Wednesday, October 29, 2014

A TALE OF TWO JOES - PART THREE

"Then the Lord said, 'Is it right for you to be angry?" - Jonah 4:4

Most people only know one thing about our second Joe and it's a whale of a fish story.  In fact, our second "Joe" (or "Jonah" as he is commonly known) has a story that atheists and agnostics LOVE to dissect and analyze as proof of their belief that the Bible is no more credible than Aesop's fables as a source of truth for humanity to live by.  From a human logic standpoint, it's difficult to argue with them on this point. The surface level of Jonah's story is pretty ridiculous, humanly speaking.

Of course, as with most things in scripture, there's much more going on in Jonah's story than meets the eye.

Jonah appears to be the polar opposite of Job. Where Job, at least in the beginning of his story, was faithful and patient, Jonah is an emotionally unstable wreck pretty much through all four chapters of the book that bears his name.  From the moment we're introduced to him to the final verse of chapter four, Jonah's characteristics and attitude are a wonderful representation of a spiritually and emotionally immature servant of God.

If you haven't read the book of Jonah in a while (or ever), I recommend you take a few minutes and familiarize yourself with Jonah's full story. Again, the book is only four chapters long so it won't take you long to see for yourself what happens to a God-called human being who makes all the wrong choices.  

So, go ahead and take a look at our second "Joe's" story.  I'll go make myself some coffee while you read...


......



.....



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...man, that's a good cup of "joe"...


Okay, I'm going to assume you're caught up with Jonah's tale now. I'm sure you'll agree, the guy was a red hot mess. He's also proof that God can (and will) use anyone, regardless of their emotional/spiritual maturity level, to do some pretty remarkable things for the Kingdom of God. I mean, I've been preaching and teaching for over 25 years and even on my BEST day, I've never preached a sermon that resulted in bringing an entire city to repentance and salvation.

Could you imagine what would happen today if someone were to march through the streets of Houston, or Los Angeles, or New York preaching the message God told Jonah to preach? Do you believe there would be citywide repentance in any city in America? How about any major city in the world?  The mere fact that God was able to use an emotionally immature Jewish prophet to bring a message of judgment and condemnation to a Gentile city which resulted in the city's complete repentance and salvation is a miracle of epic proportions.

Let me repeat that. Nineveh was a gentile city. The citizens of Nineveh weren't just non-Jewish folk; they were HATED non-Jewish folk. If you were a Jew in Jonah's day, you were taught to despise the "heathens" outside of your racial camp. There was no room for mercy or grace for any Gentile city. If you were a Jewish minister at any level, your belief system about Gentiles was marinated in hatred and loathing.

So, Jonah's initial response to God's instruction to "Arise, go to Nineveh..." to preach to these hated Gentiles isn't all that unusual.  In fact, were we in Jonah's shoes, we'd probably do the same thing he did...run.

After all, don't we run from most of God's instructions that we don't like?  Are we so different from Jonah when we're asked of God to do something that doesn't line up with our preconceived ideas or expectations? Aren't most of the church fights and denominational splits predicated on this very basic human quality of selfishness and emotional/spiritual immaturity?

So, Jonah runs from God's instructions and God pursues him. Not in anger or judgement. The Potter understands our frame. He knows we are dust and prone to these fits of selfishness. Again, there is nothing that we can do that will ever catch God by surprise. Never once, in all my years of rebellion and running from God did I do something that caused God to gasp in shock and say "Well, I didn't see that coming."

The Potter pursues Jonah across the sea and instead of calmly talking to his wayward servant, he lights up the kiln and sets fire to Jonah's rebellious plans.  Like Job, The Potter knows how to get our attention. He knows that when we're in full rebellion and making extreme choices in our attempt to run from Him that the still, small voice whispering instructions and words of encouragement isn't going to cut it. The Potter knows His clay and He knows exactly what it will take to get us on our knees.

In Jonah's case, it took being tossed overboard into a stormy sea and then swallowed by "a great fish". I won't spend too much time on the fish tale. Just understand that The Potter can do whatever he wants with His creation including preparing a wilderness journey that is tailor-made just for us. The Potter's kiln is unique to each of his clay pots. The heat necessary to transform Job isn't the same as what was necessary to get Jonah's attention.  The wilderness journey needed to change Moses isn't the same as what was needed for Jacob, and so on. Each circumstance that we go through in the Potter's process is created specifically for each vessel and only the Potter knows how much heat is needed to bring about the desired transformation.

Of course, we are still creatures with a will of our own and it bears repeating that the gift of choice is powerful enough to negate the Potter's efforts to transform us. It is this power of free will that determines the outcome of the Potter's process. All God is going to do is put the choices in front of us. We have to decide what direction we're going to go.

In Job's case, the decision was to repent.

In Jonah's case...

I take you to the fulcrum point in Jonah's story; the fourth chapter of the book of Jonah. It is in this chapter that we learn how Jonah used his gift of choice.  The very first verse of Jonah 4 says it all: "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he became angry."

So after everything he's experienced, after spending three days in the belly of a fish, after repenting and agreeing to obey God, after preaching the message God had given him and witnessing the salvation of a city so large it took three days to walk across it, Jonah's response to all of that is to get angry.

Why is Jonah angry, you ask?  Well, Jonah tells us in Jonah 4:2

"So he prayed to the Lord and said, 'Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish for I know that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm."

Yeah, you read that correctly. Jonah is angry he wasted his time. He's upset that he had to leave his country to come to this foreign land and go through all the trouble of preaching because he knew God wouldn't destroy the city.  He's angry because God chose to show mercy and 'lovingkindness' to these people.

