Boasting Only in the Cross

Boasting ONLY in the Cross - Pastor John Piper - May 19, 2000

One of my favorite sermons...Enjoy! :)

The Heart of a Child: Lesson 1 – “He Delights In You”

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” -Matthew 18:1-4

In my near seven years of parenting I am sure that God has illustrated His love, grace, discipline & compassion a countless number of times, through my relationship with my daughter, Angelique. But now God has made it very clear to me to start writing these lessons down. God’s voice is constant, distinct and beautiful. My prayer for myself (and anyone reading this) is to continue to hear his voice and do His will.

June 6, 2009

It’s a typical Sunday evening, about a quarter to 7pm. Angelique and I are at the church’s Ministry Center, gearing up for “Pursuit”, the young adults’ ministry service. However, I am not in my usual spot, greeting and welcoming people in. I am in the office, on the couch trying to get rid of my headache.

She quickly gets bored, having just her ill mother to play with. She soon spots a nice, clean dry erase board and her eyes light up with excitement from the possibilities. She quickly asks me, “What do you want me to draw?” I reply with the first thing that comes to my mind, “a bunny!”

She pauses for a moment, with a scrunched up, uncomfortable look on her face, and replies back, “I don’t know how to draw a bunny.” I try to encourage her, “you can do it, just try!”

After some arguing back and forth, I finally convince her that she is capable of drawing a bunny rabbit. She is still so unsure of herself, saying things to me like “I’ve never drawn one before. It’s going to be ugly.” But I am glad that she does it anyway, because she loves me. There is much concentration on her part, until her masterpiece is done. She then says, “I made my bunny, but it came out ugly.”

But when I saw it, I thought it was the cutest thing ever! I loved every little quirky detail. I loved that it was unique and original. I quickly told Angelique how much I liked it and told her I want to take pictures of it. Her confidence increased with each compliment given.

She then said, “Okay, I’m going to write cursive too!” She looked around for what to write and found Pursuit’s slogan key words on the wall “TELL, TRAIN, TAKE”. She begins again to meticulously craft out her new creation on the board, frequently erasing and redoing many parts (that, in my opinion didn’t need to be redone).

And then after all of her hard work, she starts to cover the board with her body and says, “No, no, no, it’s UGLY. I want to erase it!”

I am speechless. Here in front of my eyes is the most beautiful “first time bunny” I’ve ever seen, alongside cursive writing that does not look like it could be from a first grader, AND the artist about to wipe it off the face of the earth. With her hand on the eraser, held up to the board, I tell her “don’t you dare erase it! I want to take a picture!” She responds with much anxiety, “no, it’s ugly. Let me do it over again!” I remind her that she drew it for me in the first place and that I think it’s absolutely gorgeous. I would not change a single thing about it. After much convincing, she starts to see that it is not nearly as bad as she once thought it was. She was even a little proud of herself, and asked to be in a picture with it.

God reminded me that I often act the same way as Angelique. With great excitement I ask Him, “What would you like me to do, dad?” and then He gives His answer. My reply is, “But I can’t do that. I’ve never done that before.” He then exhorts and encourages me that I can do it. To my surprise, I can actually do what He asks of me and yet, so often I still doubt that my works are “good enough”. Then when I hear the voice of approval from God, I have the confidence to do more. But while doing more, I often find that it’s more difficult than expected. I find myself “erasing and redoing” many parts because of my sometimes perfectionist nature. Then, when I look back and see that things are not perfect in my own eyes, I tell God, “That’s it, I’m done. I’m erasing it!” This is when He reminds me that I am just simply doing what He asked me to do. It is perfect in His eyes and His opinion is the only one that matters (even my own doesn't count). God reminds me that even when I feel inadequate, He still delights in me.

Lesson Learned: Our heavenly father is pleased when we obey him, especially when we step out in faith, doing things that are new to us. I am sure there are even times when we are trying to hide our work in shame, thinking that it's not good enough, but He is the parent with the camera just waiting to take a picture of our masterpiece, because he is just so tickled and pleased by our effort & obedience. Regardless of the outcome of our effort, He still delights in us...more than we’ll ever know.

