I am more than where I live.  Wherever I go, ministry will be there.  And ultimately it doesn’t matter, because all of Christ’s descendants are moving to the same city (Hebrews 11:16), the heavenly city.  I’ve learned to stop focusing so much on these earthly cities and instead on the one I know I’ll eventually end up in.  And this gives me great comfort.

It is a cruel deceit to confuse God’s destination and God’s path.  Life’s million little decisions should be guided by prayer, counsel, and wisdom.  But the most important decision in life that makes everything else insignificant until addressed is what to do about this Jesus, who was crucified and risen to give those decisions any hope of being truly significant.  And then when Christ has sealed us and given us hope of what is to come and the wisdom to know how to live now, thousands of blessings will come to us in the guise of choices.  Don’t stress over them, for the road that splits into two will eventually converge again at a place called home.

So pick your blessings.

“And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit.  You shall have them for food.’”
-Genesis 1:29

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“Why the Heck Do I Live in Philadelphia?”

June 20, 2008

by Geoff Bradford

The Holidays brings it up again. A bad day where I feel unproductive and ineffective brings it but again. That question: why do I live here?

I vacillate between anti-suburban snobbery and being tired of Philadelphia. I enjoy not living in strip-mall-ville somewhere on a cul-de-sac, but then again, Filthadelphia is not a very pretty place. I grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I love backpacking and scenery that is not man-made. There’s nothing really keeping us here-our extended families are 12+ hours away by car. Also, Philadelphia does not always seem like a “great place to raise a family.” I remember when we moved from the ‘burbs a few years ago-just at the time when my eldest son was starting kindergarten. People thought we were nuts. We were moving the wrong way. Everyone moves out when your kid turns 5, not in.

When I’m having a bad day, I generally like to visualize myself living in West Virginia. You probably have someplace-likely not West Virginia, but some place nonetheless-that you like to believe would be better. Actually, what most of us really want is a place that is not just better, but a place where I am better, where I am more actualized and fulfilled. Not just a new scene, but a better me.

Isn’t that why we move around so much? Looking for a better scene, I mean a better me? Every year, a sizeable chunk of the American population of our country moves (see Restless Nation, by James Jasper). Why? Do we really think that we will be different just because the backdrop is different?

So, why stay? Anti-suburban snobbery is not a very good reason-at least it does not satisfy my wanderlust. Laziness, either-the idea of moving makes me tired-but that also not a good reason to stay. Susan and I have wrestled a long time with this issue. With family far away, the challenge of finding good schools in Philadelphia, and the cost of living-we have wrestled with this. Why stay? Here’s what I have come up with:

1) Other backdrops don’t make a better me. I’m staying because I don’t believe the myth of a better me in a better scene. I’m looking for a deeper work of God in my life than cosmetic changes. And this has been a place where God is dealing with my discontent heart. It has been a laboratory for my soul, and this community at liberti* is a safe place to be a broken person who needs the mercy and love of Jesus.

2) Philadelphia is not such a bad place for kids. Yes, it is not really clean. Yep, not the safest place, either. But suburbia is also a dangerous place to raise children, for other reasons. My kids have exposure to the great cultural offerings of the city, are growing up in a place where they have to learn to deal with people very different from them, and have a lot of spiritual “aunts and uncles.” Not bad.

3) I want my life to count for something. I’m staying because I don’t just want to be a consumer of lifestyles. I don’t just want to shop for the best deal for my family. I choose to believe that by staying in one place, by putting down roots, by trying to build long-term relationships, my life and those of our family might have an influence-be it ever so small-on other lives and even on the great city of Philadelphia.

4) As C.S. Lewis says, “If I had to give a piece of advice to a young man about a place to live, I think I should say, ‘Sacrifice almost everything to live where you can be near your friends.’ I know I am very fortunate in that respect.” [The Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Greeves]. We Americans re-arrange our lives around work. Isn’t friendship/community more valuable in the long run?

5) I recognize that the ability to “choose my own adventure” is actually a sign of my richness-the fact that I even have the opportunity to choose my own adventure shows that I have options, that I am rich. Most people don’t have such possibilities. Staying here is an identification with the poor. It is an admission of my spiritual poverty-that I really am here because God has brought us here to Philadelphia, and he will make it abundantly clear when and if we need to leave. But not ‘til then.

