"Earth's crammed with heaven
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees takes off his shoes--
The rest sit around and pluck blackberries."
(Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
Maybe that's why so often Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear..." The Heavens are telling of the glory of God and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." (Psalm 19:1)
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
BOOK REVIEW: Finding God Beyond Harvard, by Kelly Kullberg
Last year, in preparing to begin a new ministry within our church called theMANSION (www.themansionsb.com) I read a number of books dealing with how to reach the 18-35 year old. Many of the books were good, but this book, recommended by a friend, was literally transforming even though it was not specifically about the 18-35 crowd.
Kullberg is the founder of the Veritas Forums, conferences held at colleges worldwide where Christian thinkers, philosophers, scientists, etc, can come and present a Christian world view in a secular environment. This is the story of how these came about, and the riveting drama that God used in Kelly's life to bring it to fruition.
There is a story she tells in Chapter Six, (Road Trip: Living in skin) about speaking in an incredibly hostile college environment at Albany University in New York quite unexpectedly. In this story we see vintage Kelly, compassionate about Christ, and compassionate about the students seeking truth in the wrong places. The thing I liked about this chapter was that it epitomizes the approach a real Christian takes towards those who are hostile and condescending and seemingly beyond being reached. Her thoughtful, gentle responses, and her penetrating insight were inspirational. Thought so many of the students were trying desperately to provoke her, her responses are truly educational--and far more importantly, truly Christlike. This book is worth buying just for this chapter.
Too often I find well meaning Christians trying to engage the culture about them that is decidedly hostile and anti-God in a confrontational manner. Fighting fire with fire. Not only does this not work, but it takes the focus off of Jesus, where it needs to be. In every case in which Kelly is attacked, she is able to bring the person back to Jesus, what He did, what it meant, why it changes everything. A gentle answers turns away wrath.
More than any other book or resource, this book helped to form our missional identity as we began our ministry of outreach. Our goal was simply to help people find their way back to God. Did it work? We began almost a year ago, targeting and engaging non-believers with the simple truths about Jesus in a non-judgmental and non-confrontational way. They came and listened very respectfully. When you talk about Jesus, they don't even blink--they are absolutely riveted. So far six people have given their lives to Christ, ex-agnostics, atheists, gang members, and religious people in search of a real relationship with their God. What most impressed me was so many of them sharing the same thing, that one of the things that helped draw them to Christ was the love and non-judgmental atmosphere of theMANSION. How powerful the love of Jesus through Christians can be, how damaging the hostility of Christians in the name of Jesus can be.
I can't possibly recommend Kullberg's book high enough. It will change the way you think about hostile anti-god students, the real way to reach out to them, and the importance and centrality of Jesus in the entire process. Veritas is latin for truth, and Finding God Beyond Harvard is truly the quest for Veritas. Good reading!
Kullberg is the founder of the Veritas Forums, conferences held at colleges worldwide where Christian thinkers, philosophers, scientists, etc, can come and present a Christian world view in a secular environment. This is the story of how these came about, and the riveting drama that God used in Kelly's life to bring it to fruition.
There is a story she tells in Chapter Six, (Road Trip: Living in skin) about speaking in an incredibly hostile college environment at Albany University in New York quite unexpectedly. In this story we see vintage Kelly, compassionate about Christ, and compassionate about the students seeking truth in the wrong places. The thing I liked about this chapter was that it epitomizes the approach a real Christian takes towards those who are hostile and condescending and seemingly beyond being reached. Her thoughtful, gentle responses, and her penetrating insight were inspirational. Thought so many of the students were trying desperately to provoke her, her responses are truly educational--and far more importantly, truly Christlike. This book is worth buying just for this chapter.
Too often I find well meaning Christians trying to engage the culture about them that is decidedly hostile and anti-God in a confrontational manner. Fighting fire with fire. Not only does this not work, but it takes the focus off of Jesus, where it needs to be. In every case in which Kelly is attacked, she is able to bring the person back to Jesus, what He did, what it meant, why it changes everything. A gentle answers turns away wrath.
More than any other book or resource, this book helped to form our missional identity as we began our ministry of outreach. Our goal was simply to help people find their way back to God. Did it work? We began almost a year ago, targeting and engaging non-believers with the simple truths about Jesus in a non-judgmental and non-confrontational way. They came and listened very respectfully. When you talk about Jesus, they don't even blink--they are absolutely riveted. So far six people have given their lives to Christ, ex-agnostics, atheists, gang members, and religious people in search of a real relationship with their God. What most impressed me was so many of them sharing the same thing, that one of the things that helped draw them to Christ was the love and non-judgmental atmosphere of theMANSION. How powerful the love of Jesus through Christians can be, how damaging the hostility of Christians in the name of Jesus can be.
I can't possibly recommend Kullberg's book high enough. It will change the way you think about hostile anti-god students, the real way to reach out to them, and the importance and centrality of Jesus in the entire process. Veritas is latin for truth, and Finding God Beyond Harvard is truly the quest for Veritas. Good reading!
GREAT QUOTE
"We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it." (Madeline L'Engle quoted in Finding God Beyond Harvard, by Kelly Kullberg).
This is so true.
This is so true.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
He CAN prepare a table in the wilderness
Psalm 78:19-20
“Then they spoke against God; they said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, He struck the rock, so the waters gushed out, and the streams were overflowing. “Can He give bread also? Will He provide meat for His people?”
