Just Frances T 
The above clip came across my newsfeed today. In the midst of animals memes, FMLs, and other inane stuff, there was this gem of a story. Debt collectors being nice, serving people, in order to collect debts? Seriously? What happened to the days of harassing phone calls or even busted knee caps? Turns out, according to the owner of the company this method is far more effective than threats. 200% more effective than the competitors.
See, the debt collection company operates under the assumption that people don’t pay their debts because they don’t have money. No matter how hard they squeeze, there is no blood coming from a stone. Novel concept, right? So instead of trying to make someone do something they are unable to do, this company helps people to get to a place where they are able to pay. They serve them in any way they can, even as far as making resumes for people who need them!
This perspective not only is more profitable, it creates positive feelings in its clients! This company takes the burden of debt and makes it manageable. It provides hope to people that they will not live in the shadow of debt forever.
I can’t help by think this is a perfect example of grace. Like those who owe money to this company, grace recognizes that we are all in over our heads. We’d pay the debt if only we could, but we just don’t have the means. A lot of us are trying to make ends meet through doing good things or the “right” things, but our debt is too high. Instead of demanding us to pay up, God recognized our neediness and made a way back through Jesus. Jesus not only points the way back to the Father, he paid the price. Even more amazing, the Holy Spirit does the heavy lifting of transforming us, so that we actually become the person God wants us to be. Because of grace, we can have hope.
Grace is a remarkable thing.
I remember the first time that God used an unexpected source to reach me. I was driving around, obsessing about a situation beyond my control, feeling tired and lonely. I was trying to pray, but only succeeding at whining through my tears “It’s not fair! Why, God?!” Driving and listening to the radio has been a favorite pastime of mine for years. It’s a place of solace. Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling much peace that afternoon. All of a sudden, the song “Ball and Chain” by Social Distortion came on the radio. “It’s been 10 years and a thousand tears and look at the mess I’m in” I certainly could relate to that! As I listened to the words, it was as if I heard the song for the first time. As I sang along, I made the chorus my prayer. “Take away, take away, take away this ball and chain. I’m lonely and I’m tired and I can’t take any more pain.” As I sang, the weight I was carrying lifted. I felt peace and I knew it was a holy moment.
I know it probably seems odd, but ever since that day, I’ve had several experiences of hearing a song a just the right time or seeing a movie or TV show that opens my eyes to our living God. Songs that answer those deep groaning prayers I have. Scenes that reveal Jesus, even when the author didn’t intend it. In spite of all the controversy about whether Christians should listen to secular artists or watch movies not starring Kirk Cameron, I’d have to say that pop culture is one of my spiritual pathways. It illustrates truths revealed in the Bible in clear dynamic ways. It asks questions and reveals longings that Jesus answers. Most importantly, it is smack dab in the center of where most people live their lives, so it is accessible to a broad audience, just like Jesus’ parables were to his original audience.
I have a deep conviction that our living God will find ways to teach us, even when we’re not looking for him. Even when we try to stop up our ears, he can speak clearly and unmistakably. Those moments have been incredibly powerful for me because they remind me that I am in a relationship with a God who hears, a God who is active in my life, and a God who cares, even when I’m annoying myself with my insecurities. He is still my teacher, reminding me of who he is and what he has said. What an amazing thing!
God has broken through the noise of my world to speak, just as he did when he lay in a manger centuries ago. This is precisely why I unapologetically use clips from the Family Guy, songs from Katy Perry, Green Day, or even the aforementioned Social Distortion to illustrate my sermons. I want that same living, caring God to continue to break through in the worlds of everyone sitting in the church, when they head back out the doors. I want them to hear his voice in their day-to-day lives as they turn on the radio or veg in front of the TV at night. I want them to be reminded once again just how awesomely alive Jesus is and how worthy he is of our worship every moment of every day. I want those songs & clips to become reminders of the hope we have in Jesus forever, just as they have to me.
Everything for His glory.
P.S. Lest I get a bunch of complaints from my orthodox-obsessed friends (husband), I want to point out that I by no means think pop culture replaces the Bible. God had chosen to reveal himself and his redemptive plan in the Bible. Any other way I see God revealing himself in this world is in line with what I already know from Scripture, just reminding me in a timely, unexpected way. As I just read after I posted on Margaret Feinberg’s blog, “If we want to know God and recognize His voice and presence in our lives, the Bible is the foundation and the filter for this journey.”