"The LORD detests men of perverse heart but he delights in those whose ways are blameless." Proverbs 11:20

My Top Five Strengths...

Your Signature Themes

Many years of research conducted by The Gallup Organization suggest that the most effective people are those who understand their strengths and behaviors. These people are best able to develop strategies to meet and exceed the demands of their daily lives, their careers, and their families.

A review of the knowledge and skills you have acquired can provide a basic sense of your abilities, but an awareness and understanding of your natural talents will provide true insight into the core reasons behind your consistent successes.

Your Signature Themes report presents your five most dominant themes of talent, in the rank order revealed by your responses to StrengthsFinder. Of the 34 themes measured, these are your "top five."

Your Signature Themes are very important in maximizing the talents that lead to your successes. By focusing on your Signature Themes, separately and in combination, you can identify your talents, build them into strengths, and enjoy personal and career success through consistent, near-perfect performance.

Includer

“Stretch the circle wider.” This is the philosophy around which you orient your life. You want to include people and make them feel part of the group. In direct contrast to those who are drawn only to exclusive groups, you actively avoid those groups that exclude others. You want to expand the group so that as many people as possible can benefit from its support. You hate the sight of someone on the outside looking in. You want to draw them in so that they can feel the warmth of the group. You are an instinctively accepting person. Regardless of race or sex or nationality or personality or faith, you cast few judgments. Judgments can hurt a person’s feelings. Why do that if you don’t have to? Your accepting nature does not necessarily rest on a belief that each of us is different and that one should respect these differences. Rather, it rests on your conviction that fundamentally we are all the same. We are all equally important. Thus, no one should be ignored. Each of us should be included. It is the least we all deserve.

Connectedness

Things happen for a reason. You are sure of it. You are sure of it because in your soul you know that we are all connected. Yes, we are individuals, responsible for our own judgments and in possession of our own free will, but nonetheless we are part of something larger. Some may call it the collective unconscious. Others may label it spirit or life force. But whatever your word of choice, you gain confidence from knowing that we are not isolated from one another or from the earth and the life on it. This feeling of Connectedness implies certain responsibilities. If we are all part of a larger picture, then we must not harm others because we will be harming ourselves. We must not exploit because we will be exploiting ourselves. Your awareness of these responsibilities creates your value system. You are considerate, caring, and accepting. Certain of the unity of humankind, you are a bridge builder for people of different cultures. Sensitive to the invisible hand, you can give others comfort that there is a purpose beyond our humdrum lives. The exact articles of your faith will depend on your upbringing and your culture, but your faith is strong. It sustains you and your close friends in the face of life’s mysteries.

Responsibility

Your Responsibility theme forces you to take psychological ownership for anything you commit to, and whether large or small, you feel emotionally bound to follow it through to completion. Your good name depends on it. If for some reason you cannot deliver, you automatically start to look for ways to make it up to the other person. Apologies are not enough. Excuses and rationalizations are totally unacceptable. You will not quite be able to live with yourself until you have made restitution. This conscientiousness, this near obsession for doing things right, and your impeccable ethics, combine to create your reputation: utterly dependable. When assigning new responsibilities, people will look to you first because they know it will get done. When people come to you for help—and they soon will—you must be selective. Your willingness to volunteer may sometimes lead you to take on more than you should.

Empathy

You can sense the emotions of those around you. You can feel what they are feeling as though their feelings are your own. Intuitively, you are able to see the world through their eyes and share their perspective. You do not necessarily agree with each person’s perspective. You do not necessarily feel pity for each person’s predicament—this would be sympathy, not Empathy. You do not necessarily condone the choices each person makes, but you do understand. This instinctive ability to understand is powerful. You hear the unvoiced questions. You anticipate the need. Where others grapple for words, you seem to find the right words and the right tone. You help people find the right phrases to express their feelings—to themselves as well as to others. You help them give voice to their emotional life. For all these reasons other people are drawn to you.

