Hear the Angels

So I know Christmas is already fading in everyone's mind, but I've been listening to this song over the past few weeks. The musicality of it, the originality really struck me, and when that happens it often leads the listener to re-consider the lyrics. What struck me most was this verse:

And ye beneath life's crushing load,

Whose forms are bending low;

Who toil along the climbing way

With painful steps so slow:

Look now! For glad and golden hours

Come swiftly on the wing!

Oh rest beside the weary road

And hear the angels sing!

At the end of the song, Sara tags what it was the angels were singing: "Glory Hallelujah, Peace on Earth..." There is something about the tiredness, the weariness that we feel as we toil and labor and go about our days. No matter how much we may enjoy that which we do, there are times where we our in touch with that inner ache that exists simply because of being human between the Fall of man and the final return of the Savior.

The coming of the king into a dirty manger in a cave in Bethlehem was so utterly unexpected. He came to those who were able to admit and connect with that ache, those who were hungry not just for food, but for True Nourishment. His inauguration of the kingdom announced the coming of "glad and golden hours." They are STILL coming swiftly. I pray that you and I will take moments this holiday season to REST beside the weary road, just like the young dirty shepherds who guarded Him, and listen, maybe even join in with the song the angels sing.

In the Name

This is from Paul Miller, A Praying Life, pg 135:

"Imagine that your prayer is a poorly dressed beggar reeking of alcohol and body odor, stumbling toward the palace of the Great King. You have become your prayer. As you shuffle toward the barred gate, the guards stiffen. Your smell has preceded you. You stammer out a message for the Great King: 'I want to see the King.' Your words are barely intelligible, but you whisper one final word, 'Jesus. I come in the name of Jesus.' At the name of Jesus, as if by magic, the palace comes alive. THe guards snap to attention, bowing low in front of you. Lights come on, and the door flies open. You are ushered into the palace and down a long hallway into the throneroom of the Great King, who comes running to you and wraps you in his arms.

"The name of Jesus gives my prayers royal access. They get through. Jesus isn't just the Savior of my soul. He's also the Savior of my prayers."

Why Brendan David?

A little over 19 months ago our first son was born, and I wrote about Aidan's name here. Our second son Brendan David is now 36 hours old, and doing very well.

The name Brendan we settled on in keeping with Irish first names and felt that it fit well after Aidan. Brendan means "prince." And what is a prince but a son of the King? Brendan is first and foremost a child of God, the King.

Also since I first heard the album Beyond These Shores by Iona have had some interest in the story of St. Brendan, an Irish monk living around 500 AD. It has been hard for historians to verify the details, but legend says he sailed off from his home to uncharted waters for 7 years in search of a land of paradise. The idea of being wholly devoted to God and setting off into sea is a great picture of the kind of life God wants us to lead, the kind of life I hope and pray Brendan will lead. One of the prayers of St Brendan goes like this:

Help me to journey beyond the familiar
and into the unknown.
Give me the faith to leave old ways
and break fresh ground with You.

Christ of the mysteries, I trust You
to be stronger than each storm within me.
I will trust in the darkness and know
that my times, even now, are in Your hand.

Tune my spirit to the music of heaven,
and somehow, make my obedience count for You.

I LOVE the second half of the first paragraph! Similarly, the lyrics of the last song on the Iona album:

Beyond these shores
Into the darkness
Beyond these shores
This boat may sail
And if this is the way
Then there will be
A path across this sea

And if I sail beyond
The farthest ocean
Or lose myself in depths below
Wherever I may go
Your love surrounds me
For you have been before
Beyond these shores

Beyond these shores
Into the darkness

And now for the middle name, David. It means beloved, and the Biblical man David was known, dispite all his failures, as a man after God's heart, the greatest King of Israel in the Bible. His love for God is evident in the Psalms. We want Brendan to know that he is a "Beloved Prince."

Your mom and I are so blessed to have you, dear son, and so excited to see who you become!

