"Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God,15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Mark 1:14-15.
This is the Gospel; the Good News. To repent and and believe for the Kingdom of God has come near. We do not have to go somewhere for the Kingdom of God comes to us. Jesus ascended as a human to God in order that we could be in God's presence again. To allow the Kingdom to come to us.
This past Sunday's sermon was on this very topic and I had the privilege of hearing it twice. As I sat in my pew I scribbled down as many notes of what the Pastor said that I could. It was an excellent sermon and I felt that God was both up to something then and there and also planting seeds for us to follow throughout the week.
We see signs of the Kingdom in healing, in love, in brokenness being mended, and in restoration. We see the Kingdom of God when we are invited to participate in it. The Holy Spirit has empowered us to do what Jesus was doing: To heal, to cast out demons, to empower others. We are called to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and all the Ends of the Earth. What are we doing sitting around waiting til a certain time? We need to go out and do what He has called us to do. As it says in Ephesians he has given everyone different gifts and callings, some to be Apostles, some Evangelists, some Shepherds, some Teachers, and some Prophets. We are all given different gifts in order to participate in the Kingdom in-breaking. Often times when God decides to do something in our lives we only hear how it affects us, personally, but it is so much bigger than us. It is about salvation for the entire cosmos; not just our individual salvation.
How are we being witnesses this week in Lent?
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
The Intern
I do not often blog about movie reviews. I have a few times in the past, but this past evening my wife and I settled down on the couch for a nice movie night. We had rented "The Intern" which I had heard really good reviews on, but assumed it would just be another sweet Anne Hathaway flick. Boy was I wrong. It was an incredible look at egalitarianism specifically with a stay at home dad and a career driven mom.
I found the movie to be hilarious, heart warming, and a very good critique both of our society with millennials like myself and how many people still, in 2015, treat egalitarian couples. I want to start by talking about the look at the culture of our society with millennials that it looks at. The movie plays on the idea of a company run and operated completely by people in their 20s, which are what at many would call millennials. From the first few minutes there are many references to Instagram and celebrating how many likes the company has received that day. Then the company, About the Fit, decides to hire retirees as "Senior Interns" as an outreach program and thus begins the culture shock and misunderstandings between the millennials and the retired folks serving as interns. It was rather comical and heartwarming seeing De Niro's character helping the younger interns out in their personal lives.
The other element to the movie that I absolutely adored was the egalitarian nature. The story follows Jules Ostin as she strives to navigate life as the founder of an online fashion company while balancing life at home with her stay-at-home-dad husband as well as their lovely daughter.
SPOILER ALERT: The movie navigates what she has to go through when she drops her daughter off at school. Many of the mothers seem to be ashamed at her and poke fun at her life because they are not used to a career driven woman. There is even a moment when she learns of her husbands affair and her immediate reaction is to put the blame on herself and the fact that he "can't handle her working full time and needed to have a girlfriend to help his masculinity." Luckily, Robert De Niro jumps to the rescue by explaining that she should not take the blame and it was her husband's own fault for what he was doing, not hers. She should be able to be the one with the career and he should not fault her for that.
Another moment that really stood out to me was after a small Oceans Eleven themed heist De Niro's character commits with the other interns. After their successful mission Hathaway takes her interns to a bar to celebrate and in her tipsy state she gives a speech that rings so true to our society. She talks about how their generation was the one of "take your daughter to work day" and that they focused so much on helping girls become working women that they seemed to turn men to boys. There became less of a focus on developing males as there was for females which then resulted in many males not acting like men, but instead acting like boys--not dressing professionally, not knowing how to do many things, being lazy, and always getting caught up in video games. In many ways the genders just went to opposite extremes. It makes the excellent point that both women and men need to be encouraged to develop and pursue their dreams. Both need to be pushed a little to achieve. It was this line, among many, that really showed the audience that feminism (or egalitarianism) is not just about allowing women to work and men to stay at home, but it is in fact about empowering both women and men as equals.
Overall it was an incredible movie that, and my wife can attest to this, I "oohed" and "awwwed" throughout the entire two hours of the film. I would greatly recommend this to anyone as an incredible egalitarian movie. If you like analyzing today's culture and seeing an excellent portrayal of what many egalitarian couples deal with I would recommend this movie.
