Meditations On The Word, Faith...Part 2

I have been fiddling around a lot with my lawn mower this past summer. Roughly once a week I have to stare down a little over an acre of mowing. Between the frequent rains we experienced and the irrigating that I have done, the yard has been pretty much out of control. If it grew evenly, I wouldn’t care so much; but, having dogs who are not terribly concerned with spreading their fertilizing efforts around in a more uniform fashion – the yard takes on the look of a bad haircut after a few days with little clumps of green mohawks appearing hither and yon.

Thus, it was very stressful when a couple of months ago, my big 18 HP Sears Garden Tractor pooped out. (No connection with the aforementioned dog stuff). When I pulled out my fuel filter, a line of black goop burped onto my hand. I replaced it and the mower ran for about 10 minutes then again, sputtered to a stop. This same unfortunate occurrence took place, fuel filter after fuel filter. I finally had to replace all of the fuel lines before the problem was remedied. It seems that my trusty lawn mower simply couldn’t run with black sludge standing guard between the gas tank and the carburetor.

As we consider the issue of faith, I believe the plugged up fuel line stands as a great illustration of the operation, or lack thereof, of our faith. Have you ever felt as though you didn’t have enough faith? Have you ever struggled with wondering why other people seem to score answer after answer to their prayers of faith while your life is littered with stacks of unanswered prayers? Both grow exponentially. Oftentimes, answered prayer becomes the new high water mark of our spiritual journey and emboldens us to ask for greater and greater things. Conversely, our discouragement – our unfaith – can grow with each unanswered prayer. The question that we need to answer is how to get our faith “operational.” How do we get the faith through the fuel line – so to speak – where it produces the results that we are after? What could possibly be blocking the flow of faith in our lives?

Let me dispatch immediately with where you think this is probably going. As a voracious reader, I am always trying to guess where the article or novel is going next. If I were reading this blog, I would assume that I was about to hear a sermonette on personal holiness – that sin was like sludge and so forth. Okay, sure – that works. But let me just grant to you the assumption that you are all cleaned up, you have confessed all of your sins, and that you are parked safely under a fresh washing of the grace and mercy of Jesus. You are clean but your prayers of faith still seem hindered – what then?

There is a verse in Galatians 5 that ends with this phrase: “What is important is faith expressing itself through love.” How many of us have ever taken the time to connect the operation of our faith with love? I have been in ministry for many years and cannot recall a single sermon on the subject. In fact, to be honest, I do not remember that particular portion of that particular verse ever jumping out at me until fairly recently. Now, I am not certain that I have meditated enough on this verse to extract all of its meaning, but let me share an insight or two which I believe to be helpful.

First of all, when we look at the love passage in I Corinthians 13 and take into account what Paul is saying in Galatians 5, some things begin to slide into place. He begins I Corinthians 13 by talking about tongues, prophecy and faith. He says that if I could yammer in any tongue – angelic or ethnic – and had not love, it would be mere noise. If I could prophesy and tell every one of God’s secrets and didn’t have love, I would be a nothing. And then he says, if I had faith to move mountains (echoes of Jesus by the way – namely, if you had the faith of a mustard seed, you could move mountains), and didn’t have love, I would be a zero. He then launches into the “verbal” nature of love. Love is a verb. It is a “doing” or action word. It is known by what it does and by what it refrains from doing. And, all of these actions or inactions of love are “faith expressing itself through love.” Let me re-set I Corinthians 13 in this way:

Faith expressing itself through love is patient and kind (vs. 4)
Faith expressing itself through love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. (vs. 4)
Faith expressing itself through love does not demand its own way, it is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. (vs. 5)
Faith expressing itself through love does not rejoice about injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. (vs.6)
Faith expressing itself through love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures in every circumstance. (vs.7)
Faith expressing itself through love will last forever (vs. 8)

When we speak of people “living their faith”, isn’t this what we are really talking about – living their love? I kind of think that the reason that Jesus said we only need a mustard seed’s worth of faith to cause mountains to move is that He didn’t see faith as the central issue in moving God’s hand. Staring at our own faith is a zero sum game and ultimately self-centered. Faith grows when we choose not to look at it but to look to another. Staring in love at our Creator grows Him past the size of our current circumstance and crisis. Praying in love for others, with the qualifiers set forth in I Corinthians 13, releases the faith that attracts the responsiveness of heaven.