Let me repeat that. Jonah is angry with God because of His mercy.

You may read that and conclude this guy is one of the most selfish human beings on the planet; and you'd be right about that. But, don't delude yourself into thinking Jonah is alone in this. If I can back the microscope up a bit and take a big picture stab at Jonah's character, I'd say that Jonah's bigger issue is that God did not meet his desired expectations.  Jonah's desire was to see this city full of hated Gentiles burn to the ground because, in his eyes, they deserved it.  In fact, after his self-centered prayer, the Bible tells us that Jonah's next act was to go to a hillside outside of Nineveh, build himself a little hut for shade, and sit under it to watch and "see what would become of the city."

Jonah wants to see if God changes his mind about destroying Nineveh and he doesn't want to miss the show. Jonah is so blinded by his anger that he can't see the 120,000+ souls that were just saved because of his reluctant preaching and God's lovingkindness and tender mercies. Jonah's priorities aren't just out of alignment, they're completely off the rails.

But that isn't the worst part of Jonah's story.  The worst part to this story is how it ends. There's no mention of Jonah coming to himself and repenting from his selfishness. No record of Jonah's moment of clarity where he realizes how cold hearted he has become and falls on his face before his merciful Potter.  In fact, there's no record of how Jonah's life ended at all.

The book of Jonah just...stops. It ends with the Potter addressing his flawed vessel in much the same manner that He addressed Job; with rhetorical questions designed to open Jonah's eyes to the reality of his selfish attitude and pride-filled condition.

But there's no resolution. For all we know, Jonah died on that hillside waiting for God to meet his expectations. There is not one jot, dot, or tittle of information about Jonah's life after Jonah chapter four. To me, that is the biggest tragedy in Jonah's story. That Jonah chose his anger and bitterness toward God over the Potter's attempts to perfect and transform him is a startling aspect of this entire exercise that cannot be emphasized enough.

We have the power to render the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent creator of the universe absolutely powerless in our lives. That power rests in the decisions we make during our time in the Potter's kiln. We are faced with the same decisions that our two "Joes" faced. Do we see ourselves through the Potter's eyes, repent, and submit to the Potter's perfecting process or do we stiffen our necks, harden our hearts, and tell the Potter to take his kiln and his kingdom and "stick it"?

Make no mistake. We all have a date in the Potter's kiln. God loves us far too much to leave us "just as we are". His desire is to transform us, to mold and make us into the image of His Son. The Potter knows the only way to transform clay into pottery is with heat and only the Potter knows how much heat is needed to bring about the desired transformation in every one of us.

The only question is, how are we going to respond to the Potter when it is our turn in His kiln? For far too many of God's people, the choice is to go the way of Jonah and harden our hearts toward God. I've buried far too many saints who started off their Christian lives on the right track but somewhere along the way they ran off the rails and never found their way back again. Not because of God's inability to help them but because they chose to harden their hearts, stiffen their necks, and go their own way because their expectations were not met.

Does this sound familiar?  It does to me. For the bulk of my adult life, I have had more in common with Jonah than Job. I've spent quite a bit of time living in hard-hearted anger because God had failed to meet my expectations.  I wasted a lot of years and lost a lot of precious God-given treasures because of my choice to get angry and stay angry. In fact, I have been in danger of my story ending exactly like Jonah's did because of the choices I made in anger and bitterness.

But God...

Yep, there's more to come...


Tuesday, October 28, 2014

A TALE OF TWO JOES - PART TWO

"I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore, I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." - Job 42:5-6

What you have just read is the entire purpose behind the book of Job. If you want the answer to the "WHY" question surrounding Job's story, these two verses of scripture answers it perfectly. In spite of Job's reputation as a "perfect and upright man", Job had some glaring issues that only the Potter was fully aware of; issues that prevented Job from becoming a 'vessel of honor' in God's kingdom.

I repeat, only the Potter knew Job's true condition.  On the surface, Job was exactly as the Bible described him in Job 1:1. As far as his friends, family, and neighbors could see, Job was a pillar in the community and a man to be looked up to and honored. Job was a religious man. Back in the first chapter of Job, we are shown a glimpse into his regular practice of offering sacrifices on behalf of his children just in case they had "sinned and cursed God in their hearts".  So, on the surface, Job looked like the most spiritually mature specimen that had ever graced this sin cursed planet.

But, like so many of us, Job had issues that prevented Him from truly knowing the God he sacrificed to. By Job's own admission, he had 'heard of [God]' but had never truly 'seen' Him.

Know anyone like that?  Ever met anyone that had been so expertly trained in the 'way they should go' that they had convinced everyone (including themselves) that they had their stuff together?  Have you ever had the privilege of serving God next to someone who was so blinded to their own flaws and weaknesses that they could not entertain the idea they actually had any?

I've met lots of people like that. In fact, for far too many years I saw one of those people every time I looked in the mirror.

The honest truth of the matter is, most of us struggle with this level of self delusion in some form or fashion. Rare is the soul that walks the Earth with a full awareness of their entire being; warts and all. Most of us put in an extraordinary amount of time creating images of ourselves that we want people to see. Everyone does this, especially in the church setting. In fact, the longer you go to church, the better equipped you are to project a false image of yourself to the masses and to yourself. All it takes is a few spiritual-sounding words, a few well placed scriptures, and even a few Christiany cliches and you are well on your way to crafting a persona of spiritual maturity that few people can see beyond.

But, the truth about ourselves is never hidden from our Potter and He is not even remotely interested in enabling us to live a lie. Thus, the Potter's process of perfecting his saints.