I started meeting with some ladies from my seminary last fall. I knew some of them fairly well, some vaguely, and some not at all. For the past year, we’ve met fairly regularly, with a break during the summer. We’ve talked about the Bible and our lives and have prayed for one another. Over time, I’ve grown to really love each of these ladies.
We just started meeting again after our summer break last Saturday. It wasn’t a typical meeting (as if there is such a thing). Instead we focused on catching up. I realized in all the stories and news that so much has happened in the last year! One person got engaged. Another started a now serious relationship. I had a baby. A couple people have started new jobs. One person lost an important ministerial role. We prayed for one another about and through these things.
As I reflect on how much has happened in the past year, I realize just how quickly things can change. It never seems that way in the midst of waiting or trials, though, does it? As we prayed for one another, there were times that it seemed nothing was changing. It seemed like all hope was lost and our waiting would simply stretch on forever, like a lonely country road.
Once again, I’m reminded of the big picture.
All you saints! Sing your hearts out to God!
Thank him to his face!
He gets angry once in a while, but across
a lifetime there is only love.
The nights of crying your eyes out
give way to days of laughter.Psalm 30:4-5
Thank you, God, for your incredible faithfulness. Thank you that you’re at work even when we can’t (or won’t) see it. Amen.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
The first time I remember hearing Jeremiah 29:11 was when I was in college at APU. This verse was emblazoned everywhere. I loved it. It was so hopeful…so encouraging…so out of context?
My Bible-scholar friends harp on this verse being taken out of its original context and applied to Christians today. Sure, it was part of a prophecy written to Israel in exile, but it doesn’t bother me all that much that people apply God’s message for Israel then to God’s people today.
It was only in my latest reading of Jeremiah that I was struck by what was so wrong about taking this verse out of context. In the immediate context, God is encouraging his people to settle in Babylon: build houses, marry, have children. Basically, he is telling them, “Live your lives in exile and don’t listen to people who tell you that this isn’t my plan for you for the next 70 years.”
This passage is all the more encouraging when taken in its context because it offers hope in the midst of dark circumstances. Jeremiah 29:11 doesn’t mean that life is peachy when you belong to God. God’s people needed a big picture view of his plans for their lives. The Lord ultimately had good plans for them, but they were going to have to wait and persevere in the meantime.
The Bible says that Christians are aliens and strangers in this world, too. Much as I wish turning our lives over to Christ would mean a peachy existence in the here and now, it doesn’t. We, too, need a big picture view of his plans. Even in exile, we need to live our lives and pray for the world we live in all while holding on to hope for God’s ultimate plan (his return, final judgment, and new heaven & earth) to come about. That is our hope and future.
A week before Christmas, someone stole the windshield wipers off of my car as I was inside a thrift store buying baby & maternity clothes in preparation for Tuckito’s imminent arrival. As I prepared to drive off, I automatically switched on the wipers to clear the windshield and heard an awful scraping sound. It took me a moment to register what had happened. “Wait, would someone do that to a pregnant woman, in the middle of a stormy weekend?” Indeed, they would.
It’s really the strangest thing that I’ve had stolen from a car, but was definitely a crappy thing to happen in the middle of a stormy evening. Though part of me wanted to whine and complain and pray imprecatory psalms, I made a conscious choice to apply what I know from the Bible to the situation.
What I told myself:
1) This shouldn’t be shocking, seeing as how we live in a fallen world. That’s not to say that it’s easy or pleasant, but as I told Matt, “It is what it is.” I’m not immune to bad things happening because I follow Jesus or work in ministry. In fact, I’m promised that I will feel the same pain as the rest of creation as we eagerly await Christ’s return.
2) In spite of this, there are many reasons to be thankful & I need to choose to be thankful in all circumstances. The storm broke long enough for me to drive the few miles to an auto parts store for replacement wipers. Matt was with me at the time driving a separate car, so I could follow him and have someone help me put the replacement blades on. I was able to afford new wipers because I had just received a Christmas bonus this week. I consciously thanked God for the many blessings woven throughout a difficult situation.
I was surprised that I actually felt better, though I shouldn’t have been. Theology isn’t just for Sunday sermons or seminary students; I have to apply it to my life to feel its transformative effects. When I ask God to help me see things through a Biblical lens, he’s been faithful to show me. But it’s a conscious choice to look at life that way. I’m not always great at this. In fact, handling this situation in this way is the exception for me…which leads me to one more thing for which I can consciously thank God,
God is changing me in ways I never expected and showing me through situations I wouldn’t have wanted. Thank you, Jesus.
