Ready or not . . .

“The truth about being ready is you’ll never be ready.”- John Ortberg

As John Ortberg continues Chapter 2 of All the Places to Go, he notes that there’s a whole syndrome around the fear of not being ready for life, opportunities, or challenges.  It’s called “failure to launch.”  The problem is that life, opportunities, and challenges all have a way of saying, “Ready or not, here I come.”

Pastor Ortberg states that “feeling ready” is not the ultimate criterion determining our readiness for God’s open doors.  We place too  much stock in “feeling ready.”  If we are to enter an open door, it has to be by faith.  Our faith grows when God tells us to “Go” and we say yes.

John adds that no one in the Bible responded “I’m ready” when God called them to do something.  Take Moses when God called him to speak to Pharaoh: “I have never been eloquent. . . . I am slow of speech and tongue (Exodus 4:10).”

Until we actually do something, we truly do not know what we can do.  And if we’re already moving, “ready” comes much faster.  What matters is not whether we’re ready.  What matters is that Jesus is ready.  John concludes:

“And you and I never know when he’s ready.  He’s in charge of that.”

Today’s question: What Bible verses have strengthened your faith and obedience to follow Jesus’ leading?  Please share.

Coming Tuesday; the new Short Meditation, “Turn around”

Tomorrow’s blog: “Coming from and going to”

 

 

Ready or not . . .

Staytheists

In Chapter 2 (“Open-door People and Closed-door People”) of All the Places to Go, John Ortberg draws upon the research of Carol Dweek, who came to the conclusion that human beings possess one of two differing and almost opposite mind-sets about life.  Pastor Ortberg categorizes them  as “closed mind-sets” and “open mind-sets”.

1.  Closed mind-set.   People with closed mind-sets believe their worth is directly connected with how talented they are.  Generally, going through open doors is to be avoided.  Every time there is a challenge one’s worth is on the line.  A successful life is devoid of failure.

2.  Open mind-set.  People with open mind-sets believe that growth trumps raw ability.  Growth always is possible.  Commitment to growth means embracing challenge- growing beyond where one is today.  Failure is absolutely necessary and something to learn from.

John notes that closed-door thinking may masquerade as prudence or commonsense.  In reality, it’s refusing to trust God due to fear.  It’s claiming to believe in God.  Yet, when God says “Go”, they stay.  They’re Staytheists.  Open doors are scarier than closed doors because we never know for certain what will happen when we walk through.  Even though we want to know what we’re getting into, we never will.  Pastor Ortberg thinks that’s a good thing, because if we did know, we’d never get into it in the first place.

Today’s question: Which mind-set most characterizes your current thinking?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: Ready or not . . .”

Staytheists

Moments of divine opportunity

John Ortberg concludes Chapter 1 of All the Places to Go with the observation that God’s primary interest is character-formation, not circumstance-shaping:

“God’s primary will for your life is not the achievement you accrue; it’s the person you become.  God’s primary will for your life is not what job you ought to take; it’s not primarily situational or circumstantial. . . . God’s primary will for your life is that you become a magnificent person in his image, somebody with the character of Jesus.  That is God’s main will for your life.  No circumstance can change that.”

Because God is in the open door business, that means a new way of (a) looking at God; (b) looking at life; (c) looking at myself; and (d) choosing.  Every moment provides the opportunity to find a door that opens into God and His presence.  Even though we may go through the “wrong door” with the right heart, God can use that experience.

Pastor Ortberg states that we need to train ourselves to search for and respond to moments of divine opportunity if we want to experience more of the Spirit of God in our lives.  God’s open doors must not be met with our closed hearts.  The open door leads to the place where God guides.

Today’s question: What moments of divine opportunity have you experienced following your vocation loss?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Staytheists”

 

Moments of divine opportunity

Opened doors

“What matters is not a guarantee about the outcome.  What matters is the adventure of the journey.”- John Ortberg

John Ortberg observes in Chapter 1 of All the Places to Go that often God does not tell us which open door to choose.  For us, this can be quite frustrating.  We want assurance that we’re making the right choice.

Pastor Ortberg states that it took him many years to understand that God may have great reasons for leaving open door choices to us.  Open doors help us struggle with our true dreams and motives.  When John was contemplating leaving California, his wife’s home, to accept a call to Willow Creek Church in the Chicago area, a friend gave him Dr. Seuss’ book Oh, the Places You’ll Go!  Dr. Seuss provided John with the following career guidance:

“You have brains in your head

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. . . .

Oh, the places you’ll go! . . .

Except when you don’t.

Because, sometimes, you won’t.”

Oh, the places you’ll go!– the promise of the God of the open door.  God rarely interrupts someone and asks them to remain in comfortable, safe, and familiar surroundings.  This very moment is alive with opportunity.  In Revelation, John wrote to the church at Philadelphia that what stood before them was an opened door- God was at work.  The opportunities before us aren’t merely human.  They are not open doors, but opened doors.

