I Know You

The book of Jeremiah has never been one of my favorites. I like the biographical information on Jeremiah, which is interspersed throughout; but I don’t necessarily get a kick out of reading the whole book. That said,

at the beginning of the book,  there’s a little phrase from the Lord, which I’m sure many of you have heard before.  The Lord says to Jeremiah, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

This interests me because of the monstrous implications coming from this statement. No, I’m not referring to abortion issues. I’m referring to issues of sovereignty. What this means is that the Lord is not an object about which we have questions. He is not a subject we read about in books. He is not a discussion topic. He is not someone we “like” on Facebook or follow on Twitter. He is not an idea some cave man thought up long ago. He is not a tree, a sunset, or Mother Earth.

Simply put, we did not come up with the idea of God. He came up with the idea of us.

God created you, and me, and all that the eye can see. According to this verse in Jeremiah, He knew us before we ever knew Him. He knew who we were, before our mother’s knew who we were. And depending on your interpretation of this verse and many others in the Bible, it might just be the case that God knows how our lives will pan out long before we know it. He may know the decisions we make before we make them. He may know that we’re going to be “a prophet to the nations.” He may know what our next job will be. Shoot, He may even know what our calling in life is.

Think about it…so many of us are trying to figure out our lives–where to go next, what to do next, who will be in our lives and the like. Maybe, God knows these things all along. And maybe, He wants to tell us that we’re set apart, that He knows our personalities, our gifts, our talents and abilities. Maybe He wants to tell us what our life calling is, but we’re just too distracted to listen.

And who knows? If you ask, seek, or knock, you may just find what, or rather Who, you are looking for.

Love. Sex. God.

**You can find the referenced sermon at http://www.imagodeicommunity.com/sunday/sermon-archive/ .**

I listened to a sermon earlier this week, and I liked it so much I wanted to share it with you. The title is “Love, Sex, and God: Week 1.”

Throughout the sermon, Rick is exploring the foundational issues related to love, sex, and God. All three could take a lifetime to explore, so forgive me if I/Rick gloss over some things.

The first point is that we are human beings. Mind-boggling huh? But think about it, as human beings we are 100% spiritual and 100% sexual. By downplaying this fact, we run the risk of destroying ourselves, destroying part of what it means to be human. Ignoring our sexuality=ignoring our humanity. Ignoring our spirituality=ignoring our humanity.

Once we accept that we are 100% sexual (and 100% physical, emotional, and spiritual) beings, then we must decide what avenue we want to pursue with our sexuality and spirituality. Do we want to be strictly pleasure seekers? Or do we want to be covenant makers and covenant keepers? In other words, are we looking for something shallow or something deep?

If we are only looking for the shallow, we will be consumed with sex in a physical sense. We will be focused on the frequency of sex, the techniques of sex, the intensity of sex. We will be consumed with how often we “get some,” how good we are in bed, how hot and wild the sex becomes.

But if we’re focused on the deeper side of sex–the emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of sex, then we will have a much grander experience, a much fuller existence. With a focus on covenant making, we will enter a relationship, a marriage more particularly, with the intent of living life together, not having one night stand after one night stand. Because when we’re really honest with ourselves, our emotions can’t handle the stress of wondering whether the person we have sex with that night will be there in the morning when we wake up. It’s just too much to handle. Living this lifestyle, we will tend to one of two extremes: we will become overly insecure basketcases, or we will become calloused animals incapable of feeling.

Which leads us to covenant keeping. Over time, we will learn how to satisfy our mate’s deepest longings sexually. We will look for ways to improve our techniqu, but it won’t be our focus. We will be focused on how to please one another, not just ourselves. We will want to learn what it takes to make our hearts sing. And we’ll learn to appreciate each other for more than just our physical appeal. We’ll experience a bond, a connection, a security and comfort with one another that, honestly, is the closest thing we can feel to heaven on earth.

