If Jesus were walking our streets [post]. . .

• He would be more critical of those who are theologically on target than those who are not.
• He would attend celebrations and drinking parties.
• He would possibly provide the beer.
• He would drink with the rest of us.
• He would spent a good chunk of time with those whom the religiously “pure” had no time for.
• He would interrupt some of our religious services by making unplanned announcements and controversial statements.
• He would tell stories that were relevant and attractive but not always immediately clear.
• He would spend a lot more time encouraging others to follow him than he would simply providing religious facts about himself.
• He would live courageously yet humbling.
• He would serve those who crossed his path.
• He would rub shoulders with the outcasts of society.
• He would demonstrate that theology is intended to be done in public and on the streets.
• He would go places deemed objectionable by the moral standard-bearers of society.
• He would make people feel both comfortable and uneasy.
• He would violate some of the rules of the religious establishment.
• He would desire to heal and not to hurt.
• He would be compassionate every day.
• He would be challenged (and in some cases hated) by the experts of our day.
• He would probably cause a lot of us to wonder if he is truly the one he claimed to be.
• He would keep his promises.
• He would most likely be criticized by a good percentage of the media.
• He would . . .

Also, peek around on the sight I found this on: The Porpoise Diving Life–Reality For the Rest of Us or Picking Up Where Purpose-Driven Peters Out by Bill Dahl.

INTRODUCTION:
One of the hardest things about our small group study on Justice is that we have to also look at Injustice. We have to face things like poverty, slavery, forced prostitution, and ethnic cleansing. When we hear personal stories and not just statistics, these oppressive tragedies are unbearable. The difficulty is that the more you look at evil, the harder it is to see God.

Our study of Justice has revealed that we as Christians are commanded to seek justice, encourage the oppressed, and defend the helpless. Hebrews 13:3 says, “Remember…those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” However, as we love our hurting neighbor by identifying with their pain, we can be overwhelmed by feelings that God is distant and uncaring.

This may be why we turn away from images and stories that reveal the suffering in the world. One person who refused to look away from the suffering of the world is Mother Teresa. She founded the Missionaries of Charity, whose mission was to care for, in her own words, “the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone.” Her first Home for the Dying was to give a beautiful death to people who lived like animals so that they might die like angels—loved and wanted. Instead of isolating herself from the pain of others she embraced it.

In her private writings published in “Come Be My Light” she writes of a vision she had where Jesus calls her to the poorest of the poor. Here is what she says God said to her:

“My little one–come–come–carry Me into the holes of the poor.–Come be My light.–I cannot go alone–they don’t know Me–so they don’t want Me. You come–go amongst them, carry Me with you into them.–How I long to enter their holes–their dark unhappy homes. Come be their victim.–In your immolation–in your love for Me–they will see Me, know Me, want Me….
You will suffer–suffer very much–but remember I am with you.–Even if the whole world rejects you–remember you are My own–and I am yours only. Fear not. It is I.–Only obey–obey very cheerfully and promptly and without any questions–just only obey. I shall never leave you–if you obey.”

Her response was one of simple obedience and humility that reveals a deep intimate relationship with God. However, almost precisely the time she started her mission to care for the poor and dying in Calcutta, she began to feel abandoned by God. His presence which she had known so powerfully disappeared. This is not something you would expect from someone who was so obviously following the will of God. For almost 50 years until her death she lived with a feeling that God had left her. Only for a five week period in all that time did she experience the intimate presence of Christ she used to have.

Why is this? Why do we also go through times where God seems distant? Honestly, I don’t know. But if someone like Mother Teresa lived through it as well as King David, then it must play some role in our spiritual journey.

Now, to our text today. We often turn to the Psalms to hear some of the most honest prayers ever recorded, because we can relate to the raw emotion in them. For whatever emotion you feel, there is probably a psalm expressing it. It is also interesting that the same person who wrote Psalm 23 about the closeness of God as his Shepherd is the same person who wrote Psalm 13 about how distant God is.