Contrary to popular belief, Job is not the poster child of superhuman patience and faith during times of trouble. As a matter of fact, if you read the entire book of Job, you will witness Job's faithful facade begin to crumble around about chapter 3.  Yep, immediately after his faithful proclamation to his wife about receiving both good and bad from God, Job actually does do what every single one of us would do if we were in the same situation as Job. He throws himself the mother of all pity parties.

Just read all of chapter 3 and see if you can find any form of faith in God in there.  Job chapter 3 is 26 verses long and every one of those verses is a long moaning wail from a man in terrible emotional pain. We understand that pain. We can sympathize with that pain. Many of us can even empathize with it. But make no mistake, the faith-filled, 'perfect and upright' citizen of Uz has been brought to his knees and it is ONLY when we are in this position that our true selves emerge.

Let me repeat, it is only when the fire of the Potter's kiln heats up that our carefully crafted self image melts away and all we are left with is the truth about ourselves. All of the Christian lingo, spiritual cliches, and memory verses that you've known since you were a fetus become powerless in the face of the Potter's kiln.

God is not fooled by a form of godliness and he is not interested in powerless religious practices. What the Potter wants is the same thing He wanted in Eden with Adam and Eve. He wants deep, abiding relationship with his most precious creations. He wants us to spend time with Him because we WANT to spend time with Him, not as a part of some religious duty. He wants us to pray because we crave that time with Him, not because a preacher told us we were supposed to. He wants us to get in his Word and 'learn of him', not because of a Christian checklist of obligations but because we hunger for that 'bread of life' that feeds us to our very core and brings us into an even deeper understanding of who He is.

The Potter wants a relationship with every single one of His children and He will do everything in his considerable power to destroy our self-image of spiritual superiority in order to achieve that...including send Satan to our doorstep.

THAT is the point to the Book of Job. It is a perfect example of the Potter's method of removing pride and selfishness from His vessels and filling them with Himself.  If Job is the poster child of anything, he is the prime example of a religious, pride-filled, self-centered human being that the Potter had to break down and remake into a God-filled, Spirit-led vessel of honor 'meet for the master's use'.

Need more proof of Job's pride issues?  Read Job 29 and pay close attention to the number of personal pronouns ("I", "ME", "MY", "MINE", etc) Job uses when describing his role in the community during his heyday.  Just take a look at what Job misses the most about those 'good 'ol days' when he was The Wizard of Uz.

Do you see what Job is lamenting?  Do you recognize what Job is mourning over in this chapter?  He isn't weeping over his lost cattle or even the loss of his children here (to be fair, he does do that earlier in the book). What he is really missing about all of this loss is the absence of his power and prestige in the city. He misses the position of authority he held in his 'seat in the open square'.  He is lamenting the loss of his power over the crowds of people who lined up to hear his wisdom. He missed being in a position to deliver the poor and the fatherless and the perishing and the widows. He missed being "eyes to the blind" and "feet to the lame" and "a father to the poor".

Need I go on?  Job's altruism wasn't born from a desire to help people; that was just a fringe benefit. Job's true motivations was he enjoyed the attention he received when he helped people. He loved it when "the young men saw me and hid and the aged arose and stood". His ego was fed when "the princes refrained from talking and put their hand on their mouth" when he was in the room. Job was overjoyed at the thought that his mere presence caused "the voice of the nobles" to be "hushed".

I mean, who needs God when you've got JOB?!?

Can you see why the Potter might want to do something about his pride-filled vessel?  Just in case you need any further evidence of Job's hidden issues, I'll let God Himself shine the spotlight on why He took such extreme measures to get Job's attention.  From Job chapter 38 to Job chapter 41, God shows up to communicate to his 'perfect and upright' servant. In those four chapters, God goes on a rhetorical rampage through Job's heart and mind with questions that no one on the Earth could ever answer, no matter how technologically and scientifically advanced we may think we are.  I could spend the next year focusing completely on the things God brings up in those four chapters and not even scratch the surface of who our Potter is and what He can do.

But I digress.

My main reason for bringing up these four chapters is in the very last sentence God speaks to Job. After taking Job on a marathon of His power, abilities, and knowledge, God concludes his lesson on the very issue that is at the heart of the Book of Job:

"He (God) beholds every high thing; He (God) is king over all the children of pride." - Job 41:34

There it is, ladies and gentlemen, in black and white. The purpose behind the Potter's process. The king over all the children of pride is on the throne and He shares power with no man...including the nobleman-shushing Job.

Job's response to all of this is the most honest and deeply personal statement that you'll find in the entire Book of Job. Our hero confesses his empty and shallow head knowledge of God with an added confession of his newfound vision before coming to the point that the Potter is desperate to get all of us to...total repentance.

Yep, that word 'repentance' is a loaded word and we'll dive into it more deeply in later blog entries. But for now, just know that repentance is what fuels our growth as vessels of honor. Repentance is the attitude that God is looking for. Not words. Not even actions. Repentance is a condition of the heart and only the Potter can see it. It is what He is looking for in every single one of us. Repentance is not just for unwashed heathens or lost sinners. Repentance does not conclude at the cross or the empty tomb or the baptismal pool. Repentance is a mindset and an attitude that obliterates pride, destroys ego, and shortens the length of time we'll be in the Potter's kiln.

Don't believe me?  Read the last chapter in the book of Job and watch how quickly Job's life turns around after his repentant encounter with God.

It should be noted that Job's statement about "the Lord gives and the Lord takes away" is very true. The beautiful thing about our Lord and our God is not only does he "give and take away" but he also gives back again.  In fact, God LOVES to give good gifts to His children.