I found the movie to be hilarious, heart warming, and a very good critique both of our society with millennials like myself and how many people still, in 2015, treat egalitarian couples. I want to start by talking about the look at the culture of our society with millennials that it looks at. The movie plays on the idea of a company run and operated completely by people in their 20s, which are what at many would call millennials. From the first few minutes there are many references to Instagram and celebrating how many likes the company has received that day. Then the company, About the Fit, decides to hire retirees as "Senior Interns" as an outreach program and thus begins the culture shock and misunderstandings between the millennials and the retired folks serving as interns. It was rather comical and heartwarming seeing De Niro's character helping the younger interns out in their personal lives.The other element to the movie that I absolutely adored was the egalitarian nature. The story follows Jules Ostin as she strives to navigate life as the founder of an online fashion company while balancing life at home with her stay-at-home-dad husband as well as their lovely daughter.
SPOILER ALERT: The movie navigates what she has to go through when she drops her daughter off at school. Many of the mothers seem to be ashamed at her and poke fun at her life because they are not used to a career driven woman. There is even a moment when she learns of her husbands affair and her immediate reaction is to put the blame on herself and the fact that he "can't handle her working full time and needed to have a girlfriend to help his masculinity." Luckily, Robert De Niro jumps to the rescue by explaining that she should not take the blame and it was her husband's own fault for what he was doing, not hers. She should be able to be the one with the career and he should not fault her for that.
Another moment that really stood out to me was after a small Oceans Eleven themed heist De Niro's character commits with the other interns. After their successful mission Hathaway takes her interns to a bar to celebrate and in her tipsy state she gives a speech that rings so true to our society. She talks about how their generation was the one of "take your daughter to work day" and that they focused so much on helping girls become working women that they seemed to turn men to boys. There became less of a focus on developing males as there was for females which then resulted in many males not acting like men, but instead acting like boys--not dressing professionally, not knowing how to do many things, being lazy, and always getting caught up in video games. In many ways the genders just went to opposite extremes. It makes the excellent point that both women and men need to be encouraged to develop and pursue their dreams. Both need to be pushed a little to achieve. It was this line, among many, that really showed the audience that feminism (or egalitarianism) is not just about allowing women to work and men to stay at home, but it is in fact about empowering both women and men as equals.
Overall it was an incredible movie that, and my wife can attest to this, I "oohed" and "awwwed" throughout the entire two hours of the film. I would greatly recommend this to anyone as an incredible egalitarian movie. If you like analyzing today's culture and seeing an excellent portrayal of what many egalitarian couples deal with I would recommend this movie.
Monday, March 14, 2016
The trap of legalism consumes you
As I was sitting in church yesterday, in the middle of hearing the sermon for the second time, it hit me. I had forgotten to blog this past week. I had been busy with work and my personal life that I completely forgot to blog. This may seem like a trivial delimma as not many people read my blog and I utilize it for the fun of sharing my thoughts, but I immediately got annoyed at myself.
I had told myself that during Lent I would blog once a week. I wanted to discipline myself to write more since I one day hope to write a book. So I immediately took a break from taking sermon notes and started jotting down notes on what I would blog about. I figured I could take the children's lesson they were interacting with on the story of Mary and Martha and how distractions, though they may be good things, can prevent us from doing what God has called us to do. I decided against that because blogging weekly was my own decision not something that God has called me to do.
I spent most of the day debating what I should write about until I mentioned this situation to my wonderful, intelligent, wife. She immediately rolled her eyes--as I often cause her to do-- and said "Don't be so legalistic." Just four words that so many of us desperately need to hear. Words that Jesus often scolded the Pharisees and Sadusees with. We get so caught up in the legalism that we forget the original intent for the decision or law. There is Grace for mistakes. That doesn't mean stop trying or give up in the name of grace for that is what Bonhoeffer calls cheap grace. There is still a place for trying, but failing every now and then is not the end. In fact it can often teach us more about ourselves then constant success can.
So when you fail this week don't get caught up in self pity, but instead ask yourself what you can learn from your failure. Failure is one of the first steps to success, right after risk. Grace and Peace.
I had told myself that during Lent I would blog once a week. I wanted to discipline myself to write more since I one day hope to write a book. So I immediately took a break from taking sermon notes and started jotting down notes on what I would blog about. I figured I could take the children's lesson they were interacting with on the story of Mary and Martha and how distractions, though they may be good things, can prevent us from doing what God has called us to do. I decided against that because blogging weekly was my own decision not something that God has called me to do.