Finally, I am trying to live as if America were not my dream. As if this world were not my home. I’m trying hard to “look for a city whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10, 16). The Bible begins in a garden and ends in a city. And it will be a city beyond “our ability to ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). That’s my real home. This is just a taste. And with that, I can live and stay-even when things don’t work like they should. Even when life here is unsatisfying and even frustrating. Jesus promises it (John 14:2).

What about you?

* Liberti is an church in Philadelphia that is part of the Acts 29 Network.

http://www.acts29network.org/article/why-the-heck-do-i-live-in-philadelphia-

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Can Christians Vote for Obama?

June 5, 2008

And then there were two.  The selection process for this presidential election’s candidates over the past year has played out like Presidential Idol.  Early in 2007, it felt like everyone in Washington was a contender.  Every day someone new was announcing their White House bid.  Then it kept getting narrowed down more and more until finally this week people voted off Hilary Clinton.  Now comes the face-off between McCain and Obama.  How will their debate performances over the next few months stand up to the judges’ criticisms?  Both will contend.  But only one can the Presidential Idol.  What an exciting 44th season it has been!

What’s struck me about this election is frankly how irrelevant evangelical Christians have become.  Their monumental influence was felt just last election between John Kerry and George W. Bush.  Bush ran on a platform of being against gay marriage and abortion and for millions of people that was enough.  For many of those same voters, this election isn’t nearly as clear-cut.  Neither candidate obviously appeals to the evangelical base.  The most obvious choice might be the Republican thus conservative candidate, but this year’s Republican candidate isn’t as conservative as many want him to be.  And God forbid we should elect that Muslim with ties to Saddam Hussein who hates America and is secretly going to try and bring it down from the inside!

Christians face a dilemma this election season, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.  Unless you are your own god, you are a sheep to some shepherd, and the identity of your god is what separates the noble from the pathetic.  Christians are the sheep of Jesus.  They are to follow him.  He shepherds his own with his word and his Spirit.  Come election time, many sheep change shepherds, from Jesus to their pastor.  From Jesus to Pat Robertson.  From Jesus to the late Jerry Falwell.  Christian songwriter Derek Webb, former lead singer of Caedmon’s Call, has made a career of stepping on the toes of the American church.  Derek illustrates this in his song “A New Law” when he says “Don’t teach me about politics and government.  Just tell me who to vote for” and then “I don’t wanna know if the answers aren’t easy so just bring it down the mountain to me” and then again “Don’t teach me how to listen to the Spirit, just give me a new law.”

Such is the attitude of many believers.  The last thing many people will ever do is shut their door and get completely alone with God, completely free of distraction.  It’s easy to study the Word of God, but it is a whole new depth to take it and meditate on what you study, asking for the Spirit to reveal its full meaning to you.  It’s a sign of maturity to wait in silence for God, to not just pray but to listen.  And this is what many are scared of.  Because it’s not easy.  You can’t plan it out. You can’t predict what you will get out of it.  At least when you memorize Scripture you can say “I will memorize these verses today.”  When you open your Bible to study it you can say “I’m going to study John 6 and compare it with passages in Exodus which talk about the manna in the wilderness” (which I recommend doing by the way).  And this isn’t wrong at all, but we can’t limit our walk with Christ to the things we can control.  Memorizing the words of Scripture is a cognitive exercise that anyone can do.  But to memorize it in the context of meditation, to store it in your heart and not just your mind so that it will come back to you in a moment in which you need its direct application, to allow its meaning to direct the course of your life is a work of God.  Hebrews 6:1-3 wisely observes that we can’t mature more than God will allow us to.  Maturity is God’s prerogative.

In response to the question that is the title of this entry: can Christians vote for Obama, I answer with a resounding YES.  Why?  Because he’s such a godly man?  No.  I don’t know him, but when it comes to matters of faith, he strikes me merely as a politician who goes to church rather than a Christian who goes to Washington.  For Christians who have relied solely on marriage and abortion to decide their candidate for them, this election isn’t clear cut, and their decision will have to be made by careful study of the Word, prayer, and conscience.

Yes conscience, the forgotten factor in the life of a Christian.  Reading Romans 14, Paul makes it abundantly clear that there are things in the Christian life which are not spelled out clearly, and for these we must exercise use of our God-given conscience.  If one is convinced they should not eat meat, let them and shut up.  If one is convinced one day is holy as opposed to another day, let them and shut up.  You think Sundays are a day of rest for pastors?  Shoot…  If I’m a pastor one day I plan to Sabbath on Saturdays.  Is that unholy?  If you try to guilt-trip me I’ll vomit Romans 14 all over you.  Some prefer to abstain from alcohol while some joyfully consume it in a holy manner.  What do you prefer to do?  Then do it and don’t dare bring judgment on the other person’s conscience.  Whatever convictions you have, keep between yourself and God (Romans 14:22).

