The Longing for Something More

"But I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil." Romans 16:19

This past week Jeane and I took a little trip to Taos, a tiny, artsy community in the mountains of northern New Mexico. It's a fascinating little town. Settled by the Tiwa Indians, it is home to the famous Taos Pueblo, one of the oldest continuously inhabited dwellings (for 1000 years plus) in the country. The air is clean, the weather is perfect, and the views are beyond exceptional. There is art, music, dance and freedom of expression. Art galleries line the narrow streets by the dozens. One of the things that I noticed immediately was the vast smorgasbord of beliefs and expressions of beliefs that were available for one to explore. In one publication that covered the events of just the one week we were there, I found: Reading Tarot Cards Innerspeak with I Am Horse Spirit Beginners Tarot The Art of Dreaming Arturian Group - Guided Meditation & Interdimensional Travel Everything You Want to Know About Tibetan Buddhism Aidido Ten Shin Taos Kihon Dojo Japanese Art of the Sword Meditation Mondays (with popcorn!) Teachings of Thich Nhat Hahm at Open Heart Sangha Dharma Discussion and Meditation Meditation Through Chanting Personal and Planetary Healing Sun Signs TJC Chanting Circle Vajrayana Buddhism Meditation TM (Transcendental Meditation) To some of you this list might sound crazy--like the biggest bunch of poppycock you've ever seen printed in one place. To others it might sound intriguing, exciting, enlightened, spiritual. To me it sounds like the great Deceiver is alive and well in the idylic little village of Taos, New Mexico, just as he is everywhere. Here's the thing, good people: Man has a deep need to explore the spiritual. We long for something more--something beyond ourselves, and until we find it we will search like we search for a lost set of keys: we look everywhere. The truth is that we need to be captured by something (someOne!) greater than us. It is the way we were created. We are like a horse looking for a rider to take us where we don't know to go, but where we need to go. That is why Scripture is full of exhortations that we "give" our hearts to the one true God. Salvation happens here on earth, not just "up there." Salvation is something God does, in Jesus, and not something you must do on the stairway to heaven. God is pleased when faith is restored in the creature, trusting completely in the One True God who saves.         "I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you." Romans 16:17-20 Greg

Once More Around the Mountain!

"...be transformed by the renewing of your mind."     Romans 12:2

This month Charisma magazine ran a brief article by Joyce Meyer about the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. You all know the Bible story about Moses leading God's children out of slavery in Egypt, but do you know that the trip from Egypt to the promised land should have taken them just 11 days? Instead it took them 40 years--forty years of wandering through the desert, traveling around the same mountains over and over again. Why? Ms. Meyers writes, "In Numbers 14 we see the people were continuously grumbling and complaining about everything. They even complained about the bread [the "manna from heaven"] that God miraculously provided for them. Anytime something difficult crossed their path, they were ready to give up and go back to Egypt--back to slavery." I had to chuckle as I read the article. When I was in my 20's (ten years ago or so:-) I ran a retreat ministry for college students. Once I invited a  dynamic pastor named Jim Slow to speak. In his keynote address Jim spoke about the trek of the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land and how they so quickly turned to unbelief and created their own gods instead of turning to the one true God who had saved them. Remember the golden calf? At every turn they complained and let discouragement set in. Then they begged to go back to their old familiar life. Now Pastor Jim was anything but a calm, sedate pastor-type. He was on fire for the Lord. I still remember him, red-faced and glowing with the fervor of God, standing in front of the crowd of 250 or so college students waving his Bible as he would shout, "ONCE MORE AROUND THE MOUNTAIN!" Dear friends, have you ever felt like you were wandering around in your own personal desert and circling the same mountains of life? What often happens? At every difficult point we grumble, we despair, we rely on our own solutions instead of turning to God for our sustenance. We don't want to change; we just want easy answers. In fact, sometimes we choose to return to our slavery in Egypt rather than let the Holy Spirit grow and mature us. And so we wander around the same old mountain over and over again, dealing with the same old issues, responding in the same old way, and getting the same old dead-end results. ONCE MORE AROUND THE MOUNTAIN! "Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."  Romans 12:2 I pray that you move through your deserts and wanderings quickly, and do it with faith and smiles. Greg