So, are you ready to unclog your fuel line and see the hand of God miraculously at work in your life? It is as simple and elemental as this: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength – and love your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12:29-31

We cannot love without faith. We cannot express faith that moves heaven without love. It is a marriage. Join me in this simple prayer. “Father, I now see that the answer to my frustration with having enough faith, comes back to the simple application of your greatest commands – to love You and to love others. I ask for the empowerment of Your Holy Spirit to not only renew my mind to this simple truth – moment by moment – but to walk out this truth in my prayers and in my actions each day. In Jesus name and nature I pray, Amen.”

Some Things I Am Feeling & Thinking In Regard to Patrick Crossing

(I am taking a short break from the faith series in order to bring you a "fresh heart" update. If you do not enjoy honesty, please stop here; otherwise, proceed with the boldness of a Braveheart)!

We are quickly approaching the one year anniversary of my last day of institutional church ministry and the beginning of Patrick Crossing. It has been a wild ride this past year as Jan and I have laid down the security of what once was and have embarked on an almost daily dependence upon God for our needs to be met. We have learned many lessons about simplicity and "needs verses wants" in this journey while at the same time reforming ideas about what it means to be the church on a daily basis. I have no regrets.

Now, moving on…When something begins to work at my insides, I figure that it is the Lord speaking to me in regard to something I need to share. I fear that some of the following thoughts might appear random and a bit out of my area of expertise, but nevertheless, I will give it a go.

There has been growing within me a sense of unease in regard to our country as a whole and the place the church, viz. a viz., Patrick Crossing, has in response to that unease. Without going into a great deal of boring chit-chat about economics, suffice it to say that our country is poised for a perfect storm in regard to its economy. We have moved from being a nation that produces goods that we can export to a nation of consumers. Our entire economy has changed dramatically in the past 20 or so years. And, our consumer habit has been driven by debt. That borrowing has been fueled by the willingness of other countries to support our borrowing by the purchase of T-Bills and by our government’s willingness to increase the money supply by printing more money. Historically – 100% of the time – nations that have gone from being producing nations to debtor nations have crumbled from within. The oft talked about 3 trillion dollar deficit is a smokescreen. I recently heard that the actual number our number nation owes itself and the world is closer to 59.1 trillion dollars. (Wikipedia) How do you measure a trillion? Try this on for size: (Enjoy)!

A million, a billion, a trillion – what’s the difference? It’s only money. Imagine a $1.00 bill, the one with George Washington’s picture on it.

Actual size, it is approximately 6 and 1/8 inches long, 2 and ¾ inches wide and a stack 1-inch high would hold 250 dollar bills.

Given those dimensions: A stack of $1.00 bills 1 inch high would be $250 worth. A stack of $1.00 bills 4 inches high would be $1,000 worth. A stack of $1.00 bills 4,000 inches high (333.3 feet) would be $1 million dollars worth.

A stack of $1.00 bills 4 million inches (330,000 feet or 63 miles) high would be $1 billion dollars worth. If you broke this stack into smaller ones, you could have 11 stacks as high as Mount Everest! A stack of $1.00 bills 4 billion inches (63,131 miles) high would be $1 trillion dollars worth. If you broke this stack into smaller ones, you could have 11,480 stacks as high as Mount Everest!

If you earned $100,000 a year (tax free), it would take you 10 years to earn $1 million dollars. If you earned $100,000 a year (tax free), it would take you 10,000 years to earn $1 billion dollars. If you earned $100,000 a year (tax free), it would take you 10,000,000 years to earn $1 trillion dollars!

Would you like to spend a trillion dollars? You’d have to spend a million dollars per day - for a million days. That’s a million dollars spent every day for 2,737 years!

What’s my point? Our borrowing, our consuming, and our breaking of the 10th commandment (“Thou shalt not covet,” just to refresh your memories) – Christians and non-Christians alike – have bankrupted our future. Bombarded as we are each day with almost countless messages that suggest that our happiness resides just after our next purchase places us within a mindset and lifestyle that the Bible calls bondage. “The borrower is servant to the lender.” Proverbs 22:7

That’s the bad news. Now, let me share what I believe to be the strategic positioning the Lord would have for His people in the challenging days ahead that I believe will be soon in coming.

