Rouge River Community Church

Friday, October 30, 2009

Fear

How much of the human condition is defined by emotion? I remember watching the original Star Trek series, and some of my favourite episodes were the ones dealing with Mr Spock's suppression of emotions. The Vulcan ethos was the total purging of emotions, because of the frightful consequences when one was mastered by one's emotions. The challenge came when Spock's human side expressed itself; sometimes the consequences were frightful! The emotion I'd like to purge most is fear.

I've given this some thought. Anger has a close cousin in passion, so I would not want to get rid of anger. All the positive emotions would stay- joy, love, thankfulness, and so on. But fear has got to go. Fear has too much to do with loss and possession and self. Fear draws its power from our insecurities, our comfort-finding measures, and our dreams turned sour.

There are Christians our there that would have us believe that God does not want us to experience any negative emotions at all. They say that if we really are connected to God, if we really have His Holy Spirit, if we really believe and behave, then God will grant us a half-vulcanlike status of peace. Ya, and if I sacrifice my first born to the gods, the next harvest may be better. This neo-paganism has no place in the lives of followers of Jesus. Our emotions connect us with God, especially the negative ones! Read the book of Psalms if you need proof!

God can handle anger, bitterness, rage, even loss of hope. It seems that it's fear that he goes after. At this point I need to define fear. There is the good fear- the kind that really is an awe of God. The bad fear is the one that is expressed in worry and stress and heavy emotional burdens. The former helps us recognise God for who He is; the latter robs life of joy and disconnects us from God and ourselves.

When Job was spitting mad at God for his lot in life, God showed up and pointed out to him who HE was, and who he (Job) was. Connection. When David was humbled by his sin with Bathsheba and the loss of a child, his pain and shame led him to confess his sins to God. Connection. When Elijah fled Jezebel, fearful for his very life, he ran to the point of exhaustion. He wanted to die under that broom tree. It wasn't until the emotion of fear was spent and death was very close that connection with God was re-established, and that took 3 miracles, storms and days of desert wandering.

Fear disconnects us from God. Unlike most other emotion, fear erodes relationship. Fear isolates. Fear casts aside. Fear invites the devil's death into our lives. To overcome this debilitation without setting aside our essential humanness, God provides an answer. The discipline of what I call the "God run".

"God running" is the spiritual realisation of paradox in our lives. Just when we feel furthest from God, most lonely and unloved by Him, he calls us to run to Him. The prodigal son did. Peter ran to Jesus at the last breakfast (John 21). In the middle of his ministry, Jesus said "Come to me...". The word 'come' is a picture of someone standing far away yelling, "Hey! Over here! Quick! This way! I'm over here!" The appropriate response is to run. Fear is the wild animal chasing you in the wilderness (or garden) of your soul, and Jesus is that stronghold that gives protection in God. Run!

How do you run to God? First off, we need to recognize that we are going the wrong direction! Do a 180! If that means confession- confess baby! If that means saying to yourself, "Hey! I'm going the wrong way!" Then say that. Next, to run to God, to connect with Him, talk to Him. I know, rocket science, eh? Just talk to him. Need a script? How about the whole freaking book of psalms? Talk to Him. Just in case you didn't catch that, talk to Him! And keep talking to Him.

There is no magical combination of words, secret incantation, or religious act. None of that neo-paganism that is seeping into the edges of evangelical Christianity these days. Just have a conversation with God. He loves that stuff! Loves it! Do not underestimate the power of acknowledging a bad situation by talking about it. This is not some psychological exercise (primal scream therapy anyone?)! This helps because the one we are talking to has the power to do something about it!. And not on some whim, or if we make the right sacrifice, but because He is who He is. We cannot keep a covenant with Him because we are flawed. What does He do? He keeps His side and our side of the covenant. That's character you can depend upon.

So, next time that creeping stalker fear inches its way into your life, run. Just make sure you run in the right direction.

Peace

Posted By Andre Lauzon At 11:32 AM • Comments (1) Trackbacks (0)

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Shoddy Leader

That's how I feel sometimes- that I am a shoddy leader. I use shoddy according to this definition, "not structurally complete". I've noticed that many people choose a church to attend based on who the preaching pastor is. That's hard for me. I am community oriented in my approach to church. The idea of people attending or leaving a congregation based on the personality or gifts of the pastor leaves a sick feeling in my stomach. I know in that situation I'll never measure up.

I'm not a great visionary. I will never have thousands jump to their feet because of my preaching. I'm not as detail focused as I should be. I am riddled with weaknesses and insecurities. I don't have that je ne sais quoi of leadership that convinces people to follow me (or buy a used car from me). But for some reason, God has called me to leadership in His church.

I became a Christian in my late teens. The church I was part of gave me a good grounding in the Bible right away. Within a few months, I felt a call to ministry. That is a terrible way of saying it, but I know no better. I felt the call. I could see no future for me beyond the church. I asked some peers in that congregation what they thought of me becoming a pastor. I was universally shot down. Only the pastor of the church conceded the possibility. Soon I was at Bible College.