Today’s question: What opened doors has God provided during your desert, transitional time?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Moments of divine opportunity”

 

Opened doors

Divine opportunity alertness

John Ortberg continues Chapter 1 of All the Places to Go with the observation that often an open door begins with discontentment about the room we’re currently in.  Although our strength may be small (Revelation 3:8), Pastor Ortberg states it’s comforting to know that God can open a door for anyone, not just the talented or extraordinarily strong.  Furthermore, God can open a door in any circumstance.  While in a Nazi concentration camp, Viktor Frankl found an open door his guards didn’t know existed:

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms- to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to chose one’s own way.”

John defines divine opportunity alertness as “the ability to discover the range of possibilities that lie before us in every moment and in any circumstance.”  Divine opportunity alertness is a skill that can be learned.  Yet, open doors don’t exist solely for our benefit.  They are opportunities to bless someone else.  Open doors also involve a good not yet fully revealed.

Pastor Ortberg cautions that an open door is neither a blueprint nor a guarantee.  It doesn’t come with a detailed set of instructions from God.  An open door is . . . an open door. If we want to find out what is on the other side, we have to go through it.

Today’s question: What has enabled you to cultivate divine opportunity alertness?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: the new addition to the Annotated Bibliography, The Grave Robber

 

Divine opportunity alertness

Six words

“See, I have place before you an open door that no one can shut.  I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”- Revelation 3:8

John Ortberg’s latest book is titled All the Places to Go . . . How Will You Know?  Pastor Ortberg begins Chapter 1 with this question: If you had to summarize your life in six words, what would they be?  The six-word limitation challenges us to focus on what matters most, to briefly capture something of significance.  John reports that Winston Churchill once sent back a desert pudding because “it lacked a theme.”

None of us want our life to be like Churchill’s pudding.  Yet we aren’t the authors or the pawns of our life stories.  We have an unseen Partner- God.  One of the pictures of God-inspired opportunity sprinkled across Scripture is that of an open door.  Although the image of a door can mean safety, hiddenness, rejection, or rest, in Scripture an open door is symbolic of boundless opportunities, as John defines:

“An open door is an opportunity provided by God to act with God and for God.”

An open door means the possibility of being useful to God.  God’s offer of an open door, and our response to it, comprise the subject of this book.

Today’s question: How would you describe your life in six words?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Remember the resurrection”

Six words

Remember the resurrection

“Lord . . . if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”- John 11:21-22

Mark Batterson states in Chapter 23 of The Grave Robber that many Christians only remember Christ’s resurrection at Easter.  The other 364 days they live as if Jesus still is nailed to the cross.

If we feel as if our dream is dead and buried, we have forgotten about the resurrection.  Yet God has us right where He wants us.  Pastor Batterson notes that the litmus test of a dream is its death and resurrection:

“If it’s not from God, it’ll stay dead.  If it is, it will rise again.  But you need to pray through until you get a breakthrough.”

Mark emphasizes that while most miracles take longer than we want to wait for them, the longer we wait the greater our appreciation of those miracles: “Miracles happen when we’re good and ready, and not a moment sooner.”

Martha’s statement in John 11:21-22, Mark observes, reveals two types of faith:

1.  Preventative faith– believes God can prevent adverse things from happening.

2.  Resurrection faith– believes God actually can undo what’s been done.  It puts commas, rather than periods, at the end of disappointments.

Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead demonstrates that when God takes something away from us, it doesn’t always mean permanently.  God often takes things away with the specific purpose of giving them back.  When He does, we see the miracle for the blessing it is.

Today’s question: What Bible verse enable you to remember the resurrection every day?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Six words”

 

 

Remember the resurrection

Faith is our sixth sense

“Sometimes it looks like God is missing the mark because we’re too shortsighted to see what He’s aiming for.”- Oswald Chambers

Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 23 of The Grave Robber with a discussion of the bold prediction Jesus made when He heard Lazarus was sick: “This sickness will not end in death (John 11:4).”  Pastor Batterson states that Jesus knew Lazarus would die, but He didn’t put a period there.  Jesus inserted a four-day comma.  To quote Dr. Charles Crabtree from his sermon titled ‘God’s Grammar":

“Never put a comma where God puts a period and never put a period where God puts a comma.”

Mary and Martha certainly felt like Jesus was four days late and four dollars short.   Yet Martha balanced her factual statement about Jesus’ timing with a wonderful statement of faith: “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask (John 11:22).”  Mark explains that Martha was in touch with a divine reality:

“Faith often looks like it’s out of touch with reality, but that’s because it’s in touch with a reality that’s more real than anything you can see or hear or taste or smell with your five senses.  Faith is our sixth sense.”

Even when it feels like our dream is dead and buried, we don’t want to put a period there.

Today’s question: During your desert, land between time, how often have you felt that God is missing the mark?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Remember the resurrection”

Faith is our sixth sense

Holding pattern

“Lazarus had died, and for you sake I am glad that I was not there.”- John 11:14-15 (ESV)

Mark Batterson begins Chapter 23 (“Even Now”) of The Grave Robber by wondering why on earth Jesus would say, “For your sake, I am glad I was not here.”  Furthermore, Jesus had delayed coming for two days.