DAVID’S QUESTIONS:
David starts out Psalm 13 with four questions:

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
David feels utterly, completely abandoned by God. The feeling of loss and abandonment is so great that he feels it may last forever. In the midst of suffering and trials it always feels like it will last forever. Rarely do we see when they will end our what the outcome will be. For David, the feeling is even more severe because he can still remember a time when God was close. The closer we walk with God, the louder the silence is in his absence.

How long will you hide your face from me?
In the Bible, turning your face to someone is a way to show love and favor. It basically means “blessing”. Conversely hiding your face means “rejection”. David feels that God has rejected him and removed his blessing from him. It is common in times of suffering to feel that God has rejected you. It is the difficulty we face when we can only see God’s gifts not him himself.

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?
In the depths of despair, David’s thoughts eat away at him. His emotions overwhelm him. He may have wondered if he has sinned or offended God in some way. Or perhaps they have progressed to the point of telling him to give up. David knows God’s promise that he will never leave him or forsake him, but his thoughts and emotions are challenging that promise. It has become a daily fight to trust in God’s promises over what he thinks and feels.

How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Who knows whether David’s enemy is the cause of the suffering or merely taking advantage of it, but either way when he sees the injustice of evil man prospering while he suffers; it is too much to bear.

DAVID’S PRAYER:
Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

The first thing David does during this time of feeling abandoned by God is to pray. G.K. Chesterton said, “When belief in God becomes difficult, the tendency is to turn away from Him; but in heaven’s name to what?” Isn’t that true? When we feel abandoned by God, we tend to turn away from him, but there is no where else to go, no one else better to turn to. The best thing to do is pray an honest gut wrenching prayer.

Obviously, David’s prayer is that God would once again turn his face to him, that he would bless him. He longs for God’s felt presence. However, if he can’t receive that, his second request is that he would have light for his eyes. This phrase refers to spiritual knowledge or enlightenment. But even if God stays silent, he trusts God enough to believe that there is a reason for it. Yet, he still wants to know that reason.

To know why there is suffering is a question theologians and philosophers have asked forever. If we only knew why we suffer, we think that it would make it easier to bear. In the book of Job, his friends offered a bunch of reasons, all of which were considered and fell short. Even Job’s explanation wasn’t sufficient. His encounter when God answered the question revealed there was much more going on then he could possibly imagine.

DAVID’S DECLARATION:
Here is where we must have faith. David concludes the Psalm by saying:

But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord
for he has been good to me.

Whether he feels it or not, he believes that God does in fact love him. Even if his suffering and abandonment leads to death, it will eventually lead to salvation which is only found in the Lord.

And that is the triumph of this Psalm. Whether we ever feel the presence of God again, we can still declare his unfailing love and his salvation. It takes immense faith to trust that in the midst of suffering that God is still being good to us. David could claim it and declare it. Mother Teresa never stopped believing nor abandoned her work. She simply said, “If this brings You glory–if souls are brought to you–with joy I accept all to the end of my life.” She accepted the darkness as the privilege of sharing in the Christ’s suffering on the cross.

Can you believe that God is being good to you even when you don’t feel his nearness? It may be the hardest steps of faith you take as you seem to walk all alone through the valley of death that keeps stretching on and on. But if you trust that God loves you and that he never leaves you, salvation is yours.

CONCLUSION:
On of the darkest times in modern history is Nazi Germany. Evil was out in the open and spreading through Europe like a cancer. God’s people suffered severely. It is amazing though how many still trusted God. On a cellar wall in Cologne, Germany where Jews had hidden are ascribed these words. Words of faith, hope, and love.

I believe in the sun
even when it isn’t shining.
I believe in love
even when I am alone.
I believe in God
even when he is silent.

1. Rice and black beans
2. Everything bagels, pancake mix, & 2 bananas
3. Pancake mix & bananas
4. Five pounds of potatoes
5. Ramen noodles and kool aid

We found it was definitely doable, tho’ not incredibly tasty. We estimated that we spend between $15-25 per day on food. Almost ten times what most people live on.