I spent most of the day debating what I should write about until I mentioned this situation to my wonderful, intelligent, wife. She immediately rolled her eyes--as I often cause her to do-- and said "Don't be so legalistic." Just four words that so many of us desperately need to hear. Words that Jesus often scolded the Pharisees and Sadusees with. We get so caught up in the legalism that we forget the original intent for the decision or law. There is Grace for mistakes. That doesn't mean stop trying or give up in the name of grace for that is what Bonhoeffer calls cheap grace. There is still a place for trying, but failing every now and then is not the end. In fact it can often teach us more about ourselves then constant success can.
So when you fail this week don't get caught up in self pity, but instead ask yourself what you can learn from your failure. Failure is one of the first steps to success, right after risk. Grace and Peace.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Here I raise my Ebenezer
"The Apostle's Creed cleans up everything the Pastor messes up."
This past Sunday in our third week discussing the Apostle's Creed this line stood out to me above the others in the sermon we heard. It made sense to me. It reminded me of the fact that no one in that room was flawless. No one had it all together, not even our great Pastor. So many people get this idea that we are called to look up to our Pastor, as our head, and do what he says, but our Pastor is like us. We, as Christians, are called into the priesthood of all believers. We are called to journey with our Pastor--who has been trained to equip us--as we do what God has called us to: To be his disciples. That's why I love liturgy, or the Work of the People, because it reminds us that worship is not all about songs we are led in or the Sermon we hear. It is so much more than that, but it involves active participation and involvement. It is about us, together, worshiping this one we call Savior.
I found this to be a fitting way to begin a sermon that was looking at the second part of the Apostle's Creed: The part about Jesus. He talked about how the Apostle's Creed connects us to what the first Apostles would have touched and experience during their time with Jesus. It in many ways connects us to Jesus and it is a constant reminder that what we, as a congregation, as Christians for centuries have believed is not made up. This is us as a body recounting historical events because we have a historic faith.
I love how our Pastor ended the sermon by talking about how we need to share our Ebenezer's--the ways that God has helped us and shown his love for us. It was a reminder that as the first Disciples shared their experiences with Jesus, as our Gospel writers recorded the love and time that Jesus invested in them we are called to share our experiences. God shows us His love in countless ways so that we could share that with others, not so that we could hoard it to ourselves.
Recounting the sermon later that night, I challenged the youth group with the same question. I asked them both how they have seen God this past week and ways that they would like to see God. As is typical many of them were quiet and did not appear to have answers. Now I acknowledge that much of this silence is due to teenage shyness and fear of humiliation. I myself was one of those teenagers who did not like to be the first or last to share my thoughts. But, I wonder how much of that response rings true to many of us? How many of us would be willing to share how God has shown us His love this week? How many of us would dare to share how we hope God shows his love this week. It would be foolish to try and act like we do not have our own expectations and hopes for Jesus. If we see Jesus work within our lives and the lives of others why does it seem so hard to share it? Why does it seem so easy for some people to share and not for others? Is it merely a personality difference or is it our understanding of why we received this love? How can we, as Christians, this Lenten season get better at sharing our experiences with the larger body?
This past Sunday in our third week discussing the Apostle's Creed this line stood out to me above the others in the sermon we heard. It made sense to me. It reminded me of the fact that no one in that room was flawless. No one had it all together, not even our great Pastor. So many people get this idea that we are called to look up to our Pastor, as our head, and do what he says, but our Pastor is like us. We, as Christians, are called into the priesthood of all believers. We are called to journey with our Pastor--who has been trained to equip us--as we do what God has called us to: To be his disciples. That's why I love liturgy, or the Work of the People, because it reminds us that worship is not all about songs we are led in or the Sermon we hear. It is so much more than that, but it involves active participation and involvement. It is about us, together, worshiping this one we call Savior.
I found this to be a fitting way to begin a sermon that was looking at the second part of the Apostle's Creed: The part about Jesus. He talked about how the Apostle's Creed connects us to what the first Apostles would have touched and experience during their time with Jesus. It in many ways connects us to Jesus and it is a constant reminder that what we, as a congregation, as Christians for centuries have believed is not made up. This is us as a body recounting historical events because we have a historic faith.
I love how our Pastor ended the sermon by talking about how we need to share our Ebenezer's--the ways that God has helped us and shown his love for us. It was a reminder that as the first Disciples shared their experiences with Jesus, as our Gospel writers recorded the love and time that Jesus invested in them we are called to share our experiences. God shows us His love in countless ways so that we could share that with others, not so that we could hoard it to ourselves.
