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getting smacked around…

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Our AIA team here is reading, You Can Change, by Tim Chester and it has been smacking me around over the last few weeks of reading it. Here is what smacking me around today:

Sin is fundamentally an orientation towards self. Many of us suffer from self-absorption. We’re preoccupied with your problems and successes. We bring every conversation round to our favorite subject: me. Or we develop habits of self-centeredness in which we live for our own comfort and security.” {pg. 158}

Ouch, that hurts. Um, yeah guilty. What is one way to combat this? Service. Go out and serve someone. Make deliberate decisions to fight against the self-absorption, against the self-centeredness, against turning yourself into a little god, which you bow to. Dang, I’m guilty of this, but I’m thankful that I’ve been set free to live a new life, a new way…. The way of Jesus… How will you serve someone other than yourself today? Join me in this fight and SERVE!

slowing down…

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sick_zach_title

That’s me. That’s me learning a bit about slowing down. See the majority of this week I was quarantined to my house, and this particular couch is my favorite. You may ask, “Whom quarantined you Zach?” Simply put, God.

Yes, I said God. It wasn’t my boss, my coach, this culture or a co-worker, but God. God wanted to get my attention, he wanted me to slow down. See I’ve been going hard, like most of us, for quite some time and it would seem to have caught up with me. It was in this that God got my attention and caused me to slow down. This might make some people squirm a bit, saying that God has made me slow down, but I was reminded of it once again, as I read Psalm 23.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake. vv. 1-3, emphasis added

I’ve always pondered and wondered about those verses I have in bold font. They are God acting statements, not me acting, but God acting. God makes me rest. God grabs my hands and leads me to quite places and into places of right standing before Him. God brings restoration to my soul. Why does God do all of this? For “His name’s sake.” So that He would be made much of in my life and in this particular situation, through my resting. Really? Can that be true? Can I rest in such a way that God is glorified?

He can be. Recently for the Czech Project I did a ‘foundations talk’ and I included some great stuff from my friends at Soma Communities in Tacoma, WA about our Gospel Identities and Daily Rhythms. You should head over to their site and check out what they are doing! One of the Daily Rhythms is (re)creating, and as I’ve been stuck in ‘my cave’ (i.e. flat) this week I’ve been reminded of what I heard Jeff Vanderstelt, pastor at Soma, share about the Daily Rhythms at a church planting conference here in Czech last fall.

“The Gospel also enables people to truly rest when not working, because they know that God is always working – they don’t have to worry that their lack of work will prevent the world from spinning.”

I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t say that Gospel always impacts the way I rest and I continually need it to. If I don’t believe this Gospel then I will falsely believe that I have far greater control than I can imagine, including far more control in respects to my salvation and the salvation of others. The Gospel should thus enable me to rest knowing that everything, everything is under God’s providential hand, thus enabling me to rest. There’s a bit more…

“Because God has accomplished everything necessary for our justification and is the one who will finish the work He started in us, we can rest. Whether working, playing, sleeping or creating – we rest in His work and His abilities and His power. Our rest then is not only a result of the Gospel, but a demonstration to the world not at rest in the gospel.”

I need not try to justify myself through ministry, work, maintaining an image or etc. Ultimately, if God has done the work of my justification I can rest and rest well. The question is, ‘Do I (you) rest well?’ Then by me resting well, I can demonstrate that I am not trying to save the world, that I’m not trying to work for my justification, but that I ultimately trust God. Of course, we need to be careful here and not take this to an extreme, becoming passive bystanders, that never do anything more than rest, claiming that God’s a work, therefore I need not do any more than rest. The Gospel calls us to rest and also act, but it impacts the way we rest and the way we act. Do you believe the Gospel this way? Do I believe the Gospel way? May we act with a deep love and boldness like never before believing this Gospel and may we also rest deeper knowing that God is on His thrown upholding “the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3). Slowing down….

a cappuccino, a moleskine, and my esv bible…

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I love when God shows up! He surely did, while I was in Salzburg! As I headed out of Prague to Cesky Krumlov then Salzburg, on my short holiday I had a prayer that God would bring refreshment, encouragement and some peace in the midst of sight seeing, reading, train rides, caffeine, walks and life as of late. Surely, I wish I could have had some more time to work, process, pray, journal and more through the things that have taken, and that are going on right now, in life, but the moments I had were great.