But, it must be repeated that God's definition of "good" and ours is not the same thing. What we consider a "good gift" and what our Heavenly Father considers to be a "good gift" is not in the same zip code.

It is this enormous chasm between our wants, wishes, and desires and God's that causes us the most trouble. It is our selfish pride that fuels the Potter's Kiln and prolongs our time in its fire.  If we are not careful, our unrepentant pride can not only prolong our time in the fire, it can make us a permanent resident. Just like the exodus generation of Israelites who died in the wilderness...

...or our second Joe.

NEXT: A TALE OF TWO JOES - PART THREE






Monday, October 27, 2014

A TALE OF TWO JOES - PART ONE

"Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshipped. And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.' In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong." - Job 1:20-22

Meet our first Biblical candidate for the Potter's process. Everybody knows him as Job but I just refer to him as "Joe". Don't panic. Changing someone's name is hardly unprecedented in scripture. My reason for this name change is simple. Nearly everyone who reads Job's story comes away amazed at his super-human levels of patience and faith during times of intense troubles. It is because of his faithful patience that most of God's people tend to lift Job onto a pedestal of unattainable spiritual superiority. I know I've done that with Job and many other men and women from scriptures. Unfortunately, to raise our hero to such lofty spiritual heights is to completely miss the point of the book of Job.

So, for the remainder of this post, I'd like to refer to Job as "Joe" as a reminder that he was not made out of any special dirt. He was just like me and you with the same inherent combinations of strengths, talents, weaknesses, and flaws that every single one of us have.  Job was just your average 'Joe' whom the Potter chose for His vessel perfecting process.   

If you've been in church for any length of time you've heard Job/Joe's story. He is the poster-child for suffering among God's people. At the surface-level, Joe's story appears to be a random series of unfortunate events that culminates into the absolutely worst day that a human being could ever have.

In the first chapter, we read of Joe's troubles through a series of messengers who, one at a time, bring Joe nothing but bad news:

Messenger #1 told Joe about the Sabeans stealing his oxen and donkeys and killing his servants.

Messenger #2 told Joe about "fire of God" falling from heaven and consuming his sheep and his servants.

Messenger #3 told Joe about three bands of Chaldean raiders who stole his camels and killed his servants.

Messenger #4 brought Joe the bad news that all of his children died in a weather-related tragedy.

Wave after wave after wave of bad news slams into Joe until he is literally left with nothing.  It should be noted that prior to these tragedies, Joe was a very wealthy man. All of that livestock represented the bulk of his financial holdings. Think of Joe as a very successful ox, donkey, sheep, and camel rancher and you can probably imagine how devastating these news reports were. But none of those losses could touch the last one.

Joe and his wife had ten children; seven sons and three daughters. Any parent worthy of the title could not imagine the pain associated with losing one child. Imagine losing ten children. Imagine losing them in a manner that even today's insurance companies would classify as an "act of God". Now imagine losing your ten children at the end of a day of loss that has left you literally bankrupt. How would you respond to these events?  Would you pause to pray and thank God or would you lash out in rage and fury at Him?  I already know how I handled my journey through Hell and it certainly wasn't with praises on my lips.

Job 1:20-22 are three of the verses that elevates Joe to superhuman faith status. After hearing all of this horrible news, Joe's immediate response is to worship God.  Now, I don't know about you but if I've just lost everything I hold dear in strange and even supernatural ways, 'worshipping God' would not be the first thing on my list of things to do.  Bombarding the throne room of God with questions starting with "WHY" would definitely take priority over worshipping Him.

But Joe's response is to mourn (the tearing of clothes and shaving of head) and worship. Clearly Joe is made of sterner stuff than most of God's people.  But, the story doesn't end there...

The next day, Joe is struck with boils all over his body. These pus-filled sores put Joe in a permanent state of physical misery. In fact, the only source of comfort Joe could find was the coolness found in a pile of ashes and a broken piece of pottery (a fitting instrument, considering our subject) to scrape his sores with. Not only that but his wife, the only person he has left in his immediate family, turns on him. Finally, to add insult to injury, Joe's buddies show up to 'encourage' him with such sage tidbits of wisdom like "Gee Joe, you must've really messed up to have all of this happen to you."

When you look up the word 'misery' in the dictionary, the first two chapters in the book of Job should be the only reference you need.  If anyone on earth deserved to throw themselves a pity party, it's our boy Joe. There is no one who knows Joe's story who would blame him for feeling sorry for himself (except maybe his three 'friends').  But, as the second chapter of Joe's story comes to a close, we are given one of the most faithful perspectives during times of trouble in the entire Bible. Even now, I am amazed at the Bible's description of Joe's faithfulness in the face of such overwhelming trials.  Truly, Joe was an extraordinary human being...

...or was he?

Ok, I've set the stage. Now let's bring in the rest of the players.  You've already met Joe and his supporting cast.  But, there are two big name stars who feature very prominently in Joe's story. In fact, without them, this story does not happen.  If you're familiar with Joe's story, then the two mystery stars shouldn't be too hard to guess.

It is important to put the spotlight on the conversation between God and Satan in order to get the full understanding of the Book of Job. Not just the book of Job, but most of the Potter's methodology in perfecting His vessels of honor.

I would like to point out a couple of observations in this conversation between God and Satan that are vitally important to our examination.

Observation #1: According to scripture, God introduces Joe into the conversation ("Have you considered my servant...?").

Observation #2: Satan cannot do ANYTHING to God's people without God's permission (all that he has is in your power...).