I have this verse written on a faded and old 3x5 card, stuck inside a Bible by my computer. It wouldn’t mean much to anyone else; in fact they’d probably never understand its significance to me. It was a question the nation of Israel asked God in the wilderness when it appeared He would not provide for them. It was the same question that, 10 years ago, I asked God in a much more humble and contrite state. It was a prayer really. About 10 years ago, I was running out of money, hope, and ideas. I had left my pastorate, begun a new vocation that hadn’t panned out as I expected it to, and I felt certain that I had led my family into the wilderness by my actions. I was as low as I had ever been in my life. When your (apparent) mistakes affect others, the pain is magnified exponentially, especially when you love your family like I love mine. I was desperate.
I had no ideas, no resources, no hope, and a bank account that was almost gone. Sound familiar to anyone? Reading through the Psalms I happened upon this passage and was gripped by the three questions being asked by the children of Israel. Can God? Can He? Will He? I knew God could provide our needs, I wasn’t so sure about whether or not He would. My theology was in a struggle with my present circumstances which seems to always be the case. A man who once knew exactly where he was supposed to be and precisely what he was supposed to be doing was now rudderless in a leaky boat in the fog. A man who could once provide for his family was now facing the unthinkable.
Yet, at the last moment, literally, God provided not only provision, but direction. Ironically, it was the last direction I wanted to hear, the last place I wanted to go. I don’t remember a more humbling time in my life. I saw no hope. Fast forward 10 years. God has not only given me and my family abundant provision, but more importantly, He has shown me where He wants me to be, and precisely what He wants me to be doing—which brings me back to the passage. It took awhile for me to see it, but God CAN prepare a table in the wilderness, He CAN give bread also, and He WILL provide for His people.
I am currently on a sabbatical from a pastorate I have come to love deeply, and am sitting in my new office in a house of our own that God has miraculously (and I do not use that word lightly) provided. I can provide for my family, for others, and have seen for myself that “the waters gushed out, and streams were overflowing.” Did I make mistakes? Maybe, I’m not quite sure. God was sovereignly moving me where He wanted me, though the means were unconventional. There were things I needed to learn, important, life changing things. I don’t learn very quickly, and I tend to resist a truth if it does not appear instantly attractive to me. But I learned a very important thing: God is a GOOD Father. Perhaps coming from a broken home where three fathers turned around and walked out of my life never to return made that lesson a bit harder for me than for most. Good Fathers don’t love their children only when they deserve it, but especially when they don’t. That’s when they need love the most.
I just want to glorify God for all He’s done for me. I never spoke against Him as the children of Israel did, but my heart could find no assurance in his care when it should have. He has confirmed His character to me in a marvelous way. If I lose it all tomorrow, I am still blessed to have what I have today. He is a GOOD FATHER. He CAN prepare a table in the wilderness, so if you’re there I encourage you to find the rest it took me much too long to enjoy.
“Then they spoke against God; they said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, He struck the rock, so the waters gushed out, and the streams were overflowing. “Can He give bread also? Will He provide meat for His people?”
I have this verse written on a faded and old 3x5 card, stuck inside a Bible by my computer. It wouldn’t mean much to anyone else; in fact they’d probably never understand its significance to me. It was a question the nation of Israel asked God in the wilderness when it appeared He would not provide for them. It was the same question that, 10 years ago, I asked God in a much more humble and contrite state. It was a prayer really. About 10 years ago, I was running out of money, hope, and ideas. I had left my pastorate, begun a new vocation that hadn’t panned out as I expected it to, and I felt certain that I had led my family into the wilderness by my actions. I was as low as I had ever been in my life. When your (apparent) mistakes affect others, the pain is magnified exponentially, especially when you love your family like I love mine. I was desperate.
I had no ideas, no resources, no hope, and a bank account that was almost gone. Sound familiar to anyone? Reading through the Psalms I happened upon this passage and was gripped by the three questions being asked by the children of Israel. Can God? Can He? Will He? I knew God could provide our needs, I wasn’t so sure about whether or not He would. My theology was in a struggle with my present circumstances which seems to always be the case. A man who once knew exactly where he was supposed to be and precisely what he was supposed to be doing was now rudderless in a leaky boat in the fog. A man who could once provide for his family was now facing the unthinkable.
Yet, at the last moment, literally, God provided not only provision, but direction. Ironically, it was the last direction I wanted to hear, the last place I wanted to go. I don’t remember a more humbling time in my life. I saw no hope. Fast forward 10 years. God has not only given me and my family abundant provision, but more importantly, He has shown me where He wants me to be, and precisely what He wants me to be doing—which brings me back to the passage. It took awhile for me to see it, but God CAN prepare a table in the wilderness, He CAN give bread also, and He WILL provide for His people.
I am currently on a sabbatical from a pastorate I have come to love deeply, and am sitting in my new office in a house of our own that God has miraculously (and I do not use that word lightly) provided. I can provide for my family, for others, and have seen for myself that “the waters gushed out, and streams were overflowing.” Did I make mistakes? Maybe, I’m not quite sure. God was sovereignly moving me where He wanted me, though the means were unconventional. There were things I needed to learn, important, life changing things. I don’t learn very quickly, and I tend to resist a truth if it does not appear instantly attractive to me. But I learned a very important thing: God is a GOOD Father. Perhaps coming from a broken home where three fathers turned around and walked out of my life never to return made that lesson a bit harder for me than for most. Good Fathers don’t love their children only when they deserve it, but especially when they don’t. That’s when they need love the most.
I just want to glorify God for all He’s done for me. I never spoke against Him as the children of Israel did, but my heart could find no assurance in his care when it should have. He has confirmed His character to me in a marvelous way. If I lose it all tomorrow, I am still blessed to have what I have today. He is a GOOD FATHER. He CAN prepare a table in the wilderness, so if you’re there I encourage you to find the rest it took me much too long to enjoy.
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