Recounting the sermon later that night, I challenged the youth group with the same question. I asked them both how they have seen God this past week and ways that they would like to see God. As is typical many of them were quiet and did not appear to have answers. Now I acknowledge that much of this silence is due to teenage shyness and fear of humiliation. I myself was one of those teenagers who did not like to be the first or last to share my thoughts. But, I wonder how much of that response rings true to many of us? How many of us would be willing to share how God has shown us His love this week? How many of us would dare to share how we hope God shows his love this week. It would be foolish to try and act like we do not have our own expectations and hopes for Jesus. If we see Jesus work within our lives and the lives of others why does it seem so hard to share it? Why does it seem so easy for some people to share and not for others? Is it merely a personality difference or is it our understanding of why we received this love? How can we, as Christians, this Lenten season get better at sharing our experiences with the larger body?
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Does Jesus shock you?
Does Jesus shock you in what he says or does?
That is the question I am asked in my Lenten Devotional, Lent for Everyone by NT Wright. After recounting the story of Jesus answering the question asked of him by John's disciples, "Are you the Coming One, or should we expect someone else?" by healing people of diseases, casting out demons, and giving the blind their sight back. After reading this it would seem natural to be asked this question. What intrigues me is that it does not shock me.
In the passage, Jesus himself, says "And a blessing to the person who isn't shocked by me!" But I wonder if my reason for not being shocked is not what he is referring to. I find myself finding the actions in this passage to be normal for Jesus. I do not find myself blown away by the miraculous signs he is performing. I also acknowledge that the reason I am not shocked is because I have grown up with this. I have grown up in the church, always been told the stories from the Gospel, and even spent years memorizing and studying what Jesus said. With this head knowledge it is natural to not be shocked.
However, if I would apply this question to today, I think I would find a different kind of shock. I would be shocked to see Jesus do miraculous signs in my world, my community, and my family. I am shocked when I witness the good news of the Gospel actually permeate peoples lives. How sad is that? I confess in the Apostle's Creed that "I believe in Jesus Christ..." and all it says about Him. I have this head knowledge of who He is and all that He did, His miracles, death, and resurrection; and yet I find that I am still surprised when it is evident He is interacting with my life. This dissonance of reading about miracles and signs of Jesus and yet when I experience it in the lives of others and myself I find I am in shock.
How many of us are like this? How many of us have read and invested in what the Scriptures have said all of our lives that now we do not find shock in it? How many of us expect Jesus to do these radical things that would have shocked many in His time? And how many of us do not expect Jesus to do these same acts here in our own town, our own community, our own families?
As we read we are not shocked. As we live and experience we are shocked. May we trust Jesus in His goodness and know that we should not be shocked when he shows up in our lives. I would like to echo Wright's prayer when he says, Lord, give me the courage to understand what you really want to do for the world, for my community, and for me. Let us not be shocked, but let us rejoice and join Jesus in bringing His Kingdom here this Lenten season and beyond.
That is the question I am asked in my Lenten Devotional, Lent for Everyone by NT Wright. After recounting the story of Jesus answering the question asked of him by John's disciples, "Are you the Coming One, or should we expect someone else?" by healing people of diseases, casting out demons, and giving the blind their sight back. After reading this it would seem natural to be asked this question. What intrigues me is that it does not shock me.
In the passage, Jesus himself, says "And a blessing to the person who isn't shocked by me!" But I wonder if my reason for not being shocked is not what he is referring to. I find myself finding the actions in this passage to be normal for Jesus. I do not find myself blown away by the miraculous signs he is performing. I also acknowledge that the reason I am not shocked is because I have grown up with this. I have grown up in the church, always been told the stories from the Gospel, and even spent years memorizing and studying what Jesus said. With this head knowledge it is natural to not be shocked.
However, if I would apply this question to today, I think I would find a different kind of shock. I would be shocked to see Jesus do miraculous signs in my world, my community, and my family. I am shocked when I witness the good news of the Gospel actually permeate peoples lives. How sad is that? I confess in the Apostle's Creed that "I believe in Jesus Christ..." and all it says about Him. I have this head knowledge of who He is and all that He did, His miracles, death, and resurrection; and yet I find that I am still surprised when it is evident He is interacting with my life. This dissonance of reading about miracles and signs of Jesus and yet when I experience it in the lives of others and myself I find I am in shock.