We looked at these verses:

“He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done.” -Prov. 19:17

“If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.” -Prov. 21:13

“A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.” -Prov 22:9

1. Common sense: Am I asking God to do something stupid, meaningless, or illogical?
2. Contradiction: Are my prayers likely to be conflicting with those of someone else?
3. Laws of nature: Are my prayers potentially detrimental to the natural order or to the lives of others?
4. Life is tough: Am I expecting God to spare me from stuff that’s just common human experience because of the Fall?
5. Doctrine: Does my prayer reflect God’s character and His promises in the Bible? Might it be out of line with his His will for my life?
6. Second best: Although my desire in prayer is for something good, is it possible that God has something even better in store for me?
7. Motive: Are my prayers essentially just selfish?
8. Relationship: Is there an opportunity here for going deeper in my relationship with God?
9. Free will: Am I expecting God to override someone’s free will?
10. Influence: Am I trying to exercise ungodly power over a person’s life in prayer?
11. Satanic opposition: Is my prayer in line with God’s will but experiencing specific demonic resistance?
12. Faith: Do I really believe that God can do this? Am I out of my league?
13. Perseverance: Do I want it enough to keep praying?
14. Sin: Honesty time: Is there some secret sin you need to confess?
15. Justice: Am I actively seeking to express God’s love for the poor?
16. None of the first 15: Am I trying to find answers where I need instead to trust?

]]> http://nathanjunker.com/2007/03/21/unanswered-prayer/feed/ 0 http://nathanjunker.com/2007/02/10/unimaginable-sin/ http://nathanjunker.com/2007/02/10/unimaginable-sin/#comments Sat, 10 Feb 2007 19:18:57 +0000 redcowboyhat http://nathanjunker.com/?p=53 When we hear about a sin that shocks us and we can’t imagine how someone could commit that sin, it is hard to process. It is even harder if the person is a Christian, and even more so, a Christian leader. The fact of the matter is: sin is sin. While some sins have much greater consequences, in God’s eyes it is all the same. Listen to Jesus’s words in Matthew 5:

21″You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

…and…

27″You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

However, it is important to realize that sins like murder and rape do not “just happen”. If someone holds on to anger or lust in their hearts and continue to dwell on it, they will eventually act on those thoughts. Desire will not remain merely desire forever. If it continues to be fed it will grow until action becomes inevitable. Listen to James in chapter one:

14″but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

That is why it is so important to “take captive every thought” (2 Cor. 10:5) and to “guard your heart” (Prov. 4:23). One Christian put it this way:

“There are two dogs inside of me. One is good, one is evil.
These two dogs are always fighting a constant battle.
Which dog wins? The one I feed the most.”

No one immediately commits one of these serious sins. There is always a gradual process. A compromise here. A “small” sin there. Before the person knows it they are entrenched in a sin they can’t seem to break free from and the sin is growing in severity, intensity, and frequency. It is the same for lying, lust/sexual sin, anger/murder, stealing…the list goes on. Many of the worse criminals in the world have admitted to this gradual process of “small” sins before the unspeakable sin was committed.

Convicted homosexual pedophile and murderer of five boys, Gary Bishop, admits “Pornography was a determining factor in my downfall….For me, seeing pornography was lighting a fuse on a stick of dynamite. I became stimulated and had to gratify my urges or explode….My conscience was desensitized and my sexual appetite entirely controlled my actions.” Also, Ted Bundy, one of the most well known serial killers, said “You are going to kill me, and that will protect society from me. But out there are many, many more people who are addicted to pornography, and you are doing nothing about that.” Both these men point to a path that was gradual and ended in tragedy.

In my own experience assisting with a jail Bible study, the leader told me that many of the men in the study wouldn’t have been there without the effects of drugs and alcohol. Drugs and alcohol remove inhibitions that normally keep people from acting on any desire that crosses their mind. They exhilarate the path to serious sin by making the path much steeper. But in the beginning, it is always that unchecked desire, the sinful thought that is not placed under Christ’s authority, that results in the most grievous of sins.