The Saturday I was in Salzburg, I sat at the cafe capp&ccino (which was also the only place I could find WIFI) and over a cappuccino, my moleskine, and my esv bible app on my iPhone I had a sacred moment. It was almost like I should have taken my shoes off, for the place I was sitting felt holy to me. I love that my God isn’t a distant God that is aloof, but that is present and meets me! There at Capp&ccino the God of the universe met me. I sat there, reading through Colossians and writing page after page in my moleskine, God seemingly flooded me with the encouragement I needed.

The theme – love. Simply put, it was like God was whispering to my soul, “I love you. Relax. Take a deep breath. Through everything that has happened I love you. Did you hear that? I love you. I loved you, as you received criticism, as you made mistakes, as you wallowed in your pool of self-pity. In the midst of all of this – I loved you. Zach, hear this – I love you. I hung on a Roman cross for you, and punched death squarely in the jaw knocking him out, because I love you. Hear that Zach…” So, so good…. It was a couple hours of the Gospel being preached to me via the Holy Spirit, and also preaching the Gospel to myself. I once again, was reminded how badly I need the Gospel and why Paul said this to the Roman church (yes, the church, made up of believers, not simply nonbelievers), “So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. (Romans 1:15)” Oh, if I was eager to constantly preach the Gospel to nonbelievers, believers and myself, what would life look like around me? I’m not sure, but I’m grateful for another wake up call to the Gospel!

i wish i was in chicago…

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Why? For The Gospel Coalition! Alas, I’m not there, but I’m thankful for the world wide web, which enables me to watch the talks streaming live and reading the notes! Last night when I got back from practice, I was stoked to read notes already from heroes in the faith of mine – Driscoll, Piper and Keller. So good!

Head over to their site and check out a ton of cool things! I have to limit my time on their site, or I start to get a little envious! Not cool!

Here are some links to notes from talks:
Notes from My Talk at the Gospel Coalition: Positives, Negatives, and Neutrals, from Driscoll.
“The Grand Demythologizer: The Gospel and Idolatry,” by Keller.

Good Stuff! Enjoy! Be challenged!

do we (i) get it?

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The Gospel that is. Do we? Do I get it? This section from Keller’s study on Galatians have floored me this weekend. I couldn’t help but brokenly ask myself, “Do you get it Zach?”

Another way is to bring classist, nationalistic, or racist attitudes from the world into the church. Many Christians belong to classes, groups, or personality types that we had always disdained in our lives outside the church. Working class Christians may have a distaste for Christians from wealthier or more socially “refined” backgrounds and vice versa. Christians from one political persuasion may be upset by the presence of those from the other end of the spectrum. Very talented Christians may feel unhappy that people they have always considered mediocre are part of the church. Socially polished Christians feel uncomfortable around believers who are socially awkward or marginal (and again vice versa). If we have fairly strong ties to an ethnic group (e.g. WASP, Hispanic, Chinese, African American), we may feel uncomfortable around people whose cultural emphases are different. We may respond to all this as Peter did. We will sit by “those other people” in church, but we won’t “eat” with them. In other words, we won’t really become friends with them. We won’t socialize with them, sharing our lives and homes and things with them. We will keep relationships formal and see them at official church meetings only. This, of course, is a serious lapse. It stems from a general feeling of superiority. Our hearts, without the gospel, have to manufacture self-esteem by comparing our group with other groups. But the gospel tells us we are all unclean without Christ and all clean in him. [emphasis me]

Oh it burns… It should. Sit in it with me and allow God to do His thing. Thanks for stopping by today…

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