No “Lone Ranger”

The apostle Paul is a significant leader in the New Testament church.  It’s thanks to him that we have so much of our biblical theology today.  After Jesus, he’s the man!

And yet, despite his prominence and capabilities, he’s not a “Lone Ranger.”  You never get the impression that he’s off doing his own thing.  For example (one of numerous examples), at the end of his third missionary journey, Paul returns to Jerusalem.  Paul greets everyone there, including the leaders, and then “report[s] in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry” (Acts 21:19).

If Paul worked within accountability structures and didn’t work in isolation from other believers and Christian leaders, why do I so often think I have to figure stuff out on my own, not relying on other followers of Jesus, including colleagues, friends, authors, traditions?

Indescribable

(Thanks, Dad V, for telling me about this!)

Although God cannot be described with just words, the late S.M. Lockridge once gave a sermon that’s just about as close as you can get this side of heaven!
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Skipping worship as soul emaciation

Is corporate worship (that is, worshipping together as a community of disciples) optional or a requirement for walking with Jesus?  Can’t we follow Jesus on our own, separating ourselves from the politics and hypocrisy regularly found in every single congregation?  Can’t we be salt and light in our world by frequently attending/participating in good events happening on Sundays?

Or is there something about receiving the sacraments, meeting together with other Jesus followers, hearing God’s Word proclaimed, and responding to the call to worship that is critical to our spiritual wellbeing?

Over in his new blog entitled “The Glad Sound,” Pastor Zac Hicks – Minister of Worship & Liturgy, Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church, Denver CO – speaks with loud words on the subject…

In Colorado, Yahweh wars with the gods of nature for the attention of the hearts of sinners and saints:  Skiing in the winter, hiking and camping in the summer.  There’s always a reason to “skip church.”  But worship is where we receive the real spiritual nourishment of the sacraments.  Worship is where we receive the genuine encouragement from being in fellowship with God’s people.  Worship is where we receive the faithful preaching of the Word.  Worship is where we are summoned by God to be on Sunday mornings…  We don’t question the need for physical nourishment.  Unless we’re fasting or just have out-of-the-ordinary eating habits, we regularly nourish our bodies three times a day with food.  God forbid that we [North] Americans forget to eat!  So what about our spiritual nourishment?  If duty is not enough to get us there, maybe our skin-and-bones starving soul will eventually cry out for some self-care.

– 15 May 2009 blog entry of “The Glad Sound”
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Protection and direction

“See,” says the LORD God to Moses and the Israelites at the start of the Exodus to the Promised Land, “I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.”  At the beginning and throughout the journey, God provides protection and direction.

God continues to provide His people with these things today.  However, like the Israelites, I often desire only the protection part and not so much the direction!  I am eager for safety from harm and danger, but I show hesitation when I feel called or led somewhere I’m not all that thrilled about going.  In short, I want the blessings but not the duties, the rights but not the responsibilities.

This is not a new problem.  Quite happy with God’s protection, the Israelites repeatedly sinned against Him even long before they reached the Promised Land.  But God never gave up on them, calling them His people throughout the journey and beyond.  God doesn’t give up on me or any of His people today either, even when we wander off course.  But with the help of the Holy Spirit, let us keep responding to His invitation, “Return to me.”

Theologically simple, spiritually profound

My friend and colleague Rick Apperson (who recently moved from the city of Smithers to the suburbs of Telkwa!) posted some reflections on his blog based, in part, on something that my 3-year-old daughter Hannah said.  How cool is that!  His reflections are here; what follows is an excerpt…

I think we should endeavor to go deeper with God on a regular basis.  However I think that we, the church, put people off by our secret language, our members only mentality and our complication of the things of God…

It is why I love kids.  Kids have a child-like faith that is incredible.  They just believe.  Tell them God moves mountains…OK.  He raises the dead…OK.  They believe!  They don’t take the cynical, justifying faith approach we have as adults…
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