Observation #3: God intentionally sends Satan to put Joe's spiritual mettle to the ultimate test.

This last observation is, to me, the most important. I think the image most of us have of Satan is this rogue fallen angel roaming the Earth with unfettered freedom to kill, steal, and destroy anything and everything God is trying to accomplish. If the book of Job is any indication, Satan is hardly 'unfettered' and, in point of fact, is unable to do anything to God's people without Yahweh's express permission.

Please understand the phrase "God's people". It must be noted that those who do not fall under that category do not have God's protection from Satan. For those who have chosen to reject God and His Word, Will, and Ways, Satan has no restrictions.  But for those who "love God and are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28), The Potter is working things together for 'good'; by His definition of the word, not ours.

In the case of our hero of the faith, The Potter has a definite purpose for unleashing Satan on his "blameless and upright" servant and that purpose is...

...continued in part two...stay tuned.

Friday, October 24, 2014

MEET THE POTTER

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." - Jeremiah 29:11

Before we dive off into a deeper examination of this pottery metaphor, I feel the need to spend a little time on the Potter Himself; specifically his nature and character as described in scriptures.  The Bible has quite a lot to say about God's character and nature. However, in spite of this treasure trove of information, there is still a great deal of confusion about who God is and how He operates in the lives of His people.

The attitudes and opinions about God's character and nature cover the entire spectrum of human analysis. Teachings about God range from focusing on the wrath of God against sin and sinners (Westboro Baptist Church) to focusing on God's loving goodness to the point of excusing sin (I'm ok, you're ok theology)...and everything in between.

I believe the primary reason for this diverse collection of conclusions about God's nature and character is fundamentally due to man's inherently selfish nature.  Don't misunderstand that statement. I'm not referring to an adult who should know better but chooses to live their lives selfishly. I'm speaking of the adolescent who has not matured enough to realize the world does not revolve around their wants, wishes, desires, or conclusions about life. It is this level of immature selfishness that I strongly believe has produced this mixed bag of individual conclusions about God's character and nature.

Frankly, what most of us do when considering God's character is project our value system onto Him and then find the scriptures that back our preconceived conclusions.

For example, the Christian who either suffered from an alcoholic parent or spouse or battled alcoholism themselves projecting their value system about alcohol consumption onto God and judging all others from that perspective.

Or the church member who grew up in a dysfunctional home with a domineering and abusive father who projects their flawed understanding of what a father is onto their Heavenly Father and concludes God is a merciless tyrant who is waiting for us to sin so he can punish us with extreme prejudice.

Even someone who grows up in a loving environment can develop an unbalanced view of God's nature by focusing only on the love and mercies of God while ignoring the scriptures proclaiming God's wrath against sin.

The truth of the matter is, God's character and nature is complex. He IS a God of wrath against sin. He is also a God of lovingkindness and mercy, especially towards His children. God's nature and character is deep and deeply personal. Understanding how He thinks and what motivates His activities on Earth requires a relationship with Him that, frankly, few people are willing to invest time in developing.

I was one of those people. In spite of my many years of serving God as a pastor, I had a very superficial relationship with Him. As I've shared in earlier blog entries, my relationship with God was dependent on whether He met my expectations on any given circumstance. To divorce myself from my personal expectations in favor of His was completely foreign to my thinking. Because of this unwillingness to consistently yield my wants, wishes, and desires in favor of His wants, wishes, and desires for me, I placed myself in a position to fail in every ministry endeavor I put my hand to. That failure produced some deeply flawed thought patterns and conclusions concerning God's nature and character.

After the ministry debacle in Galena Park, Texas, my thought processes and conclusions about God's nature and character went to some very dark places.  My anger and bitterness grew into an orchard of rage trees that bore some horrible fruit in my life. Fruits of vulgarity and fury, depression and apathy, and especially hatred toward anything relating to God and His people. In my wrath, I concluded that God was one of three possible things:

He was an apathetic father figure who could not care less if I was hurting or not.

He was a sadistic deity who enjoyed watching me (if not outright causing me to) suffer.

He was an antiquated figment of mankind's superstitious imaginations.

I vacillated between these three conclusions and in my darkest hours leaned heavily into the third one.  Oh, there were a couple of years that I desperately wanted to believe the third conclusion. I immersed myself in every art form I could find that substantiated that conclusion. For at least two years I baptized myself in music, books, lectures, even stand up comedians that strongly promoted the idea that the modern concept of a Judeo-Christian God was as much a lie as the Greek/Roman "gods" of antiquity.

But, no matter how far and how hard I ran from God, I could not escape. I had been bought with a price. God had invested way too much into me to leave me in the pit I had dug for myself. So, like the parable of the good shepherd, He left the 99 to chase me down and rescue me. In fact, He is still rescuing me; daily, hourly, moment-by-moment. It is in this season of misery and darkness that I have experienced what so many of God's people have experienced. I have met the God of the scriptures in real time and that meeting is obliterating my preconceived ideas of God's nature and character.

As cliched as this concept is, there is absolute truth to the idea that we won't actually meet the true and the living God until we have come to the end of ourselves. Again, this is the ultimate goal of the Potter's process; to empty us of our selfishness and pride and fill us with Himself. We all enter our relationship with God with preconceived opinions of God and of ourselves. The Potter's task is to reeducate us about the truth of Himself and ourselves. That reeducation process is generally what pushes many of God's people away from any meaningful relationship with Him because of the nature of the process.