Pastor Batterson notes that when Jesus finally showed up four days late, Mary and Martha exhibited some passive-aggressive behavior toward Jesus.  The truth is, Mark adds, that we all have passive-aggressive tendencies toward God.  While we don’t necessarily blame Him for our adversity, we also know that He had the power to keep that adversity from happening.

Jesus waited until Lazarus had died to reveal His resurrection power.  Nothing can be resurrected until it has died.  As Mark points out, what Jesus did for Lazarus He also does for us:

“If you feel like you’re in a holding pattern, it may be because God is getting ready to do something more miraculous than you’ve previously experienced.  But something precious might have to die first so that He can resurrect it.”

Mark concludes that had Jesus simply healed Lazarus, it only would have reinforced the faith people already had.  Jesus wanted to stretch their faith.  In order to do that, Mark notes, “sometimes things have to go from bad to worse before they get better!”

Today’s question: What Bible verses have helped minimize or eliminate your passive-aggressive attitude toward God?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Faith is our sixth sense”

Holding pattern

Irreversible moments

“If you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”- John 11:21-22

In Chapter 22 (“The Grave Robber”) of his book The Grave Robber, Mark Batterson begins his discussion of Jesus’ seventh miracle recorded in the gospel of John- Jesus raises Lazarus.  Pastor Batterson observes that there are those irreversible moments in life that leave a hole in our heart forever.  Our  ministry downsizing or vocation loss would be a prime example.  We wish we could turn back the hands of time.

Mary and Martha thought life as they knew it was over.  Yet, as Jesus demonstrated in raising Lazarus from the dead, it’s not over until God says it’s over!  Jesus went toe-to-toe with death itself, and death lost. Raising Lazarus didn’t just foreshadow Jesus’ resurrection, it foreshadows ours.  It’s a snapshot of what Jesus wants to do in our lives in this present moment.  Jesus is calling us out of our tomb.

Lazarus got a second chance, a second life.  Mark states that Jesus wants to do the same for us:

“And The Grave Robber wants to do for you what He did for Lazarus.  But He doesn’t just want to give back the life that sin and Satan have stolen.  He came that you might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).”

Today’s question: From what tomb is Jesus calling you?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Holding pattern”

Irreversible moments

Mama"s heart

“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”- Psalm 55:22

“If I be his child, then I have a portion in his heart here, and I shall have a portion in his house above.”- Charles Spurgeon

Mark Lucas and I started our lifelong friendship during our freshman year at Concordia- River Forest.  I soon learned that meant assimilation into his immediate family- Mama (Annabelle), Papa (Clarence), sister Hope, and toy poodle Creamy (Cream Puff).  Always the gracious listener, Mama’s unwavering support and encouragement for her biological and “adopted” sons’ calling to the teaching ministry blessed us beyond measure.  Henry Ward Beecher once said, “The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom.  Jesus was fully present in Mama’s heart, steadily manifested through the sustaining grace that filled her soul.  Even though she went to be with the Lord in 2002, Mama’s heart is a daily reminder of God’s healing and abundance.

Mark Batterson (The Grave Robber) writes that whatever situation we find ourselves in, God has us right where He wants us to be.  Taking offense at the injustice of our ministry downsizing or vocation loss and the resultant material/spiritual devastation ultimately is counterproductive.  Mary DeMuth points out that “we are not built to carry offense.  God designed us for joyful freedom.”

This joyful freedom only is possible through God’s sustaining grace.  At those times when life is hard and everything is falling apart, God heals our souls and steadies our hearts.  Max Lucado beautifully defines sustaining grace:

“Sustaining grace meets us at our point of need and equips us with courage, wisdom, and strength. . . . Sustaining grace promises not the absence of struggle but the presence of God.”

God is writing our story.  He knows not only how it works out, but also where everything leads and what it all means.  As we enter fully into God’s presence, His sustaining grace enables our hearts to be open and complete.  Mary DeMuth (The Wall Around Your Heart) offers these words of encouragement:

“. . . cultivate open hearts to Jesus and the people He populates our lives with.  To be open is to be anticipatory.  It’s to have levav-shalem, a Hebrew term that means ‘complete heart.’  In order to have complete hearts, we must begin from a place of healing and abundance.”

Thank you Lord, for Mama’s heart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZtOiKZRJmc

 

 

 

 

Mama"s heart

The ultimate goal

“There is no pit too deep that God’s grace isn’t deeper still.”- Corrie Ten Boom

“Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.”- Aldous Huxley

As Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 20 of The Grave Robber, he emphasizes that the ultimate goal of any request for a miracle is not the miracle itself, but God’s glory.  Because the will of God is the glory of God, no adversity can keep us from doing God’s will.  We can glorify God under any and all circumstances.

Pastor Batterson reminds us that it’s a false assumption to equate God’s will with an insurance plan.  God’s will is a dangerous plan- it isn’t safe.  Yet, if God gets the glory, His will has been accomplished.  Thinking only in temporal terms, God’s will doesn’t add up.  Mark states that we must add eternity into the equation.  A miracle is a miracle either side of eternity.

‘Why’ questions are unanswerable.  As Mark explains, we can’t let them interfere with our relationship with God:

” . . . you can’t let the questions you cannot answer keep you from trusting what you know to be true.  God is good, all the time.  All the time, God is good.”