The recent events at church reveal to us how a good man can do a very evil thing. It should cause us to examine our own heart and reexamine our own thought patterns. Where have we allowed sin to take root? Where is the devil getting a stronghold? We justify sin and deceive ourselves into saying that “it’s not that bad”, “we can stop anytime”, “it’s not hurting anyone”…all lies. We must deal swiftly and thoroughly with sin, even “small” sins. We must feed “the good dog” with the Word and with Prayer. Only by dealing severely with sin will we avoid those severe sins.

]]> http://nathanjunker.com/2007/02/10/unimaginable-sin/feed/ 1 http://nathanjunker.com/2007/01/03/prayer-principles/ http://nathanjunker.com/2007/01/03/prayer-principles/#comments Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:15:52 +0000 redcowboyhat http://nathanjunker.com/?p=40 For a while now, I have been teaching the youth group certain prayer principles. These principles are easy to remember, yet open up the world of prayer if embraced. They are taken from Brennan Manning’s book The Signature of Jesus. Here they are:
• You learn to pray by praying.
• Pray as you can, not as you can’t.
• Don’t just pray when you feel like it.
• Your prayer life reflects your spiritual life.

Pray; what are you waiting for.

]]> http://nathanjunker.com/2007/01/03/prayer-principles/feed/ 0 http://nathanjunker.com/2006/08/06/the-monastery/ http://nathanjunker.com/2006/08/06/the-monastery/#comments Mon, 07 Aug 2006 01:27:32 +0000 redcowboyhat http://nathanjunker.com/?p=7 I would have liked to see this reality show. Five men from secular lifestyles enter into a Benedictine monastery and follow the strict timetable of instruction, study, prayer, reflection and routine work duties. They include a producer of trailers for a sex chat line, a painter/decorator with a criminal past, a high-earning bachelor, PhD in Buddhism student, and a retired poet and teacher. If what these guys experienced changed their lives, what do you think would happen to a believer who entered into this lifestyle? Is it possible for Christians to rediscover this kind of life today? It seems to me that the emerging church is trying to bring monastic-like practices to the everyday Christian.

“…the restoration of the church will surely come only from a new type of monasticism which has nothing in common with the old but a complete lack of compromise in life lived in accordance with the Sermon on the Mount in the discipleship of Christ. I think it is time to gather people together to do this…” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

]]> http://nathanjunker.com/2006/08/06/the-monastery/feed/ 0 http://nathanjunker.com/2006/07/01/emerging-church/ http://nathanjunker.com/2006/07/01/emerging-church/#comments Sun, 02 Jul 2006 01:49:25 +0000 redcowboyhat http://nathanjunker.com/?p=11 I have been interested of late in the emerging church. As one who grew up in the church I relate with many of those who are hungering for something deeper and wider. However, many are unaware of this movement or conversation that is happening on the fringes of the Church, in small house churches and creative urban ministries. So here are a few descriptions that I have found helpful:

From Jason Clark’s Blog review of Emerging Churches, by Eddie Gibbs, Ryan Bolger:

1. Re-centering on the kingdom of God.
2. Engaging culture with out a sacred and secular distinction.
3. Communal: Faith as communal experience.
4. Listening to the outsider.
5. Serving those in need without ulterior motives.
6. Involving participants in worship.
6. Valuing Creativity/Arts.
7. Leading through networks than top down hierarchies.
8. Ancient and Avant Garde

From exagorazo from an article on Urbana.org:

1. Having a high threshold for membership
(high expectations for believers)
2. Being real, not real religious
(being transparent, authentic, with one foot in “the world.”)
3. Teaching to obey rather than to know
(a practical faith)
4. Rewriting worship every week
(Creative, participatory Sunday morning services)
5. Living apostolically
(each believer as a missionary)
6. Expecting to change the world
(aggressively engaged in transforming communities)
7. Ordering actions according to purpose.
(Ruthless aligning of resources with mission)
8. Measuring growth by capacity to release rather than retain.
(Not megachurches but multiplying churches)
9. Placing kingdom concerns first
(in contrast to denomination first. Thus, cooperation with other churches)

]]> http://nathanjunker.com/2006/07/01/emerging-church/feed/ 0