Like Rick says, pleasure seeking is like driving a Porsche, but never learning to shift into second gear. It will only take a short time before we have to go to the mechanic. Covenant making and covenant keeping is like cruising through the country roads, shifting in and out of the turns, gaining the full driving experience.

What do you think? Is he right? Is this true?

Flickering Pixels

I finished Flickering Pixels Saturday night. It was written by Shane Hipps, a leading marketer for Porsche turned Mennonite pastor.

Overall, the book was well-written. Hipps wrote intelligently, yet simply. The first half of the book revolved heavily around technology. The second half shifted to theology. His main argument was that the medium and the message are intricately connected. In a sense, the medium is the message.

This matters because so often, people, in Christian circles especially, talk about changing the mediums of communication. So, they may say that we can adapt our methods, change our approach, alter our mediums, yet still stay true to the message of the gospel. Or more simply, “Change the method; not the message.”

Hipps would disagree with this statement, and you begin to understand why as you read his book. Hipps points out that while technology can help us connect, it usually does the opposite–we usually end up isolated. He goes on to say that technology cannot replace genuine, human touch and presence. There is something necessary about being with people in real space and real time. Sure, we can use technology, but it can never replace our presence. Technology must be our servant, not our master. And in order to reach this point, we must make a conscious and concerted effort to be with people.

Essentially, it boils down to this: we, the Church, are the message.

We are God’s chosen medium to represent Christ to the world. And if we accept that and do that, we share the message, the gospel, the Word, which is Christ.

The Importance of Direction

Yesterday at church, I had an epiphany of sorts.

The preacher was going through Acts 16, talking about how Paul obeyed the Spirit’s direction. Instead of heading north-northeast into Asia, the Spirit led him to enter Europe, which was west.

North-northeast vs. west. That’s a drastic difference on a compass.

Just think, if you live in NYC and head north-northeast, you end up in Greenland. Head west and you’ll end up in Chicago.

So Paul obeys the Spirit and ends up in Phillipi. From there, he goes to Thessalonica, then to Corinth. And what do you know? He meets Lydia who ends up supporting his ministry. And, as a result of planting churches in these three cities, he writes letters to each of the churches. These letters (5 of them) become part of the New Testament.

Just think, the Lord was not only directing Paul so he could meet another ministry partner…The Lord was directing the formation of the New Testament. That’s big!

So maybe, if the Spirit tells you to do something, in your life, you should listen. Who knows what kind of grandiose plans He has in store?

4 Pieces

Today, I had 4 pieces come together. Two of the pieces came thru dreams.
Here they are:

  1. I had a dream of a picture, in which I was standing in a hole. It looked something like this picture. The message attached to the dream, “Bloom where you’re planted.”
  2. In another dream, a man said to me, “Haven’t you learned from history? The challenger must execute a strategy; the victor’s only duty is to defend his fortress.”
  3. The other day, I was thinking about work. I enjoy parts of my job, but I loathe other parts. I thought, “If you hate your job, you have 3 options: a) you can whine and moan; b) you can accept it and make the best of it; c) you can let it drive you to trying something else, something you’ll enjoy.”
  4. I was standing in an area of the Continental Tire plant, taking notes on tire grades. It was over 100° and I was sweating profusely. So, I took a step forward, and went around a plastic curtain. There, it was 70°. Just a step away…

Four pieces. If you think about them for a minute, I’m guessing you can put them together.

25

At 25 I’ve finally figured out why I’m here. I know my calling / vision / mission / values / theology of cultural engagement / spiritual gifts / talents & strengths / motto / skills / and myers-briggs type indicator.

I know who has influenced me, what life events have shaped me, what books have changed me.

To know these things…well, it takes time—years . It takes reflection—both habitually and randomly. It takes humility and courage. Humility to learn from the past and from the present. Humility to face yourself and to face God. Courage to face the future. Courage to face yourself and to face God.

Getting the right mixture of humility and courage is difficult. It takes time. But when you get it right, you’ll know.