For every experience we have, there are many different explanations.  While we can’t control those experiences, through the power of the Holy Spirit we can control our explanations.

Today’s question: How has God been glorified following your vocation loss?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Irreversible moments”

The ultimate goal

Anti- miracles

“At some point, we must recognize that the circumstances we ask God to change are often the very circumstances God is using to change us.”- Mark Batterson

In Chapter 20 “(The Miracle League”) of The Grave Robber, Mark Batterson completes his study of Jesus’ sixth miracle, the healing of a man born blind.  Pastor Batterson asks what we do when the miracle we’re believing God for doesn’t happen, no matter how hard or how long we wait.  Mark states that we have two options:

1.  Sometimes we need to keep holding out for the miracle.

2.  Sometimes we need to accept the new normal, in the process recognizing that God wants to glorify Himself in a way we wouldn’t choose.

Mark rephrases and expands the second option:

“Sometimes the miracle we want isn’t the one we get.   God gives us a different one.  It might not be our first choice, but it’s not second best (emphasis mine).”

We can’t claim half a promise, Mark asserts.  If we are asking God to open doors, we must be willing to let Him close a door.  Those closed doors would prove to be trap doors if we walked through them, taking us places we don’t want to go.  As Mark explains, we view closed doors as anti- miracles:

“When God closes a door, it often seems like an anti- miracle.  But what seems to be a setback is God setting you up for something bigger, something better.”

Today’s question: Following your vocation loss, how have closed doors turned into unanticipated miracles?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “The ultimate goal”

Anti- miracles

The window of opportunity

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”- Psalm 139:14

“Science without religion is lame, and conversely, religion without science is blind.”- Albert Einstein

As Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 19 of The Grave Robber, he states that the undergraduate course having the greatest influence on his theology was a class on immunology he took at the University of Chicago.   While Mark isn’t sure the instructor even believed in God, he considered every class a brilliant exegesis of Psalm 139:14.  It also spurred Mark’s deeply held conviction that every ology is a branch of theology.

Obviously, Mark notes, science is a totally inadequate substitute for Scripture.  But science does make a wonderful complement to the Bible.  In fact, Pastor Batterson adds, the healing of a man born blind doesn’t make sense without a  little neurology.

Of all the types of Jesus’ healing miracles, enabling the blind to see entails the greatest degree of difficulty because the human eye is so complex.  Even more significant is the fact that Jesus doesn’t heal a blind man, He heals a man born blind.  This man had no synaptic connections in his brain between the optic nerve and the visual cortex.

Ophthalmologists would consider the man born blind’s condition irreversible.  His window of opportunity had long since closed.  However, Mark emphasizes that this is when God performs some of his greatest miracles!

Today’s question: How often have you felt that you’ve missed the window of opportunity?  Please share.

Coming Monday: the new Short Meditation- “Mama’s heart”

Tomorrow’s blog: “Anti-miracles”

The window of opportunity

Good eye, bad eye

“Your eye is the lamp of your body.  When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light; but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.”- Luke 11:34

In Chapter 19 (“Never Say Never”) of The Grave Robber, Mark Batterson begins his discussion of Jesus’ sixth miracle in the gospel of John, healing the man born blind.  Pastor Batterson notes that while the man born blind had numerous words in his vocabulary, he had zero images to match those words.  This was the only world that man had ever known.

When the man born blind saw images for the first time, Mark states that he must have been overwhelmed with visual overload.  Yet, the author observes, the man born blind saw those images for what they were- miracles.  All too often, however, we fail to see the world as it is.  We see the world as we are.

In baseball parlance “good eye” means the discipline not to swing at pitches out of the strike zone.  Biblically speaking, it means to look at things from a God’s-eye view.  Mark states that Jewish rabbis distinguished between a good eye and a bad eye– each distinction pertaining to one’s attitude toward others.  A person with a bad eye turned a blind eye to the poor.  A person with a good eye, in contrast, demonstrated the ability to be sensitive to and seize every opportunity to be a blessing toward others.

Today’s question: During your desert, transition time, how would you assess your vision?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “The window of opportunity”

Good eye, bad eye

Beaten by the waves

“When evening came, he (Jesus) was there alone, but the boat was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.”- Matthew 14:23b-24

“You cannot have a comeback without a setback.”- Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 18 of The Grave Robber by noting that Matthew chooses his words very carefully  in describing the disciples’ plight on the Sea of Galilee: “beaten by the waves.”  For the disciples, it was a losing battle.

Fighting adversity like a ministry downsizing or vocation loss can make us feel beaten by the waves of discouragement.  Yet, Pastor Batterson stresses, often the prerequisite for the miraculous is a perfect storm- not the smooth sailing we’d prefer.

Although Peter frequently is remembered for his denial of Jesus, he is the only disciple who dared to get out of the boat.  Mark adds that “water walkers would rather make mistakes than miss opportunities.  They’d rather sink than sit.”  However, it is imperative that we are sure Jesus is telling us to come.  Mark concludes:

“There comes a moment when you need to take a radical step of faith.  And that moment will define every moment that follows.”

