The Need for Normalcy

On my drive to work this morning, I heard an interesting radio advertisement for the product “5-Hour Energy.” In the ad, they imagined a world where, similar to a battery indicator on a phone or computer, humans had a built-in indicator to reveal our remaining energy. The commercial then suggested that most of our indicators would probably be showing ‘low energy’—in desperate need of a recharge.

Now, I think I found this commercial especially interesting because, at present, I’m really tired—and so is my whole family. This past week was incredibly exhausting as we moved homes and I officiated a wedding, in addition to the normal busyness of work, school, soccer games, violin rehearsals, and Sunday worship. But, while this has been a week of insanity, the craziness really goes back over a month, when we first started the home-buying process. Our house has been in disarray for weeks, with moving boxes everywhere. The kids have watched more iPad than we wish they had, as Mandy and I sorted through the logistics of moving. And now they have the disorientation of the only home they’ve ever known no longer being ‘home.’

It’s been an unsettling time. And our energy indicator is most-certainly low. We need to be recharged.

But, unlike the 5-Hour Energy commercial suggested, I know better than to think the solution to our energy-deficient life is a 2-ounce shot of caffeine-laden who-knows-what. I’m in search of long-term solutions, an energy that will sustain us over the long-haul and not have us coming back for the next sugary fix when the vitality wanes.

What we really need is more regularity and rhythm in our lives again. We must get back to our routine. Our family functions best when we sit down on Sunday nights and map out our week. Our family is most-healthy (physically, emotionally, and spiritually) when we’re sitting down to regular, home-cooked, family meals. Our family is at our best when we find balance between activity and rest, going and staying, doing and being.

And of course that’s true—because that’s the way the universe is hard-wired. From the very beginning, God ordered creation to work and then rest, create and then recreate, produce and then play. This is the way God arranged the whole system. We aren’t meant to hustle our way through life, with no time to rest and take respite. It’s not healthy.

The secret to an abundant, thriving life is tapping into God’s balanced, rhythmic pattern for the universe.

And my family hasn’t been thriving much lately—we’ve just been surviving. So, I’m very excited to finally be in our new house and be able to get back to the balanced, rhythmic life we so desperately need and love. I’m looking forward to family meals around the dinner table and casual walks around the block. I’m excited to sip soda in the backyard as songbirds serenade us. I’m excited to sit with my bride on the front porch as our girls ride bikes on our new block.

And as my family reclaims God’s sacred rhythm of life for our own, I invite you all to do the same. Life’s too busy and short to not take time to rest, recharge, reflect, and rejoice in the goodness of God all around us.

Drinking Deeply from the Word

Today in Bible Study, during our time of prayer, we read a quote from a seventeenth-century mystic named Madam Guyon that I found both beautiful and challenging. This is what she said:

"Praying scripture is not judged by how much you read but by the way in which you read. If you read quickly, it will benefit you little. You will be like a bee that merely skims the surface of a flower. Instead, in this new way of reading with prayer, you must become as the bee that penetrates into the depths of the flower. You plunge deeply within to remove its deepest nectar.”

That's deep and profound and probably would have stirred my soul regardless. But I think I'm so moved by this quote, presently, because of our current sermon series in the book of Colossians, which has been a slow, intentional crawl through each paragraph of the letter. And I have been LOVING this pace. It truly feels like we're exploring the depth of the book, rather than just glossing over the surface. I really sense that we're plunging ourselves into the deepest nectar of Paul's words to the Colossian church. 

And that's what I love most about preaching...that's what feeds my soul. There are times where quick, thematic series are appropriate and good, but this deep-dive approach is what most intrigues me as a follower of Christ. This slow journey through the text has been transforming me as I have prepared these sermons, and I hope it's been changing you as well. So, thank you for taking this tedious march through Colossians with me. Let's continue to allow God to mold and shape us as we drink deeply from the sweet nectar of His word.

Convicted By Our Knowledge

I've recently begun preaching through the book of Colossians, and this past Sunday I unpacked a paragraph in Colossians 1 where Paul talks about the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of God. 

For those of you who weren't at church on Sunday -- or couldn't listen online because our recording software failed -- I talked about how our culture (and Paul's culture) so often uses knowledge in selfish or useless ways. We pride ourselves on how much useless information we know and we love to share that meaningless data at the drop of hat. We can so easily be know-it-alls -- where we know a lot, but it doesn't translate into actually affecting the way we live.

But Paul is making the point that our knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of God is meant to actually accomplish something in the world -- to bear fruit and please God. Our knowledge isn't something that pulls us out of this world and into a more heavenly, spiritual realm, but compels us to root ourselves further into this earthly existence to be the good news of God in real, tangible ways. Our faith isn't meant to be trivial head-knowledge about God, but is supposed to shape the way we literally walk in the world. It's why, as I was reminded of by one of our astute members, we pray for God's kingdom to come here, on earth as it is in heaven.

And I was further reminded of this idea through recently hearing a modern parable, written and told by theologian/philosopher Peter Rollins. Take a listen to this short parable (about 2 minutes long):

 Again, this idea reinforces what I was trying to communicate this past Sunday: that our faith and beliefs (our knowledge, wisdom, and understanding) are nothing if they're not lived out in real, practical ways that actually benefit and bless our world. So, may we all have the courage and conviction to walk the way of Jesus, bear fruit in the world, and live a life pleasing to God.