A Perfect Monday

Mondays get a bad rap. They can be blue Mondays. They can be the excuse for almost anything unfortunate: "Hey, it's a Monday." 

But on this Monday, October 27, birds sang, angels swooped in near and "heaven came down and glory filled my soul." On Monday Annette's oncologist in Abilene said Annette was released from care. This was after the check-up at the end of about five years since Annette was diagnosed with a stage 2A invasive ductile carcinoma that was estrogen receptor negative and strongly HER-2 Neu positive. That is cancer speak for a mean motor scooter of a breast tumor. Now after a lumpectomy, rounds of chemotherapy and weeks of radiation in 2004 and years of watching, we are set free to embrace the notion of complete remission and an out of commission cancer. 

Annette has been the focal point of the prayers of thousands of faithful brothers and sisters. God has blessed her and us with great gifts. 

The first gift was the cancer itself. Both of us have been profoundly changed. Our relationship is lived in the now, not in the some day. Our relationship to God is more immediate and honest. 

The second gift was the gift of the fellowship of the church. We received prayers, visits, a week of rice and broccoli, cards by the hundreds and on and on the blessings go. The church may not be perfect, but it is the Body of Christ being made perfect bit by bit. 

The third gift is the gift of more life in this world. We do anticipate the life to come and believe it to be the existence that will someday make our time here just a dim memory, but Annette does love the feel of her children in her arms. She does love the laughter of her friends. She loves to sing in worship, lifting her hands to the Lord. She likes butterflies and chocolate. And she loves walking in the park with a certain grandson. Annette and I receive life here as gift and grace—everyday.

So it was a Monday. What a great day! Just thought you might want to know about it. Celebrate with us.

God bless us all.

Into the Hands of God

The challenge to live in the kingdom of God gives us choices every day. The reign of God, on earth as it is in heaven, confronts every value this world holds dear and every source of security on which it trusts. Philip Yancey writes in The Jesus I Never Knew that the church embraced the very promises Satan made to Jesus in the wilderness temptations. Jesus rejected miracle, authority and mystery as sources of selfish security. The secular church took them into its selfish heart with joy. The power was so seductive. The illusion of control and stability was too much to let go. Miracle, authority and mystery wrapped in God-language, but disconnected from relationship with God, created great darkness.

We understand that the evil one stands ready to tempt us to life without radical dependence on God, without complete trust in the gracious blood of Jesus, without joy in the continuing fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Rejecting that temptation we commit ourselves to lives of faith trusting in the power and presence of God. Even when we cannot see exactly what God is doing, we will resist the urge to bring our lives into our own control.

Ruth Haley Barton in her book Solitude and Silence writes that a commitment to be in God's presence requires a decision and a practice. The practice is devotional solitude and silence. The decision is "to release the world and its fate, along with your reputation and success into the hands of God." That decision frames our resolve to enter the kingdom rule of God. We can make that decision. Our church makes that same commitment: to release the world and its fate, along with the reputation of University Avenue and our desire for its success into the hands of God.

What freedom there is in leaving the illusion of control and in entering the reality of walking with God in faith! The life of faith becomes adventure, risk and sacrifice. We move from what we plan and control to what God gives which is "more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…."

The Gentleness of God

This Sunday most of the adult classes at UA will study the gentleness of God. The word translated "gentleness" is also the word translated "meekness" in many texts and versions. How can God be meek?

Gentleness or meekness is a word used to describe, among other things,  an animal that has been trained to accept a saddle, bridle, or harness. One of the greatest things you can hear about a horse you are about to mount is that the horse is gentle. Could it be that we should be reassured that our God is not one of unbridled emotions? Could it be that our God, the God who is God, is disciplined by his great love? 

Another definition of gentleness or meekness is that it is quality that allows someone to lose herself in something larger than herself. Jesus came into the world as one willing to empty himself for the sake of the redemptive work of God. Does God have the ability to give up some of his power and glory for the sake of our salvation? Absolutely! Jesus did just that. 

The Holy Spirit continues that gentle and meek behavior as he humbles himself to indwell our lives. What is the Holy Spirit of God doing in a cesspool like my heart? The Holy Spirit is there to work with my faith to create holiness in me. He is doing the same in you.