Today’s question: How has your faith matured since your ministry downsizing or vocation loss?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Good eye, bad eye”

 

 

Beaten by the waves

Climbing out on a limb

“Faith is climbing out on a limb, cutting it off, and watching the tree fall.”- Anonymous

In Chapter 18 (“Cut the Cable”) of The Grave Robber, Mark Batterson states that modern skyscrapers are possible as a result of Elisha Otis’ invention of an elevator braking system that ensured the elevator’s safety.  With this braking system, the sky literally was the limit.

To convince people to purchase his elevators, Otis conducted a demonstration at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1854.  As Otis stood on a platform governed by his braking system, he gave the command to an axman to cut the cable.  The braking system halted his freefall.

Matthew’s account of Jesus walking on water notes that Peter took a water walk as well.  Pastor Batterson believes that Peter felt the mixed emotions of fear-faith, yet he got out of the boat.  As Mark explains, the logical mind doesn’t consider all options:

“The logical mind can see only two options when stepping out of a boat in the middle of a lake- sink or swim.  That’s why most people stay within the comfortable confines of the boat.  That’s also why most people never walk on water.”

Mark concludes that miracles are glimpses of God’s providential care: “They are intersections where power and compassion parade God’s glory.”

Today’s question: In what area(s) of your life do you feel God’s prompting to step out of the boat?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Beaten by the waves”

Climbing out on a limb

Stand firm in your faith

“Jesus died to make us dangerous.  He died to make us daredevils.”- Mark Batterson

As Mark Batterson continues Chapter 17 of The Grave Robber, he states that, from a biblical perspective, love is synonymous with fearlessness. He adds: “Love . . . makes you stand firm in your faith no matter what the circumstances.”

Pastor Batterson notes that although here are several thousand classified fears and phobias, we are born with only two innate fears- the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises.  Since every other fear is learned, that means every other fear can be unlearned.  As we mature in God’s love, the only fear that will be left is the fear of God.

Mark posits that moral courage is the rarest kind of courage because we live in a culture that idolizes political correctness.  Living according to God’s will does not mean holding the fort or keeping ourselves safe and sound.  Mark states: “The will of God is not an insurance plan.  It’s a daring plan.”

When faced with a new challenge, Mark says it’s natural to try to stack as many factors as possible in our favor.  Rowing across the Sea of Galilee in the middle of the night during a raging storm hardly stacked things in the disciples’ favor.  Yet, Mark concludes:

“The disciples were at the end of their rope, the end of themselves, but that’s when you’re getting close to a miracle.”

Today’s question: What Bible verses have helped you stand firm in your faith following your vocation loss?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Climbing out on a limb”

Stand firm in your faith

Safety nets

“When he (the demon-possessed man) saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him.”- Mark 5:6

“Perfect love casts out fear.”- 1 John 4:18

In Chapter 17 (“Dare the Devil”) of The Grave Robber, Mark Batterson tells us that he was present when Nik Wallenda crossed the Grand Canyon on a two-inch tightrope- complete with wind gusts of 30 mph.  Nik had no safety net.  At an early age, Nik was told by his grandfather that safety nets provide a false sense of security.  Pastor Batterson explains:

“Many of us fail to achieve our dreams or experience the miraculous because we’re more focused on not falling than on taking the first step.”

Mark emphasizes that the word daredevil means more than the common negative connotation of risking life and limb for no reason.  Literally, it means to dare the devil.  Mark asserts daredevil should be the defining characteristic of every Christian, just as Jesus stood His ground when confronted by the demon-possessed man.

Consider what happened when Jesus threw the moneychangers out of the temple.  Mark observes that the most amazing part of the incident wasn’t what Jesus did, but what the temple guard didn’t do- anything!  Only the Daredevil would do something like that, as Dorothy Sayers writes:

“The people who crucified Jesus never, to do them justice, accused him of being a bore- on the contrary, they thought him too dynamic to be safe.”

Today’s question: As you contemplate your revitalized calling, are you primarily focused on safety nets or on taking the first step?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Stand firm in your faith”

Safety nets

Embrace the mystery

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”- John 3:8 (ESV)

“Birds don’t need ornithologists to fly.”- Mark Nepo

Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 16 of The Grave Robber by stating that we have several options where reacting to the unprecedented- when God does something defying our experience of reality.  We can(1) ignore, (2) disbelieve, (3) or intellectualize the miraculous.  None of these choices, Pastor Batterson notes, represent a satisfactory approach.

Mark stresses that we need to “simply embrace the mystery of the miraculous.”  God’s miracles enable us to appreciate the mystery of God and see Him for who He is.  Mark explains:

“If you follow in the footsteps of Jesus long enough, you will eventually walk on water.  You’ll go impossible places and do unimaginable things.  Water walking will become a way of life.”

God is really adept at getting us where He wants us to go, complete with some crazy twists and turns along the way.  Even though we may believe we are in the wrong place at the wrong time, God has us exactly where He wants us, even when our predicament is our own fault.  We just might be close to a miracle!