How many of us are like this? How many of us have read and invested in what the Scriptures have said all of our lives that now we do not find shock in it? How many of us expect Jesus to do these radical things that would have shocked many in His time? And how many of us do not expect Jesus to do these same acts here in our own town, our own community, our own families?
As we read we are not shocked. As we live and experience we are shocked. May we trust Jesus in His goodness and know that we should not be shocked when he shows up in our lives. I would like to echo Wright's prayer when he says, Lord, give me the courage to understand what you really want to do for the world, for my community, and for me. Let us not be shocked, but let us rejoice and join Jesus in bringing His Kingdom here this Lenten season and beyond.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
What is it that We believe?
Lent. Week 1. Day 4. The day that people are beginning to see how hard their fast is. That some people have already given up and thrown in the towel. The day that others are moving along as if their Lenten fast is their New Years Resolution that they are still following. It is still the beginning and yet we are moving farther into this 40 day journey.
To begin my Lenten season I had the privilege of preaching at the church that I am employed at. I began our churches Lenten series on the Apostle's Creed by analyzing the why of what we believe. As someone who enjoys blogging I have decided during this Lenten season to post one blog a week about my experiences during Lent. I find this season to be a great time for reflection and drawing close to Jesus. As my church goes through our series on the Apostle's Creed and analyzing what we believe I too want to share my thoughts on the Creed via this blog.
To share my thoughts this week I would like to share an excerpt from my sermon I shared this pass Sunday. The Sermon lesson was on Luke 4:1-13 on Jesus in the Wilderness.
He knew what he believed...I’m saying that a lot, but that’s pretty important, to know what and why we believe what we believe. That’s the very reason why we have teenagers go through confirmation. To know what and why we believe what we believe.
To begin my Lenten season I had the privilege of preaching at the church that I am employed at. I began our churches Lenten series on the Apostle's Creed by analyzing the why of what we believe. As someone who enjoys blogging I have decided during this Lenten season to post one blog a week about my experiences during Lent. I find this season to be a great time for reflection and drawing close to Jesus. As my church goes through our series on the Apostle's Creed and analyzing what we believe I too want to share my thoughts on the Creed via this blog.
To share my thoughts this week I would like to share an excerpt from my sermon I shared this pass Sunday. The Sermon lesson was on Luke 4:1-13 on Jesus in the Wilderness.
"We believe...what is it that we believe?
Throughout this Gospel passage we witness Jesus’ immediate actions after his baptism. He goes out and follows the guidance of the Holy Spirit into the Wilderness. This is pretty important because a lot has happened in the wilderness. One time that comes to mind is when the Israelite's fell in the wilderness and had to be there for 40 years. And now we have Jesus going to the wilderness for 40 days to fast. Jesus did this because he knew what He believed and who he was. The beloved child of God sent here on a mission to save humanity.
Jesus was tested and could overcome these temptations because he knew what he believed. He was tempted to give into doubt and not believe that God would care and provide for him, tempted to give into false worship in order to have control and do what he felt would be best, and tempted to test the trust that he had in God. These are some of the same temptations that so many of us face today, but he overcame them because he knew what he believed.
He knew what he believed...I’m saying that a lot, but that’s pretty important, to know what and why we believe what we believe. That’s the very reason why we have teenagers go through confirmation. To know what and why we believe what we believe.
Throughout the next couple weeks as we go through the time of Lent--the 40 days before Easter--we are going to be studying the Apostle’s Creed. This is a Creed, a Statement, of what we as a body agree that we believe. It is very fitting that we would take 40 days to study what we believe, to maybe even fast, in order that we could live a life of discipleship by pursuing the kingdom...when we live this life we will be able to overcome temptation because we trust in our Lord and know what we believe. There are some preachers out there who will say Christianity is easy and there is no temptation. They’re wrong. Temptation comes and we need to overcome it, in order to do that we need to know what we believe. If the SON OF GOD goes through temptation I am pretty sure a regular Christian Joe will too. So following in Jesus’ example we are learning and growing towards the Father for 40 days.
During this time there may be times of doubts and questions. Those are not inherently bad. That is why community is so vital and important. Community and relying on God. When we are alone temptation will come even harder then when we are with people. We are allowed to doubt, but what we want to avoid is giving into the doubt, giving into the temptation to say, “none of this makes sense so I give up and I am moving on.” We are studying, together as a body, what we believe in order to fully stand against temptation that the Accuser throws our way and in order to live out what we believe.