For the election, make up in your own mind, on grounds of a Scripturally-guided conscience what is worth electing a person on.  You know what?  That’s going to look different for different Christians.  Any pastor or what-not who says that as Christian you must vote for X is out of place.  Quote them Romans 14:22, because they don’t have that authority in your life.  WHO you vote for is of a more subjective nature.  But…WHY you vote for them is more objective.  By saying “vote for whoever you want to,” I’m not saying certain issues are irrelevant.  If conservatism and liberalism were based merely on abortion and gay marriage, then I’d definitely be a conservative.  I believe from Scripture that abortion is murder and that homosexuality is a sin.  But if we were to give weight to issues based merely on frequency in Scripture, a candidate’s views on poverty should carry enormous influence in the Christian’s decision of who to vote for.  Who is more sympathetic to the lower class?  Maybe what’s more important to you than anything is peace.  Jesus called the peacemakers “blessed.”  Maybe the Iraq war and not gay marriage is going to be your trump card in this election.  What are your views on fair trade?  What is your conviction about immigration?  Are our laws too strict or too loose?  What matters to you?  What do you feel most strongly about?  While Scripture speaks clearly about the sanctity of life, it also speaks of mercy for the poor.  And the paradox in our political party is that while the Democratic Party is most often in favor of abortion, it is also more focused on the rights of the poor.  Which demands the attention of your conscience?

I once heard a preacher (who is otherwise an awesome preacher) say that if you’ve ever voted for someone who has supported abortion, you need to repent to God for it.  The implication is that whoever you vote for, you are supporting EVERYTHING on their agenda, which is simply not true.  Even for the most staunch atheist voter that’s not the case.  Very few people will agree with every position of a candidate.  But they weigh it out.  They put the issues into scales and see which side weighs more.  And the Christian’s vote is no different.  Voting for Obama doesn’t necessarily mean you support his views on abortion.  Maybe you’ll vote for him because of his views on the Iraq war.  Is justice not important?  Maybe you’ll vote based on his views of health care.  Is care for the poor not important?  WHY a particular candidate has your vote is the crucial question.  It is one thing to vote for a pro-choice candidate because of their stance on health care, and it is another to vote for them because they are pro-choice.  If I were to encounter a Christian who votes for Obama based on his stance on abortion, then I might have to have a talk with them and ask them to justify their vote.  So long as the Christian has evaluated the stances of the candidates and made a decision in light in scriptural principles and conscience, leave them be.

Someone might say “Well yes their stance on such and such is nice and desirable, but is politically implausible.”  Is that really the point though?  Did you vote for Bush in 2004 believing that a marriage amendment could ever really get passed?  We are to vote what’s right, not what’s easy on the issues we personally feel are most important.  American politics can be a great lesson in walking by the Spirit if we let it.  The reason is that the Scriptural positions held by a candidate will often be countered by an anti-biblical position.  And if you’re someone who puts their trust in princes, this will be immensely frustrating for you.  But this is why the Bible tells us not to put our trust in princes (Psalm 146:3).  They will let you down.  And even the best of them will fail at times.  Welcome to Earth.  Population: 6 billion sinners and counting.  We’re not voting for a pastor.  We’re not voting on whether or not Jesus comes back in November.  Yes pray for a good and wise prince.  But recognize in your voting that compromises must be made, because until Jesus returns, no governmental power will be without its compromises of full compliance to God’s Word, assuming it doesn’t outright disdain it.  If you can’t in good conscience compromise one issue for the sake of another, then don’t vote.  Be a good citizen of your heavenly kingdom at whatever cost to your earthly kingdom.  Be a good American citizen as much as you can, but if push comes to shove, know where your allegiance lies.