Today’s question: How would you describe your reaction to the miraculous?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Safety nets”

Embrace the mystery

The Grave Robber

The Grave Robber (Baker Books, 2014)

Mark Batterson’s most recent book is titled The Grave Robber: How Jesus Can Make Your Impossible Possible.  The book is based on seven miracles of Jesus reported in the gospel of John.  Each miracle represents a different dimension of Jesus’ power.  The prerequisite for a miracle is a problem, which then provides the perfect opportunity for God to reveal His glory.  The miracles in the gospel of John don’t just reveal what Jesus did, but what He wants to do in your life.  One of the truest tests of spiritual maturity is seeing miracles in the monotonous.  Pastor Batterson states that we would crack the joy code if we’d recognize the moment-by-moment miracles that surround us.

Whatever situation we’re in, God has us exactly where He wants us, even if that situation is not where we’d choose to be.  Mark notes that there are no accidents, only divine appointments.  Miracles and divine appointments happen at God Speed.  They never are early or late, but always right on time.  Only one assumption is true: God is able.  We need to keep taking steps of faith, what Eugene Peterson refers to as “obedience in the right direction.”  Rather than doing things differently, we need to see things differently- for God can take a little and make a lot.

God wants to stretch our faith so that someday our biggest dreams will seem incredibly small.  Paradoxically, the more we give, the more we enjoy what we keep.  While God’s blessings amplify joy, miracles fortify our faith.  Miracles are found on the other side of fear.  At some point in our life journey, we need to take a radical step of faith.  That moment will define every moment that follows.  No mater what we might think, when Jesus gets involved it’s never too little, never too late.

The ultimate goal of any miracle is not the miracle itself, but the glory of God.  Jesus is calling us out of our tomb, to resurrect what has died.  As Pastor Batterson concludes:

“He will give you your smile back.

He will give you your laugh back.

He will give you your life back.

Do you believe this?

If you do, He will make the impossible possible.”

 

 

The Grave Robber

Believe it to see it

“When they had rowed three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened.”- John 6:19

“What the eye sees is determined by what the brain has learned.”- Richard Restak

In Chapter 16 (“The Water Walker”) of The Grave Robber, Mark Batterson observes that the Sea of Galilee is the setting for many of Jesus’ miracles.  The fifth miracle, Jesus walking on water, may be the most astonishing.  Pastor Batterson calculates that Jesus’ walk covered at least three and a half mile, lasting at least seventy minutes at an average walking pace of three miles per hour.

When the disciples saw Jesus walking toward them, they were frightened.  They couldn’t make sense of the situation.  They had no prior memory to associate with what they were seeing.  As Mark notes, our natural tendency is to explain away what we cannot explain because we have no cognitive category for it.  While we think we have to see it to believe it, Mark stresses that the opposite has even more truth: you have to believe it to see it.

Mark concludes that spiritual and intellectual pursuits are not mutually exclusive endeavors.  He states:

“Great love is born of great knowledge.  And the more you know, the more you know about how much you don’t know.  True knowledge doesn’t puff up with pride.  It humbles us until we hit our knees in worship.  It also beckons us to get out of the boat.”

Today’s question: When you consider revisioning and revitalizing your calling, what do you need to believe in order to see it?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Embrace the mystery”

Believe it to see it

Try the other side!

As Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 15 of The Grave Robber, he comments on an eighth miracle, the miraculous catch of fish (John 21:1-14) , tucked away at the end of John’s gospel.  This miracle followed Jesus’ resurrection.

The disciples had been fishing all night without luck.  Then Jesus told them to try the other side of the boat.  Pastor Batterson notes that first-century fishing boats were seven and a half feet wide.  What possible difference could ninety inches make?  One hundred fifty-three fish!  Mark describes the object lesson: “You may only be seven and a half feet from a miracle, but you have to try the other side!”

Mark wonders if miracles involving fish could be the one sphere where the disciples might have been tempted to assert superiority.  After all, fishing was their domain, their strong suit.  Similarly, our areas of perceived strength or expertise often are where it’s hardest for us to trust God.  We tend to rely on our God-given talents instead of the God who gave them to us.

Despite their fishing knowledge, the disciples obeyed Jesus because He told them what they needed to do.  And the quantified the miracle- they counted the fish.  Applying this to us, Mark adds:

“We need to count miracles the way we count blessings.  The latter amplifies joy while the former fortifies faith.”

Today’s question: In what area(s) of your life do you find it most difficult to try the other side?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Believe it to see it”

Try the other side!

The Giving Game

Mark Batterson begins Chapter 15 (“Count the Fish”) of The Grave Robber by discussing something he calls “The Giving Game”.  Mark and his wife Lori have an ultimate goal to reverse tithe- to live off 10 percent and give 90 percent back to God.  To achieve this goal, they give God a greater percentage of their income every year- The Giving Game.  The irony of this game is that you never can win, because it’s impossible to out-give God.

Pastor Batterson emphasizes that the gospel is not about raising our standard of living, but rather our standard of giving.  Mark contrasts the selfish mindset and the miraculous mindset:

“A selfish mindset believes that the more you give, the less you’ll have.  It thinks in terms of addition and subtraction.  A miraculous mindset believes the exact opposite: the more you give, the more God can provide.  It thinks in terms of multiplication.”