EMBRACE COMMUNITY - The American Dream promises that we can have everything we want independent of other people. The nuclear family (a wife, husband & 2.3 kids) works hard to produce this typical American Dream. I grew up near an Amish community in Illinois. While some of their theology is a bit sketchy, one thing they understood well was the concept of Biblical community. If someone needed a barn built, the whole lot of them showed up. In one day, the Amish, without electrical power and power tools, could erect a barn for their neighbor. They gladly lent their time and muscle to another because they themselves had benefited from such community efforts, or hoped to in the future. Also, when we lived in the Dominican Republic, we saw family enterprises. A father or mother provided for the kids and grandkids by involving them in the family business and by simply adding on to their house as their family grew. Over a couple of generations, these humble dwellings became estates and the businesses a chain of prosperity. I believe that one of the things that can set Patrick Crossing apart is to begin to think and pray together how New Testament community practices could begin to benefit all of us.

EMBRACE BIBLICAL STEWARDSHIP – In the book of Malachi, chapter 3, verse 6 and following, God is having a conversation with the nation of Israel. Things had not been going well. Their economy was a wreck and they were a people in bondage. God says to them these simple words: “Return to me and I will return to you.” The response from the people is quite telling and honest: “We would love to, God, but how?” God asks a follow-up question: “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me.” The people are aghast: “What do you mean, God? We have never cheated you. What in the world are you talking about?” God’s response is clear and direct: “You have cheated me in tithes and offerings due me.” Do you get that? Israel was under judgment because they had taken what was holy – the tithe (10% of income) – and spent it on their own pleasures and debts. The tithe belongs to the Lord – it goes for His work and His kingdom advancement. It doesn’t belong to us. Statistics tell us that the average American Christian only gives about 3% of their income to the Lord. In Korea, it is around 20%. The vibrancy of the Korean Church compared to the anemia of the American Church might have something to do with us being a band of robbers. While in the institutional church, Jan and I always gave around 11-12% of our income back to His work. In our new venue, and with a lot less income, we give closer to 20% in tithes and offerings. And, we have been blessed in so doing. These things never make sense on paper – never. But the question I like to ask is this: “Can God do more with 90% of your income than you can with 100% of your income?” Only the arrogant or uninformed would answer, “No!” to that question. The tithe helps us break our addiction toward self-centered spending because we realize this truth from Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” There is no such thing as the word “Mine!” in the kingdom. There is only the word: “His.” We are stewards over His stuff. The more faithful we are with a little, the more stewardship we have entrusted to us.

In addition to the tithe, God would have us begin to live more simple and uncomplicated lifestyles. As Jesus said, a man or a life is not measured by the treasures and things he piles up on this earth.

EMBRACE THE ELEMENTAL - Dr. Rich Frazer, one of our board members, said this to me when he visited Patrick Crossing: “You can count the number of seeds in an apple, but you cannot count the number of trees in a seed.” Rich was echoing a biblical point made by Jesus and Paul. Paul said it this way: “Remember this, a farmer who only plants a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must decide in your own heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. ‘For God loves a hilarious giver.’ And God will generously provide all you need, then you will always have everything you need and have plenty left over to share with others…For God is the One who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, He will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.” II Corinthians 9:6-10… (Keep reading. It is all good)!

The point that Paul is making is in regard to the power of the seed, the elemental. Botanists tell us that a single grain of wheat, if left to grow unhindered, could feed the world within eight years. That is mind-blowing. To become seed people, whether with money or with time, or with our gifts and talents places us directly within that place where God can give increase. And, we never use the same scorecards as the world. The world wants big and it wants it now. As kingdom people, we become fascinated with the potential of the seed.

Let me say this very clearly – any area of your life where you are experiencing deficit, sow seed into it. If you are lonely, invest in making someone else NOT lonely. If you are struggling financially, sow faith seeds into that area. If you are depressed, sows seeds of thankfulness and praise. Learn to move in the opposite spirit of your circumstance – to race towards the counter-intuitive. That is where your faith not only gets stretched but your faith gets recognized by heaven. It pleases the Father to scatter seeds in faith that we might otherwise & unwisely consume in the moment.

The End Of The Beginning…

This letter, this epistle if you will, is meant to provoke further thought and discussion. I have done my part by initiating that which the Father has put on my heart. The “rest of the story” (to borrow a catch-phrase from a very old man!), is in your hands. It is the beginning of our journey, not the end. It is simply the end of the beginning. Please weigh in your responses to the seeds that I have cast and let’s see together what is in the Father’s heart for Patrick Crossing, the 4-Corners and the world.

Be Blessed,

CJ