Developer

You see the potential in others. Very often, in fact, potential is all you see. In your view no individual is fully formed. On the contrary, each individual is a work in progress, alive with possibilities. And you are drawn toward people for this very reason. When you interact with others, your goal is to help them experience success. You look for ways to challenge them. You devise interesting experiences that can stretch them and help them grow. And all the while you are on the lookout for the signs of growth—a new behavior learned or modified, a slight improvement in a skill, a glimpse of excellence or of “flow” where previously there were only halting steps. For you these small increments—invisible to some—are clear signs of potential being realized. These signs of growth in others are your fuel. They bring you strength and satisfaction. Over time many will seek you out for help and encouragement because on some level they know that your helpfulness is both genuine and fulfilling to you.

*Somehow I am not surprised that 4 out of 5 of my strengths deal with interaction with other people ;)

What Christmas Means to Me...

It's a little ironic how this entry is titled "What Christmas Means to Me..." and yet I will be borrowing many ideas...First shout-out goes out to my mannn - Søren Kierkegaard (Emily & Carlos' favorite philosopher) and second shoutout goes out to the writer & creator of http://paxetbonum.blogspot.com - I don't know them personally - but I thank God they wrote out the story of "The King and the Maiden" so that I don't have to!

So hopefully Kierkegaard's parable will help to illustrate my view of Christmas. I don't believe that the celebration of Christmas was never intended to be taken so lightly. It was never intended to be a time of pine trees & candy canes. It was never intended to be a season of stressing out and giving gifts out of obligation. And it was most definitely not intend to be a time, where people must LOSE THEIR LIVES over commercialism and consumerism (that's a whole other issue - that deeply disturbs me - maybe I'll delve more into that later.) My eyes are slowly opening to see that the "Christmas Story" is not a cute little nativity scene, it is the most beautiful LOVE story ever told. Emmanuel - God with us. Why would our omnificent God who dwells in the heavens ever do such a thing for man? Well...Hopefully this story helps to explain...Enjoy!
Søren Kierkegaard, a 19th century Danish philosopher and theologian, once pondered how the gap between God and humanity could ever possibly be bridged. He constructed an answer to that question in the form of a parable called The King and the Maiden. It goes something like this:

The King and the Maiden

There once was a king who loved a humble maiden. But there was a serious dilemma. There was a seemingly infinite distance between them. One, the king, was noble by birth and had great armies at his command and great riches for his delight. But the other was a lowly maiden, of lowly birth, with no riches whatsoever. Two people, totally different and separated by class, status, wealth, power and influence.

To anyone who looked at this situation, clearly the maiden appeared to be very lucky. After all, this might be the opportunity for her to finally make something of herself, to leave behind a life of menial work and enjoy wealth and power and prestige. What a great favor the king would be bestowing upon the maiden, one which she could never be sufficiently grateful for. But it was this very notion which enraged the king. And a great many courtiers were put to death for just suggesting it.

For the king realized that if he were to simply make his beloved maiden into a queen, then she would never be truly happy and their love could never be sincere. Would she be able never to remember what the king wished her only to forget: that he was a king and she had been a humble maiden? She would begin to wonder whether or not she could ever match the king’s royalty or nobility, and ultimately, whether or not she loved the king for the right reasons. And she would be lead to conclude that it would have been better for her to have remained a humble maiden, married to an equal, content in her humble cottage. And even if the king were to overcome this dilemma, suppose the maiden could not even understand him? We may suppose a difference of mind between the king and the maiden such as to render an understanding between them impossible.

Moved by love, the king is then resolved to reveal himself somehow to the maiden. His love is a love of the maiden, and his aim is to win her. For it is only in love that the unequal can be made equal, and it is only in equality or unity that an understanding can be effected between the two. But this love is through and through unhappy, for how great is the difference between them! The unhappiness of this love does not come from the inability of the lovers to realize their union, but from their inability to understand one another.