Pruned With Care - Lifted Up With Love

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit."     John 15:5

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine- dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."  John 15:1-2 In my last e-news I talked about that interesting process called pruning. God prunes those who are already bearing fruit in the Kingdom so they can flourish and bear even more fruit. Okay, that's good. But wait a minute! Read those verses again. What was it he does about those branches that don't bear fruit? He takes them away? That doesn't sound good at all. Some translations even read "he cuts them off." We have all gone through periods in our lives when, due to life circumstances that beat us down or our old sinful nature or cold heart, we fail to thrive. It's a harsh and sobering thought that when we are "in Christ" but we don't bear fruit he will cut us off or throw us away. Is that really what Jesus was saying? Our modern translations of Scripture sometimes leave a lot to be desired. Author Bruce Wilkinson writes about this passage. He says, "First, a clearer translation of the Greek word airo, rendered in John 15 as "takes away," would be to "take up" or "lift up." In fact, in both the Bible and in Greek literature, airo never means "cut off." Dr. Wilkinson goes on to recount a story that sheds much light on this passage. It comes from his interesting discussion with none other than the owner of a California vineyard. I quote the conversation out of Bruce Wilkinson's great little book, Secrets of the Vine: "New branches have a natural tendency to trail down and grow along the ground," he explained. "But they don't bear fruit down there. When branches grow along the ground, the leaves get coated in dust. When it rains, they get muddy and mildewed. The branch becomes sick and useless." "What do you do?" I asked. "Cut it off and throw it away?" "Oh, no!" he exclaimed. "The branch is much too valuable for that. We go through the vineyard with a bucket of water looking for those branches. We lift them up and wash them off. Then we wrap them around the trellis or tie them up. Pretty soon they're thriving." Dear friends, do you see what Jesus was trying to say in John 15? Our Father doesn't ruthlessly cut off or throw away branches that fail to produce fruit. Instead, he lifts them up out of the mud, lovingly washes them off, and puts them back in the sun where they can live again. Walk with me this week in a renewed understanding that our lives are continually being lifted up and cared for by the heavenly vine-dresser. The One who sees our dirt and dust knows he has made us to be so much more. And so he prunes and wraps and cleans..... May our desire be to grow and flourish in Him. Greg

The Master's Vineyard

"I am  the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser."    John 15:1

Who doesn't like a nice glass of wine? When we enjoy a glass of vino we tend to give credit to the wine master--the one who mixes and tastes and pours and waits until the wine is the perfect blend in the perfect balance at just the right time. But really, creating that delectable glass of wine starts with the grapes. To grow good grapes it takes tender care throughout the entire process, from choosing a location to preparing the soil to caring for the grapes and tending the vineyard. And that, friends, involves something called pruning. On the night Jesus was betrayed, after they had eaten, he asked his disciples to follow him outside. Along the terraced slopes of the Kidron Valley they passed ancient vineyards that had been producing grapes for generations. There Jesus stopped to offer them a lesson, as he so often did, using the simple elements of this earth as an analogy: "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser....every branch that bears fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful...I am the vine, you are the branches."  John 15: 1, 2, 5 Why would Jesus talk about growing grapes when he was just hours from his death? Most of us have an idea of what it means to prune a grapevine, but do we know why? One horticultural bulletin puts it this way: "The vine's ability to produce growth increases each year, but without intensive pruning the plant weakens and its crop diminishes." Hmm. Read that again. "The vine's ability to produce growth increases each year, but without intensive pruning the plant weakens and its crop diminishes." And so our loving Heavenly Father prunes us. I tell you this as an affirmation. I remind you of this so you are not surprised when it comes. It is not our calling in Christ to live out our lives in selfish comfort; neither is it our calling to live in a state of defeat or discouragement. We are meant to bear fruit--the fruit of the Spirit. We, along with the first disciples of Christ, are given strength and purpose and vision for this life. As we grow in love and relationship with Christ we discover more of what he has for us and, rest assured, we are going to be pruned by the vine dresser. It's not for punishment, but so that we may have the dead and useless branches cleared away so the more important things for life can grow and flourish. We'll talk more about this in the days to come. In the meantime, muster up the courage to ask God to show you what branches He wants to prune in your life so that you may live more fully to His glory. It's all good, Greg

Our Prayers: Remixed

Let Me Bless You, Lord.     Live Through Me. No Matter What, Lord, Use Me.

Let Us Pray: "Bless me, Lord. Be with me. Watch over and protect me. Forgive me." If you listen to your prayers and the prayers of those around you, you will hear these four phrases over and over--probably the words we've been saying to God since we first learned to pray. It's not that there's anything wrong with these phrases; they are a part of our prayer journey. But the fact that they dominate our times with God even now can indicate a me-centered faith that is far from the New Testament adventure we are called to in Christ. REMIXED prayers move us toward a healthier, God-centered prayer language. What would happen if we saturated our prayers with a heart-cry that says, "Let Me Bless You, Lord," or "Live Through Me," or "No Matter What, Lord, Use Me." Louis Giglio is a funny, entertaining and profound speaker and evangelist, and he will be our teacher for three Monday nights in August. His 3-part series, PRAYER: REMIX, gives us a fresh and different angle on how we approach prayer. I have to say, after watching these presentations I'm really excited about it. Louis is not trying to give us a newer and better "prayer formula." Rather, he challenges us to a new level of thinking about how we pray. He calls it a subtle shift on radical truth. I call it conscious, purposeful, re-directed conversation with God. Come join us this Monday night for the first DVD of the series titled, Who's Blessing Whom? I'll be there with my own comments and I'll look forward to hearing yours afterwards. Let Us Pray: "Bless us, Lord. Please be with us, watch over and protect us, and...."  Oops...Oooops...Ooooops! Rather... "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..."  1 Peter 1:3 Prayer Remixed. I'll see you Monday, Greg