Matt Chandler on how the modern church does Heb. 11

A Life Worthy of God, pt 4

Paul says he prays for the Colossians, that they would be people who live their lives to please God in every way, that they would “live a life worthy of the Lord.” Such a person will be bearing fruit for God, and growing in the knowledge of him (1:10).

Now Paul says those seek to live their lives this way should find themselves “being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience…”(1:11).

Those who have walked in the way of Jesus for any length of time come to understand soon that they can’t do it on their own. Without Christ, I have very little endurance or patience. Sometimes even with Christ I don’t have those things. But someone who lives close to Christ, whose heart is set on pleasing God (and not self), will have patience and endurance in increasing measure.

The key to having patience and endurance (or any other fruit of the spirit) is “being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might.” Think about that for a sec—you and I are people who belong to God, who are adopted as his sons and daughters because of what Christ has done for us, who have the Spirit of God dwelling inside of us. The God of glorious might, through His Holy Spirit inside of us, strengthens us with ALL power.

The Christian life is NOT easy. If you call yourself a Christian and your life is easy, something’s wrong. (For more on that, read Crazy Love by Francis Chan). BUT, by the power of God strengthening us, we can face this life and thus it will seem much easier than life without Him. Do you want to live your life in honor of Him for all He’s done for you? Do it in HIS strength, not your own.

A Life Worthy of God, pt 3

God desires that our knowledge of him would lead to great things in our lives. A person who wants to please God with his life will be one who is "bearing fruit in every good work."

There is a close link here with John 15, where Jesus talks about the Vine and the Branches. There, as in Colossians 1, we see a link between knowing Christ deeply and bearing fruit for him. "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself, it must remain in the vine" (v 4).

The real kicker is verse 2: "he cuts off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." I don't think this verse implies that we can lose our salvation, but it does imply that we can become useless to God, and if we are useless to God, we ought to wonder about our salvation in the first place. A fruitless Christian is like salt that has lost its saltiness (Matthew 5:13-16).

Rather, Paul and Jesus both urge us to bear fruit in every good work. This requires us to think not only of ourselves, but of others as we go about our lives. Even more, we should think about others within the context of God's kingdom, of their relationship to Jesus. It's great to spread love across the earth, to think of others, but even those who are not followers of Jesus can do that. Our desire in all our "good works" should be to point to Jesus.

If you serve or volunteer in church, all that you do for your church is about bearing fruit. At Grace, you're fruitful for God if you've helped someone take their next step toward Christ. If you invite a friend,co-worker, neighbor, and they come for the first time, they've taken a step. You've become fruitful to God.

Now it's your turn to do a little research: the concept of pruning in John 15:2 is very important and rich with meaning. Try looking it up through Google or your favorite online Bible study resource! Give us links in the comments below!

A Life Worthy of God, pt 2.

Paul says a person living a life worth of God will be "growing in the knowledge of God." A person who wants to please God will HUNGER for more knowledge of Him. He or she will be eager to read and study his word, books, sermons, whether alone or with others. There are many ways people grow. How do you grow?

The Bible makes clear (James 1:22) that gaining knowledge is basically pointless unless you ACT on it. If you take a course or study about how to be financially responsible the way God would want you to, what good is it if you don't take steps with your finances based on the study?

God wants you to know Him. He does not hide Himself from us. He's revealed himself through his Word, through Jesus, and through creation. It's important to note here that knowledge is more than just knowledge about God. It's personal, relational. He desires that you would know him deeply and intimately, and that your knowledge would lead to great things in your life.

A Life Worthy of God

This morning I was reading in Colossians 1, and I came across verse 10, and those following it, where I think we gain some really important truth. We all hunger for significance, and for those who belong to Christ, our goal and aim in life should be, as Paul states, "that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way." Paul outlines four things that will get us far down the path in doing exactly this:

1) Growing in the knowledge of God
2) Bearing fruit in every good work
3) Being strengthened with his power and might so we will have patience and endurance
4) Joyfully giving thanks to the Father for His incredible gift to us--that he qualified us to be a part of his kingdom of light.

Paul of course did not intend for this to be a comprehensive list for pleasing God, but it's a good start. We'll look further into these things over the next few entries.