The Holy Spirit indwells the temple that each Christian fellowship becomes for God. Our churches are so imperfect. How does the Spirit of God remain among us? Some folks walk out on congregations that the Holy Spirit will never leave. The Holy Spirit is more meek. 

The gentleness in Scripture is not softness or weakness. Numbers 12:3 says that Moses was the meekest, humblest, gentlest man. Moses was no softy. He was willing to be harnessed by God for a difficult task over a long period of time. There is no long obedience without meekness or gentleness. 

In Matthew 11:28-30 we hear the invitation from the gentle, humble, meek One to become like him and accept his Lordship in our lives: 

Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

God bless us all. 

God Is Really Among You

One of the striking verses in 1 Corinthians 14 is 14:25. Paul writes that an unbeliever should be able to leave an assembly of Christians with a clear sense that God was with those people in that place during that time of worship. I think there should be a beatitude saying, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for God, for when they are in the assembly of God's children, God will join them." I think I could find the verses to make that beatitude come to life. We know that it is true.

Here in the heart of Austin, we have a hunger in our hearts for God. God is willing to join us as the Spirit within our hearts as he indwells us and among us as we gather as the temple of God. We are going to practice inviting God to join us. We are going to invite and welcome the Holy Spirit into our worship assembly. This Sunday we will pray the following prayer together as we begin our time of gathered worship:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and every enjoy your consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

We always worship with Holy Spirit present. He cannot be absent from the children of God. Still we will be blessed as we openly and intentionally ask the Holy Spirit to come among us and as we lay aside all impediments to his ability to transform our hearts and wills. May we and those who are visiting leave saying, "God is really among you!"

This prayer is not a bad prayer to pray as we start our day—any day.

God bless us all.

When All We Can Do Is the Best We Can Do

Today I walked into Cade Calvert's room at Dell Children's Hospital. He is just a little boy—Stanton and Ann's grandson. He was in a bad wreck on October 8. The surgeons had to get bone fragments out of his brain. His little head has stitches wandering down the right side. He is just a little boy, precious and good.

As I talked to his mom, all I could say was that it was horrible for such a thing to happen to her son and that our church would be praying for Cade. Her response to our offer to pray for her son was to thank us for ministering to their son and family through prayer.

We have nothing else we can do. We can feel so powerless standing in a pediatric ICU room. We often express our powerlessness with a frustrated, "Well, we will pray for you."

Really…all we can do is walk into the throne room of our Father, the Master of Heaven and Earth with our Friend and Brother Jesus at His side and pour out our honest desires, wants and longings with the Holy Spirit speaking even more clearly the things we don't even have words for. That's all. And we do that believing that God will always act for the good of those who love him, even through dreadful stuff. That's all.

We should never apologize for doing the very thing we should do first and always, even when it is what we can do "only." Jesus cleansed a temple so that it could become a house of prayer for the nations. We believe he has cleaned us up, so we can be houses of prayer, too. May the heart of Austin be a praying heart.

God, bless Cade. Help him heal perfectly. Bless his family. Bless the others who were in the wreck. And bless us all as we pray our way through this life. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

UA—The Heart of Austin

This is the first post on a blog intended to reflect and bless the life of the University Avenue Church of Christ in Austin, Texas. I have moved from Abilene to Austin, from University Church of Christ to University Avenue Church of Christ, from ACU to UT, from the five minute rush hour to the 90 minute gridlock... and all is well.

The University Avenue Church of Christ (UA in all other references) is a church with heritage and opportunity. A remarkable mix of folks make up its membership. The geographical position of the church facility and the dispersion of the members over the Austin metro area mean that the congregation can have a broad circle of influence in the area.

Like a physical heart, UA can sit in the center of the city and pump the blessings of the Kingdom of God into the city. It can help provide the energy for the city and help rid it of its poisons. All that is necessary is for the people of God to act as his people in this place. In the language of the day, this is a call to missional living. We at UA are invited into the ministry of God in Austin. We are not required to begin from scratch. God has had a long established love for the city. We are asked to love it as he does and join him in his work.

I am excited to be here. The challenges and opportunities are great. The power and presence of God is evident. Our need to be conduits of his grace and love is absolute. Bless all who are caught up in the work of God. Bless all who every morning desire only to be Christ in the world. Bless all who are clearing the brush and desolation from their hearts, so the Spirit can come and rule their lives.

God bless us all.