How does the king solve his dilemma? Perhaps the king could show himself to the humble maiden in all the pomp of his power, causing the sun of his presence to rise over her cottage, shedding a glory over the scene, and making her forget herself in worshipful admiration. But alas, this might satisfy the maiden, but it could not satisfy the king, who desires not his own glorification but hers. It was this that made his grief so hard to bear, his grief that she could not understand him; but it would have been still harder for him to deceive her. Not in this manner then can their love be made happy, except perhaps in appearance, namely the maiden's, but not the king's, whom no delusion could possibly satisfy.

Ultimately, the king and the maiden can come neither to union nor an understanding of one another, unless the king himself forgets his kingliness and becomes a lowly peasant like the maiden. It is only in this way that a true and authentic love can be forged between the king and maiden. And the king mustn’t just appear as a peasant or live as one for a certain period of time, but he must truly become a peasant in the most real sense possible. It is only in this manner that the king can solve his dilemma, for love is triumphant when it makes that which was unequal equal in love.

This is certainly a poignant parable to reflect on during this Advent Season, the season in which we celebrate that great mystery of God’s descent to earth and his assuming of our humanity in the person of Jesus Christ. For certainly, this parable could easily sum up two thousand years' worth of teaching and understanding concerning the purpose and mission of Jesus.

It is the same with the divine and the human. The divine must humanize itself in order for us to be able to at least acknowledge it and engage it. God becomes one like us in order to understand us, to make himself lovable, in a manner of which we are capable. There is a long tradition in Christian thought of "the human" needing divinization. But thankfully Kierkegaard challenges us to think of this notion in reverse, of the divine needing to humanize itself.

Truly this is the real meaning and significance of Christmas, that God loved us so much that he desired to be one like us out of sheer love.


We have really sentimentalized Christmas. We've become so accustomed to the image of Joseph and Mary peering in at a beautiful little baby in a cozy stable. But Christmas is really not that cute! It's about God's dynamic, raging love, which drove him to descend to earth and set the world ablaze! If we don't get anything out of this season, from all the shopping, and gift-exchanging, and commercialism, then at the very least we should be reminded of our great God, who became one like us in order to understand us, to engage us, and ultimately to love us...




May your holidays be filled with love, joy & laughter and a new awareness of what Jesus Christ has truly done.

More thoughts on Philemon!

"Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul - an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus - I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains." Philemon 1:8-10

• Paul says that he COULD be bold & order them to do what is right, but instead he rather appeal to them on the basis of love...Which is of course a brilliant move - He is laying down his rights and entitlements for the sake of "letting love reign". In verses 12-21, he then challenges them to do the same. Even though they have ownership of Onesimus, he asks that they may lay down their rights and accept him back as a brother. Sometimes it gets so easy to label people a certain way- I see it all the time (and I'm very much guilty of it too). It is now the "norm" to leave your trash in the movie theaters, so that the employees can clean it up, because it is "THEIR job"...And for us 'christians' to leave our trash around, so that the custodians can "do their job". Philemon could have easily taken back Onesimus as a slave - he did in fact "belong" to him, so it wouldn't have necessarily been wrong. But God calls us to so much more - He calls us to love one another & treat one another as brothers and sisters, without the all the labels & categories.

"Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me" Philemon 1:11

• This is exactly what occurs when you have an encounter with the power of Christ - It happens ALL THE TIME. God is at work ALL THE TIME redeeming the bad to good - redeeming the useless to become useful. Giving us beauty from ashes. This verse gets me very excited! God has taken the life of this poor & lowly slave and has given it new meaning - Onesimus gets to be USED for God's purposes... As an instrument that becomes useful to the body of Christ! :)

Lord Father,

I thank you for the lessons you teach me each and everyday. Thank you for all the excitement and wonder that I get to participate in. I pray that you continue to reveal yourself to me, as I try my very best to live out my faith. May I continue to drink in deeply your words, so that I will be an overflow of love and encouragement to those around me. Help me to lay down my life for others daily, so that they will know how much YOU truly love them. God, I have so much on my mind...So much to do this weekend. I pray that your shalom covers all my fear & anxiety. Help me to live with YOU as the Lord in my life. I love you Lord! You da bomb! ;)