There are some days that are harder than others to be in ministry. Some days, the words I say don’t come out the way I mean for them to. Some days, the words that should not come out of me come flooding out. On days such as these, I’m tempted to pack it in, to quit opening my mouth for good (as if I had the self-control for that anyway). I’m tempted to give up on God ever being able to work in me or speak through me.
Moments like these test my faith in the Gospel message. Do I really believe that God loves me irrevocably? Do I really believe that God still uses people who aren’t perfect? Do I really believe that God will carry on his good work in me until completion? Such theological truths are a lot easier to affirm when things are going as planned.
I have to believe days like these are a gift. They’re a gift because they call me to listen to God’s voice over my own fear and doubts. They’re a gift because they humble me, which I need a lot more often than I realize.They’re a gift to those I minister to and with because not only do they free me up from the feeling that I have to have everything together all the time, but my honest failures and mistakes free others up to be human, too.
But I’ll still believe though there’s cracks you’ll see,
When I’m on my knees I’ll still believe,
And when I’ve hit the ground, neither lost nor found,
If you’ll believe in me I’ll still believe
-Mumford & Sons, Holland Road
I was thinking recently that if I ever had the chance to speak at a seminary graduation again, I would discuss the fact that there are no rock stars in ministry.
I attended such a graduation a few months back and noticed that several of the young graduates had it in mind to make a big splash somewhere post-graduation: planting churches and/or being a senior pastor were most often their hope for a next (and often first?!?) step in ministry.
There’s something to be said for zeal and passion to do ministry. So often, when we’re young and idealistic about everything, we can accomplish great feats just by sheer bravado, youthful energy, and force of will. Why not sublimate that into ministry and work for the kingdom of God?
The problem is that there’s no “Christ” in that version of Christian leadership. Ladder climbing and unchecked ambition have been raised to the level of virtue in American culture; sadly, that has bled over into our churches. I don’t remember the Bible telling me to rely on bravado and force of will to get things done.
I simply can’t reconcile the version of rock star ministry that so many people aim for with what I read about Jesus:
You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had,
who though he existed in the form of God
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
but emptied himself
by taking on the form of a slave,
by looking like other men,
and by sharing in human nature.
He humbled himself,
by becoming obedient to the point of death
– even death on a cross!
Philippians 2:5-8, 26 NET
Leading like Christ is servant leadership.
How on earth can I expect to truly minister to others if I’m always looking for them to make decisions to make me look good/feed my ambition? How can I possibly communicate that I care for others when I view my current ministry as merely a stepping stone on my way to the next, bigger place? How can I even claim that I’m following Jesus when my ministry lacks the humility and sacrifice that defined his?
The ability to lead is a God-given gift that should be exercised for his glory and to benefit others. Looking out for number one diminishes our ability to do either of those things. Handling our spiritual gifts well means tempering our strengths with humility.
Praising the one who has a gift is silly; the Creator who gives those gifts is worthy of worship. People will frequently get confused about this and want to make spiritual leaders into idols. That is all the more reason that the leader needs to know the difference and continually point people back to Jesus in both their words and the way they lead.
I’ve been following the news about a group of students who were suspended for a senior prank they pulled just before finals. Their suspension meant they would not be allowed to participate in commencement exercises or in taking their finals. Of course, their parents were livid, but surprisingly not at the students. Instead, they took legal action against the school!?!
The story is incredibly horrifying to me because the school made the punishment for such a prank known before it occurred, yet the students chose to willfully disobey. They knew the consequences and now their parents want to spare them the punishment. What kind of message are they sending?
I’ve been reading the Bible in chronological order for a couple weeks now. I’m really enjoying becoming reacquainted with the story of Israel, though it certainly can be like looking in a painfully truthful mirror at times. This morning I read this passage:
40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.”41 But Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the Lord, when that will not succeed?42 Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies.43 For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.”44 But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp.45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah. Numbers 14:40-45, ESV
I spoke on Matthew’s account of Jesus’ temptation in the desert last weekend at my church. After the message, I received an interesting question.
“Jesus said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test,’ but what about the verse that says, ‘test me in this?’ Read More
Frances
Just Frances T 