Contentment, Mark adds, is appreciating what you have, not getting what you want.  We can’t allow ourselves to become discouraged by how little we may have to give.  The object of The Giving Game isn’t how much you give, but how much you keep.  The widow’s offering of two mites (Luke 21:1-4) was significant because she kept nothing for herself.  Giving beyond our ability enables God to multiply beyond our ability.

Today’s question: How has God multiplied your gifts following your vocation loss?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Try the other side!”

 

The Giving Game

Less is more

“Give us this day our daily bread.”- Matthew 6:11

“When God gives a vision, He makes provision.”- Mark Batterson

Commenting on the above petition from the Lord’s Prayer at the beginning of Chapter 14 (“Lord Algebra”) of The Grave Robber, Mark Batterson wryly observes that we really wish the word daily was replaced with weekly, monthly, or yearly.  However, depending on God on a daily basis has us right where He wants us.  Mark then comments on what does not define spiritual maturity:

“Spiritual maturity is not self-sufficiency.  In fact, our desire for self-sufficiency is a subtle expression of our sinful nature.  It’s a desire to get to a place where we don’t need God.  We want God to provide more so we need Him less.”

As Mark reminds us, while everyone wants a miracle, no one wants to be in a situation that necessitates one.  Yet, God is gracious to put us in situations where enough isn’t enough.  In other words, less is more.

The book of Numbers tells us that when God miraculously provided manna for the Israelites, He provided just enough.  Daily manna was a reminder of their daily dependence on God.  Mark concludes:

“So while we may want a one-year supply of God’s mercy, His mercies are new every morning. If God provided too much too soon, we’d lose our raw dependence upon God, our raw hunger for God.  So God usually provides enough, just in time.”

Today’s question: What Bible verses, Christian books, or Christian songs remind you of your raw hunger and dependence on God?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “The Giving Game”

 

Less is more

Z marks the spot

“No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket.  Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”- Matthew 5:15-16

“In the gospels the very first step a man must take is an act which radically affects his whole existence.”- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

I settle in front of our vintage black and white television set, fortified with a Forever Yours (aka Milky Way Midnight) candy bar and a small glass of Coke.  The theme song strikes up:

“Out of the night,

When the full moon is bright,

Comes the horseman known as Zorro. . . .”

Mounted on his black steed Tornado, Zorro readies himself for another epic battle with the cruel, power-hungry Capitan Monastario- commander of the pueblo of Los Angeles.  The capitan and his men have no idea Zorro (Spanish for “fox”) is actually Don Diego de la Vega, who carries out his deception under the cover of his intellect and milquetoast personality.

The theme song continues: “This bold renegade carves a Z with his blade, a Z that stands for Zorro.”  The letter Z marks the spot, symbolizing that Zorro’s fully present, even though that may not be readily apparent.  For the invalid at the Jerusalem pool called Bethesda (John 5:1-9), Jesus was fully present.  Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be healed?”  To receive Jesus’ blessing and shine the light of Jesus on the world’s darkness, he had to give up his security mat.

Applying Jesus’ question to your ministry downsizing or vocation loss, how would you contemplatively craft your response?  An affirmative answer becomes the catalyst for a blessing from God that gives glory to the Father.  There’s only one true assumption: God is able!

A century ago, A. W. Milne was one of a band of brave souls known as one-way missionaries, because they purchased single tickets to the mission field and packed their belongings in a coffin.  The headhunters Milne ministered to had martyred all previous missionaries.  At Milne’s death thirty-five years later, they inscribed the following words on his tombstone.  May those words describe God’s presence in us:

“When he came there was no light.

When he left there was no darkness.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty3ywPVYP-U

 

 

 

 

 

Z marks the spot

Cloudy with a chance of quail

But Moses said (to the Lord), “Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot and you say, ‘I will give you meat to eat for a whole month.’ “- Numbers 11:21

“Your job is not to crunch numbers and audit the will of God.”- Mark Batterson

As Mark Batterson continues Chapter 13 of The Grave Robber, he references the time the Israelites were in the wilderness and complained about eating manna every day (Numbers 11).  When the Lord promised the Israelites meat for a month, Moses did the mental math.  The numbers didn’t add up.

Pastor Batterson then asks what we do when the will of God doesn’t add up.  In Mark’s experience the will of God rarely adds up.  God’s output always exceeds our input.  Mark states that, by definition, a God-ordained dream always will be “beyond your resources and beyond your ability.”

The author truly believes that as long as we keep our eyes on thing near and dear to our heavenly Father’s heart, He will take care of the bottom line.  Although Moses couldn’t fathom how God would deliver on His promise of meat, Moses cashed in on that promise.  The quail were piled three feet deep over an area of approximately 700 square miles.  That providence, Mark notes, was a miracle of biblical proportions.

As Mark summarizes, recorded in the book of Numbers is a miracle that doesn’t add up: “But with God, it’s always cloudy with a chance of quail.”