While American politics can be a great lesson in Christian liberty and in learning to listen for and walk by the Holy Spirit, it is also a great lesson in thanksgiving and in trusting God’s sovereignty.  Proverbs 21:1 says that the king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord and he turns it wherever HE will.  God has used each president for his own purposes.  We may not see the reason now, but one day we will.  Remember that God’s will is not trumped by anything, let alone who sits in the White House.  Rather it is carried out through them.  Additionally, Romans 13 shows us that government is a blessing from God.  If you resist the government, you are resisting God.  Now obviously many have seriously abused government and turned it into a tyrannical regime.  But like the evening news, most of the good things that happen around town go unreported.  Our security is in large part due to our government.  If someone gets in the White House who is completely against everything Christian, so long as our government is in place then thank God for it.  We have laws in place.  We have police to patrol our streets and cities.  We have restrictions to protect you.  We get to elect our officials.  We get to worship freely.  If someone steals something from you and are caught, they will be punished.  We do not live in anarchy.  Thank God for that.  And don’t rant against the president’s every mistake.  Take time to pray for them, whoever they are.

And above all, remember this: Jesus did not come to overthrow the Roman Empire of his time as many thought he would.  Rather he was focused on his mission of proclaiming a new Kingdom that was coming.  With that Kingdom in mind, everything else finds its proper orbit.  No government is perfect.  But that’s okay, because the one to come is.  And it is already spreading throughout the world in spite of the earthly kingdoms.  The Church does not need a Conservative Republican in the capitol of the United States of America before its message will spread.  We don’t need abortion to be illegal to be able to address the hurt and fear of a young pregnant girl.  We don’t need strong welfare laws before we can give money and time freely to the poor.  The Church does not need the world’s laws to be the Church.  It has more often than not functioned in spite of them.

So in the next five months, search the Scriptures, pray to God, listen to the Spirit, and vote in such a way that you do not violate your conscience, whether it leans to the right or to the left.

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Posted by thetenthleper

Charles ‘The Surgeon’ Spurgeon on Emotions

June 1, 2008

Charles Spurgeon is one of my favorite Christian writers.  I found this quote from him not too long ago in one of his books and felt compelled to share it.  It is very Spurgeon-esque in that it is profoundly true and beautifully written:

“You might as well hope to see with your ears or taste with your eyes or hear with your nose as to believe by feeling: it is the wrong organ.  After you have believed, you can enjoy salvation by feeling its heavenly influences, but to dream of getting a grasp of it by your own feelings is as foolish as to attempt to carry the sunlight in the palm of your hand or the breath of heaven between the lashes of your eyes.  There is an essential absurdity in the whole affair.”
-Charles Spurgeon

He goes on to say “Mature men come to think less and less of their present emotions as they reflect upon the little reliance that can be safely placed in them.”  And a few sentences later: “Feelings are a set of cloudy, windy phenomena that cannot be trusted in reference to the eternal truths of God.”

There’s a wealth of application that can be drawn from the truth of these words.  Feelings, as he said, are the wrong organ for belief.  There’s one specific application that I’ve come to grips with over the past year, and that refers to confessed sin and guilt.  When we sin, there is often a tremendous guilt on our conscience.  We pray and confess our sins to God, but sometimes we arise in as much despair as caused us to drop to our knees in the first place.  Our joy will return after a day or two, or a few days, however long it takes to feel like our sins have been washed off.  But in this is an inherent sin.  We are trusting time to be our savior, and not Jesus Christ.

There’s a powerful principle I’ve learned over the past year: Rely on what the Bible SAYS, not on what you FEEL.  For example, with confession it looks like this.  I sin.  I confess that sin to God and ask for forgiveness.  I still feel like crap.  I don’t feel forgiven.  But God’s word says

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”   -1 John 1:9

It says,

“I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”   -Psalm 32:5

God has promised that if we confess our sins, he forgives.  Right then.  Right there.  Upon confession, regret of the sin may remain (and should always), but any remaining guilt is to be discarded.  Post-confession guilt is satanic.  You may not FEEL forgiven, but God’s word SAYS that you are forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness.  To wallow in guilt any more is to deny the Word of God.  I’ve begun to train myself to bank on what the Bible says about me and not on what I feel.  So now when I sin, I strive to acknowledge it, confess it, ask for forgiveness, thank God for Jesus’ atonement for my sins, get up, walk away, and dwell on it no more.  That’s it.  It’s done.  The demon Screwtape said it well:

“Even of his sins the Enemy does not want him to think too much: once they are repented, the sooner the man turns his attention outward, the better the enemy is pleased.”*

Post-confession guilt hampers spiritual service.  Discard it.  Confess your sins and trust in what God’s word says.  Make the Bible your trust, not fickle emotions.  And echo the words of Micah when Satan tempts you with guilt:

“Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.”
-Micah 7:8

*”The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis.  Letter 14.

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Posted by thetenthleper