Creeds help us do this. They remark each week what we believe and remind us that we are in this together. This isn’t just some lone loon who happens to believe this ancient guy, but we are stating that we believe the same truths that people have believed for hundreds of years! It unites us in our belief and even Jesus, God made flesh, unites himself with us. He came down to be like us and just like we are often, he was tempted by the Accuser.
So this passage we read, it is perfect for beginning our series and beginning this season of Lent. Many people choose something to give up for Lent as a way of refocusing on God. They choose something to give up that may be holding them back from God and take time to grow closer to God. It is a time to show us, like Jesus stated, that man does not live on bread alone. We need God more than many of us are comfortable admitting in this world of independence and individualism.
We don’t like needing someone. It is in these times of individualism that temptation can most strike.
This is a time to say, “yes I need the Father. I need what I confess to be true. I don’t need food, I don’t need coffee, I need the Father. I need to seek the Kingdom and everything else will fall in line.”
*References from NT Wright's Luke For Everyone Commentary.
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Make a difference this Lenten Season
Fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras. The day before Ash Wednesday.
As I hear those words I reflect back to my summer spent leading missions trips in the beautiful city of New Orleans. I remember getting to know community members and learning all about how they were affected by Katrina, how their lives are now, and even what they are doing today to make their lives better. I pray I never forget about my amazing experience working for the nonprofit YouthWorks in this wonderful city. During my time there I learned about a variety of wonderful people accomplishing incredible things for the Kingdom of God and for their own city.
There are many things that I have learned and am reminded of daily from my time there, but one thing I know I acquired was the value of your own city. Of working within your city daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly to partner with God in His Kingdom work. So many of us--myself included--think that we have to get away to really do something good. We think that we must become strangers in a strange land in order to really make a difference, but folks that is bad news. That is not who we, as disciples of Christ, are called to be. I had to travel to two new states--Missouri and Louisiana--just to learn the importance of where I was already placed. Traveling, as fun as it is, taught me the importance of investing in the local community in which we have been placed today. It is not about where we go tomorrow or next year, but it is about the difference we can make today.
I find it fitting to reflect on this the day before Lent begins. The day that so many people contemplate whether or not they should give something up or change something for the next 40 days. I would be lying if I said this was not in my own thought process. However, I wonder how different our lives would be if Christians did more than just give something up? What if we took what we gave up and invested that time in both growing closer to God and investing in our local community.
What if instead of sneaking in another episode on Netflix during our lunch break we break bread with a lonely member of our church? What if instead of spending our countless hours on social media we invite someone new into our home? What if instead of reminiscing on the past we ask God how we can grow in the future? There are so many what ifs we can ask ourselves today, but we need to pick one and move beyond the questions. We need to take action.
So as you go about today and prepare for tomorrow ask yourself this: How can I better invest in my own community? How can I become the person God desires me to be instead of who I desire myself to be? God has a plan and is inviting us to be a part of it, but if we reject His plan we miss out on the adventure. His plan will happen regardless, but he wants us to join His Kingdom Movement in our own community. When reflecting on your part in God's plan consider the words of Mordecai to his cousin Esther, "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14, NIV). Where has God led you to today and how can you make a difference during this Lenten season?
I find it fitting to reflect on this the day before Lent begins. The day that so many people contemplate whether or not they should give something up or change something for the next 40 days. I would be lying if I said this was not in my own thought process. However, I wonder how different our lives would be if Christians did more than just give something up? What if we took what we gave up and invested that time in both growing closer to God and investing in our local community.
What if instead of sneaking in another episode on Netflix during our lunch break we break bread with a lonely member of our church? What if instead of spending our countless hours on social media we invite someone new into our home? What if instead of reminiscing on the past we ask God how we can grow in the future? There are so many what ifs we can ask ourselves today, but we need to pick one and move beyond the questions. We need to take action.
So as you go about today and prepare for tomorrow ask yourself this: How can I better invest in my own community? How can I become the person God desires me to be instead of who I desire myself to be? God has a plan and is inviting us to be a part of it, but if we reject His plan we miss out on the adventure. His plan will happen regardless, but he wants us to join His Kingdom Movement in our own community. When reflecting on your part in God's plan consider the words of Mordecai to his cousin Esther, "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14, NIV). Where has God led you to today and how can you make a difference during this Lenten season?
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