I'm not going to sugar coat this. The Potter's process is rough. The closest analogy I can find would be SEAL training. The Navy Sea Air and Land special forces (known as SEALs) have what is universally acknowledged to be the most difficult military training in existence. The number of people who have 'washed out' of SEAL training is incalculable. Men and women who appear to be physically capable of becoming SEALs routinely wash out because of the severe physical, emotional, and psychological toll that this expertly specialized training extracts from each candidate. The reason why this training is so incredibly difficult is simple. SEALs are called to do things no one else on Earth can do. In fact, the general public is largely ignorant of the number of times SEALs have been called in to literally 'save the world'.

The Potter's Process can be viewed in this same light. God has called all of us to be a part of His Kingdom for the purpose of occupying till He comes. That word "occupy" has military connotations. The concept behind that word is the idea of occupying enemy territory for the King until He returns to claim what his called subjects have 'occupied'. The context of that scripture is the parable of the talents. God's big-picture plan involves raising an army of blood-washed saints, equipping that army with talents, 'gifts', and abilities designed to work in concert with the Holy Spirit of God's empowering direction in order to carry out the King's wants, wishes, and desires for the Earth ("Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven...").

As with any army, training is required; from boot camp to specialized training. This training is difficult, challenging, and in many cases divisive as it tends to divide the flock between those who are "called" and those who are "chosen". Therefore, it is imperative that we understand the true character and nature of God before we begin an examination of His process for perfecting his vessels of honor.

Why? Because if you and I do not have a firm grasp of who God is, the enemy can and will infiltrate our thought processes during this process and use our own preconceived ideas and expectations about God against us to convince us that God is sadistic, apathetic, evil, or just doesn't exist.

So, there are a few choices that need to be made before we embark on the rest of this journey. Remember, the power of choice is what drives your entire Christian walk. We choose every single day how far we're going to go with God. Most of God's people have the desire to grow deeper in their relationship with God. But desire alone will not do much more than motivate you to start the process. It is the power of our choice that will make or break our desires for a closer walk with God.

If we base our choices on emotion, we will only go as far as our current mood will take us. If we base our decision on a head knowledge of God, then when the fires of the Potter's kiln start to heat up, that head knowledge will not carry you through.  What is needed is the choice to commit to the the Potter's process because of who He is, no matter how rough the journey may get.

Because the journey is going to get rough.  It is going to get very rough. The Potter is going to use everything at his disposal to empty you of selfishness and pride; including Satan himself.

Don't believe me?  Then let me introduce you to our first example of the Potter's process in action...

NEXT UP: A TALE OF TWO JOES


Wednesday, October 22, 2014

OF POTS AND MEN



"The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.  Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make." - Jeremiah 18:1-4


I need to tell you from the start of this that I have no personal experience in pottery. I've never taken a class nor have I ever even touched a hunk of clay with the intention of making something useful out of it. In fact, when I look at a lump of clay, I often wonder who the first person was who saw some clay and thought, "I can make something useful out of that."

Having confessed my lack of practical experience in pottery, what I can tell you is I have done quite a bit of research on the subject with the goal of comparing the art of pottery with what I understand about God's method of perfecting His saints. What I have learned is you don't have to be a pottery expert to see The Potter's method in the madness of life's unexpected twists and turns. All one needs is a willingness to submit to the Holy Spirit of God and allow Him to guide us to all truth. The 'truth' in this case is an understanding of God's methods behind life's madness.

After a great deal of study and research, I have discovered six steps to making a clay pot that are pretty much universal in the world of pottery:

Step One: Preparing the Clay

Step Two: Forming The Clay

Step Three: Firing the Clay

Step Four: Glazing the Clay

Step Five: Decorating the Clay

Step Six: Finishing the Clay

Within these six steps is a wealth of information. In fact, I have been amazed at the level of detail involved in the art of pottery. From the different types of clays to the intricate artistry of glazing and firing, there seems to be no end to the creative methods of creating a work of ceramic art out of a plain old boring lump of clay.

But, I'm not going to bore you with the details of all of that.  What I do want to show you is how perfectly these six steps fit into God's methods for creating vessels of honor out of each of His followers.  In keeping with the theme, I humbly submit the following six steps of The Potter's Process:

Step One: Killing The Flesh

Step Two: Yielding and Submitting

Step Three: Passing The Tests

Step Four: Finding Our Function

Step Five: Walking In Our Calling

Step Six: Fine Tuning

Obviously elaboration is needed on all of this, and if you stay tuned to the blog, you'll get it. But for now, consider the cliched response that we've all heard and probably even said to others during times of trouble:

"There's a reason for everything."

What if that reason was actually identifiable?  What if there was an actual plan of action behind the madness that seems to envelop all of us from time to time?  What if there really WAS a reason for everything and you could actually know what that reason was?

That is what this pottery concept is designed to help us identify. How great would it be if we could get the full picture of God's desires, plans, and intentions for us so that we can consistently and habitually walk in the calling He has called us to?  The beautiful thing is God has given us the blueprints for His method and those blueprints can be found all over the scriptures from Genesis to the maps.  All it takes to discern God's perfecting methods is spending some time with Him and His Word.

So, I'll make you a deal. If you'll give me a little more time to develop these thoughts, I'll show you everything God has taught me and is still teaching me about this subject.

Sound good?

Great. Then let's start peeling these layers back and see if God doesn't show us some very cool truths that will hopefully bring us to a new level of growth and relationship with Him.

Stay tuned, there is definitely more to come...

Saturday, October 18, 2014

CONCERNING EXPECTATIONS



"Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me." - Acts 27:25

In the corporate world, we are told a sure-fire way to get ahead in the game is to exceed the expectations of our employer.  In the job I currently work in, this attitude is exemplified in a monthly "grinder" award wherein one employee is chosen by their peers as someone who went beyond the call of duty to accomplish something positive for the company beyond their routine duties.