Today’s question: What Scriptures have strengthened you trust in God’s provision?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: the new Short Meditation. “Z marks the spot”

Cloudy with a chance of quail

The drop in the bucket effect

“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”- John 6:9

In Chapter 13 (“Two Fish”) of The Grave Robber, Mark Batterson begins his discussion of Jesus’ fourth miracle, feeding the five thousand (John 6:1-13).  Pastor Batterson believes that the catalyst for this miracle was the boy’s willingness to give up his meal of five small barley loaves and two fish.

Mark notes that in the natural world it’s easy to assume that if you give more, you’ll have less.  The lesson embedded in this miracle is quite simple, as Mark explains: “if you put what you have in your hands into God’s hands, He can make a lot out of a little.”

Our natural inclination is to let what we aren’t able to do keep us from doing what we can.  Psychologists call this the “drop in the bucket effect.”  Mark describes the drop in the bucket effect this way:

“If we feel overwhelmed by the scale of a problem, we often don’t do anything about it because we don’t think we can make a difference.”

The amount of food the boy gave Jesus to feed the approximately twenty thousand men, women, and children present was a drop in the bucket .  Mark comments on the significance of the boy’s action:

“. . . he didn’t let what he didn’t have keep him from giving what he did have to Jesus.  And that is the precursor to many a miracle.”

Today’s question: How has the drop in the bucket effect played out in the aftermath of you vocation loss?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Cloudy with a chance of quail”

 

The drop in the bucket effect

Critical realism

“Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know.”- 1 Corinthians 8:2

Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 12 of The Grave Robber with a discussion of a philosophical science concept known as critical realism.  Critical realism is defined as “the recognition that no matter how much we know, we don’t know everything there is to know.”  Researcher Rolf Smith reports that, while children ask 125 probing questions a day, adults ask only six.  At some point, most adults stop asking questions and start making assumptions.  That’s when our imagination dies.

Pastor Batterson adds that we’re too quick to explain what we don’t understand.  And at the top of that list is God.  But, as Mark observes:

“To know God is to enter the cloud of unknowing- the more you know, the more you know how much you don’t know.”

Mark states that while the words “I can’t” should never come out of our mouths, the words “I don’t know” should be spoken often and with humility:

“Half of faith is learning what we don’t know.  The other half is unlearning what we do know.  And the second half is far more difficult than the first half.”

We never know exactly how, when, or where God will show up.  However, we must be prepared to do something unprecedented, unorthodox, and unconventional.  That’s when miracles happen.

Today’s question: What assumptions have you made about life or God following your vocation loss?  Please share.

Coming Monday: the new Short Meditation, “Z marks the spot”

Tomorrow’s blog: “The drop in the bucket effect”

Critical realism

Second-order change

“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were on when we created them.”- Albert Einstein

“Vision starts with visualization.”- Mark Batterson

In Chapter 12 (“The Rule Breaker”) of The Grave Robber, Mark Batterson observes that Jesus chose to heal the invalid by the Bethesda pool on the Sabbath knowing it would rile up the Pharisees.  By trying to keep what they thought was the letter of the law, the Pharisees broke the spirit of the law.  There’s a world of difference between following Jesus and following man-made rules.  Sometimes we have to break the rules to experience the miraculous.

Mark states that, according to cybernetic theory, there are two types of change:

1.  First-order change is behavioral- it’s doing things differently (matter over mind).

2.  Second-order change is conceptual- it’s seeing things differently (mind over matter).

Mark posits that most of our problems are perceptual: “The solution isn’t doing something different.  It’s thinking about the problem differently.”

Jesus changed the invalid’s life by changing the rules.  Whereas convergent thinking looks for one right answer, divergent thinking comes up with multiple solutions to a problem.  Mark explains:

“Divergent IQ is the ability to look at the natural and see the supernatural.  It also goes by another name when anointed by the Spirit of God: faith.”

Today’s question: Following your vocation loss, has first-order change or second-order change characterized your thinking?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Critical realism”

Second-order change

Self-fulfilling prophecies

Mark Batterson ends Chapter 11 of The Grave Robber with a section on self-fulfilling prophecies.  He notes that it is no insignificant detail that the man by the Bethesda pool is called invalid.  The man is synonymous with his sickness.  Pastor Batterson states there is a lesson to be learned: don’t let what’s wrong with you define you.

Mark states that our culture has the tendency to reduce people to labels.  That tendency is unhealthy, unholy, and dehumanizing.  We cannot allow anyone to label us except the One who made us.  For example, the impetuous Peter was given a new label by Jesus- “The Rock.”  Jesus redefined Peter’s identity, and ultimately he lived up to it.

Our word are powerful, for better or for worse.  They double as self-fulfilling prophecies.  Fear validates negative prophecies, while positive prophecies are validated by faith.  Mark doubles back to the question of this miracle: Do you want to get well?  He concludes:

“If you don’t, keep doing what you’re doing.  If you do, take a step of faith.  Then another.  And another.  And if you keep putting one foot in front of the other, you’ll eventually get to where God wants you to go.  Most miracles are the by-product of ‘a long obedience in the same direction (Eugene Peterson).’ ”

Today’s question: What self-fulfilling prophecies have defined you following your vocation loss?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Second-order change”

Self-fulfilling prophecies