Meeting or exceeding expectations can be a double-edge sword. Now it is typically true that an individual can find success in their chosen profession by learning their employer's expectations and adopting the work ethic and self discipline needed to exceed those expectations. However, the sad reality that many such 'go-getters' have learned over time is corporate glory is often a hollow prize with an enormous personal price-tag.

That isn't to say we should settle for mediocrity either. Having personal ambitions and goals is certainly a key component to a successful life. However, for the child of God who is serious about following Christ, there are a whole new set of concepts that fly directly in the face of our understanding of human expectations about life, success, and our purpose for existence.

The verse of scripture quoted above has been an eye opener for me personally. As I've shared with you, God has frequently used His Word to speak directly to me concerning issues I'm dealing with and this is one of those verses.  In fact, my Bible has opened to this scripture more than once in recent weeks.

The setting of this verse is a shipwreck. Paul is on his way to Rome to eventually be put in prison for the remainder of his days on earth. His crime is preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. His attitude concerning his current and future situation is one that has eluded me for the bulk of my adult life.

What you are reading in Acts 27 is a man who is fully submitted to "The Potter". His circumstances could not be any less favorable to him. In fact, his future from this point forward is only going to worsen, at least from a purely human perspective. What is most amazing to me about that fact is Paul is completely aware that "chains and tribulations" figure prominently in his future. Armed with that knowledge, Paul has obediently submitted himself to those chains and tribulations so that he could, and I'm quoting Paul now, "finish my course with joy".

It is very important that this point be made clear. Paul is using the power of his free will to choose to lay down his own desires for himself (personal ambition, goals, or plans for 'success') in favor of God's desires for him; desires which include chains, tribulations, prison, and ultimately death.

This is the pinnacle of practical Christianity. The ultimate goal of becoming a "vessel of honor" is on full display here. Paul is standing in the middle of a literal storm proclaiming his undying faith in God despite the incredible wealth of observable evidence that God has left and forsaken him.  The only logical conclusions one could draw from this scene is Paul is either a stark raving religious lunatic or he knows something no one else on that ship knows.

Naturally we are reading this story with 20/20 hindsight so we know the outcome of Paul's story. We know how God used Him in not only ministering to the people who crossed his path, but the countless multitudes of people who have experienced God's life-changing power through the truths written by Paul's Holy Spirit-inspired hand while he was in prison. We can look at the completed picture and see God's foresight, wisdom, and power on full display through Paul's experiences and marvel at the complex simplicity of God's methods in working through His submitted saints.

But, if you were on that ship with Paul and heard this prisoner declare his faith in God during a devastating set of unfavorable circumstances, you would undoubtedly come to the conclusion that Paul had lost his mind.

The truth of the matter is, God's methods do seem completely insane to our natural thought processes. The Bible is full of stories of improbable military victories (Jericho), impossible miracles (Jesus' healing ministry), and implausible spiritual redemption methods (the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ) that defies every ounce of humanity's natural logic and scientific understanding. Agnostics and atheists alike point to stories in the Bible like Noah's ark, the Red Sea crossing, or Jonah's fish tale as irrefutable evidence that the only people who would believe the Bible is a credible source of historical events or proof of God's existence are the uneducated (at best) or certifiably insane (at worst).

But, for those who believe in God at any level, there is a fairly basic understanding that God's ways are not our ways. From Eden to Armageddon, the Bible is pregnant with examples of this singular truth. Rarely, if ever, does God interact with humanity in a way that makes sense to us. In fact, as I sit here writing this blog, I cannot think of a single time in recorded history where God did anything that was expected, anticipated, or even logical to our finite human brains.

And yet, the single biggest problem we believers seem to have with God centers around whether or not God meets or exceeds our expectations of Him.

Paul has no such limitations. The scene in Acts 27 is a perfect example of a born again saint in 100% submission to God. For Paul, human logic, understanding, and personal expectations have all been tossed out of the window and have been replaced with hope, faith, and love for God and the people God places in front of him. Just as Paul had said to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:24, he no longer needed to survive. Paul had traded his need for survival for God's divinely appointed plan for his life.

This is the end result of the Potter's process. The creation of a consistently submitted saint who has been completely transformed from a self-willed, self-centered, selfish church attendee to a Spirit-filled, God-led, humbly submitted spiritual warrior who is 'all-in' with Yahweh, Jehovah, and the Comforter.

I've skipped to the end of the Potter's Process for a reason. What you are reading here is a perfect example of a completed 'vessel of honor' at work. At this stage of his life, Paul is as obedient to the will of the Father as Jesus Christ Himself. This is not blasphemy, this is the point of all of the Christian teachings after the gospel and baptism. The ultimate goal of the conversion of a lost sinner into a born again saint is not just to save us FROM something but to save us FOR something...specifically God's preordained calling for each individual believer in Jesus Christ.

Which brings us right back to the "why am I here?" question.

In Paul's case, his Divine purpose had been made abundantly clear from the beginning of his walk with God, including suffering "for [God's] name's sake. If you are a student of the Bible, you understand the impact the Apostle Paul made on the world, and is STILL making through his divinely-inspired writings. But unless you've spent a good deal of time digging into the details of Paul's life, it would be easy to assume that Paul hit the ground running in his divinely appointed purpose the day after his Damascus road experience with God and never looked back.

And not just Paul. The Bible is full of testimonies of men and women who were used by God to literally change the world at every conceivable level. Again, it is easy to assume these men and women were prefabricated followers of God who just popped out of the earth already "prepared for every good work". However, the truth of the matter is, with very few exceptions, every one of these world-changing saints had to go through the exact same process that you and I face as God-called believers in Jesus Christ.

So, the bigger question remains, what is this process? How does God get us from point "A" to point "B"?  What is the Potter's method for creating a vessel of honor out of a flawed lump of clay like me? Well, to answer that question, we need to move from the metaphorical to the literal. Since the Bible uses pottery as a metaphor for God's method of perfecting His people, it makes sense to take a look at what it takes to make an actual clay pot and compare it to the spiritual process of conforming us into the image of God's Son, right?

So, put on your smocks and get ready to get your hands dirty.  It's time to make some pots.

Stay tuned, true believers...more to come.


Friday, October 3, 2014

WAR OF THE WILLS



Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are His," and "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity."  But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work." - 2 Timothy 2:19-21

I have chosen the name of this blog, "Musings From The Kiln", very carefully.  I went through several names before stumbling onto this one. The concept comes straight out of the Bible and it is meant to focus on God's method of perfecting His people by way of the pottery metaphor.

God references pottery quite a bit in the Bible. In fact, one of His titles is "The Potter". The basic idea behind this metaphor speaks of a detailed process of transformation from raw clay to finished "vessel" or a usable vase or pot.

Now the idea of being a spiritual "pot" may not be an attractive sounding goal for you but what the pottery metaphor actually speaks to is the idea of being a "vessel of honor" which the Bible describes as a "sanctified and useful" vessel "prepared for every good work".

In short, it is in this pottery process that we discover God's answer to the question, "Why am I here?"

No doubt you've heard a preacher or two speak on the concept of God's plans for each of his children. I know I've spoken a few thousand times on the idea that God has a predestined path for each of his born-again saints. This path requires a level of relationship with God that, frankly, most Christians rarely achieve. The reason for this lack of relational achievement can be summed up into one word: submission.

Generally speaking, Americanized Christianity has a difficult time with the concept of submission. If you grew up in America, you were undoubtedly taught the concept of self-reliance. We are instructed from a very young age to approach life's challenges with a "do-it-yourself" mentality just like our forebears did throughout our country's history. American history is filled with tales of men and women who defied the odds, stood up against tyranny and oppression, and overcame overwhelming obstacles through sheer force of will and stubborn pride. Even in our modern culture, we elevate those who overcome their humble beginnings by pulling themselves out of poverty or difficult circumstances to achieve observable levels of success as measured by our understanding of the word.

Most of us enter our relationship with God with a vice-like grip on our American dreams and personal desires for success and achievement. More often than not, God becomes a footnote to our plans for our lives. Rarely does God's plans for us come into full view unless His plans coincide with our own.  Consequently, most of us have no problem praising and worshipping Him when things go our way. But when things go against our expectations and plans...

It is certainly not unprecedented for blood-washed children of God to walk away from God when things aren't going our way. This relational parting isn't always manifested in easily observable ways. Certainly we can see it when a formerly faithful church attendee suddenly drops their church attendance and goes on the Prodigal Son tour of rebellion and "wasteful living". But it has been my experience that we can sever any real meaningful relationship with God while still attending church and even participating in church activities.  Our churches are filled with saints who have stopped learning and growing and have settled into their favorite pew in their favorite sanctuary to simply "occupy" till Jesus comes. For far too many of God's people, that word "occupy" doesn't mean "capturing enemy territory" (which was the intended definition of the word) but rather have chosen to interpret the word "occupy" to mean "take up space".

The Potter's plans for us require us to live in a state of perpetual spiritual growth, regardless of our age or church tenure. Our personal growth and development as Christians does not happen by accident. We must "purpose in our hearts" to consistently and habitually submit to God's Word, Will, and Ways if we are to ever see God's plans for us manifested in our lives. It really is that simple. Unfortunately, bending the knee to submit to God on a regular basis is as foreign to most of God's people as fluently speaking in an unlearned foreign tongue. I have found that submitting to God is the most difficult component of practical Christianity. To put aside our wants, wishes, and desires for our lives in favor of God's plans for us is, frankly, a deal breaker for many of God's people.

Honestly, as long as we resist God's instructions to humbly submit to Him, we will never discover the will of God for our lives.

But don't listen to me. Listen to the scriptures

Want to know the plans of the Potter for your lives?  Are you searching for the will of God for you? The road to discovery starts with Romans 12:1. Presenting our bodies as a 'living sacrifice' is a poetically Biblical way to say 'submit to God'. It is only when we choose to yield our will to God's will that we begin a walk with God that few have ever experienced.

I wish I could tell you I'm writing this from a position of total submission to the Potter.  I'm not. Like many of my contemporary believers, I struggle with this concept on a daily basis. I want what I want when I want it and I don't want to wait on the Lord's timing. His timing is slower than mine. His path is filled with challenges and frustrations that I don't want to deal with. His plans for me are rarely the same as my plans for me. So I struggle, wrestle, and fight with God. I run from Him when the going gets tough and try to fix my circumstances to my satisfaction in the power of my talents and skills. I lean towards self-reliance instead of humble submission, especially when I am faced with challenges that I feel I have some control over.

Because of this position I have placed myself, I have discovered a lack of God's favor in my life. Like the prodigal, I have found myself in life's pig-pen more times than I can count simply because of my stubborn pride.

The Potter's desire is to form me into a vessel of honor. But until I choose to become soft clay, The Potter cannot do anything with me except work on me to soften me...

...and guess what the Potter has to do to soften hard clay?

To be continued...