I soaked up the teaching like dry ground soaks up the rain. In my third year, I got that "call" feeling again, this time to run for student body president. When I mentioned it to the people closest to me, they universally encouraged me to run. I was advised against it by a certain faculty member, since there was a more desirable candidate running, with a better pedigree. "Do you want to be that candidate that is embarrassingly unqualified? The one that everyone tolerates during the speeches, and then laughs at when they lose?" I ran and won. I still remember how disappointed the staff person who told us the results was. She told the two of us simply, "Andre won." Then she walked away with other candidate to console him. Looking back on it now, I wish the other guy had won. It was a hard year. I learned a lot about leadership, but I still wonder if it was worth it.

I left school, got married, and ended up working as a youth pastor in my home church. I seemed to really find a niche. The youth group grew, and good things were happening. However, it seemed as though Jesus' words from Mark 6 plagued me there, "A prophet is not without honour, except in his hometown." It felt (that word again) like every leadership decision I made was second guessed. I remember one night I canceled a youth event because the weather forecast was for ice rain (freezing rain for those of you not from Eastern Ontario). I had parents go up one side of me and down the other for that decision. I actually got yelled at for it by one mom. While I was at that church, the senior pastor moved on to a new ministry. The board told me that when they hired the new pastor, I would have to give him my resignation on his first day, and he would decide if I still had a job. I still remember sitting in my office at the church, feeling like I had been kicked in the gut. Just then, I got a call from someone I knew from Bible College. He talked to me about a youth concert he was putting on, then asked me a funny question, "Are you happy where you are?" He told me his church had just planted a daughter work, and they were looking for a pastor with my gift set to come lead. I got that "call" feeling again.

Within months I was the pastor at that church. I stayed there for 10 years. There were some tremendous victories there, and some mind-boggling, soul kicking hard times as well. What kept me going through the ups and downs was that sense of calling. I was doing what God had designed me to do. About seven years in, I was offered a job at another church. It looked so good! A large church, growing and healthy. The chance to work for a great senior pastor. Everything I could want as a career move. The problem was, no calling from God to go there. My head said, "Take the job, this will make your career!" My soul said, "This is not God's plan for you." So I stayed put for three more years.

About a year before I left that church, I sensed my ministry was coming to a close. We were growing, planting a second congregation, in the midst of a building program, and I knew it was time for me to leave. I wish I could say it was that sense of divine appointment that was leading me to the next step. It wasn't. It was the simple fact that the bad days had far out-numbered the good ones. The denominational pastor placement "dating" computer spat out a few possibilities for me, but the River was the ministry I felt called to.

I have been happily installed here for over three years. There have been challenges here, but God has been present. I'm sure it was not a mistake to come here. I sure hope the people at the River agree with that sentiment!

Why the long testimony today? To tell you what I have learned about calling.

1. Calling is not always confirmed by peers. In my first church, none of my peers agreed I was called to ministry. At Bible College, many peers agreed about my calling to the presidency.

2. Calling is not always confirmed by mentors or elders. My pastor saw the possibility of me going into ministry, the staff and faculty at Bible College didn't see it in me for student council.

3. Calling, at least in my life, has always been to something, not away from something. God's calling is closely linked to purpose.

4. I do not lead or minister or pastor, or whatever you want to call it, according to my gifts or skills or my own righteousness. I lead, using the gifts God has given me as tools to get the job done. I minister, despite my long list of weaknesses, and because of Jesus. I pastor according to his righteousness and credibility, because in myself, I have none.

5. God doesn't need me. He chooses me. That goes for leaders and everyone in a church.

6. God's calling is not negated by my failures.

Peace.

Posted By Andre Lauzon At 9:21 AM •

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

God Moments

On Sunday at the River, we talked about God Moments. Those are moments in life when we sense an extra connection with God, feeling His presence quite near us. We saw that a God Moment will draw us closer to Him, draw others closer to Him through us, will leave is more whole, and will help us to know what we are to do in the moment or beyond.

We also discussed that, like any experience, we must evaluate them according to our life authority, in our case, the Bible.

We asked the two questions below, and we discussed them in small groups. Here are the questions and our answers.

#1 How Can We Recognize God Moments When They Happen?

-Be aware that God works in our lives
-Study the Bible so that it is in our soul. We will recall examples of God Moments from the Bible if we have read and studied them.
-We will see it in the after affects. Follow our gut, then reflect on what happened.
-Be intentional about investing in a significant and growing relationship with God. This will help us to know His voice better when we hear it!
-Slowdown! Practice meditation activities like journaling.
-Once we experience our first one, subsequent ones are easier to recognize.

#2 How Can We Inhabit These God Moments?

-Be courageous in engaging the moment when we realise what is happening. Follow through!
-Maintain an ongoing conversation with God.

If you have an answer to contribute, click on the comments link below.

Peace

Posted By Andre Lauzon At 8:22 AM • Comments (1) Trackbacks (0)

Friday, October 16, 2009

I feel more spirtual at Starbucks

Why is that? I'm sitting at my local Starbucks right now, tapping away on my laptop, taking the occasional sip of my venti hot chocolate. Does atmosphere really play that big of a role in sensing God's presence for me? Maybe so.

Several years ago, my wife and I took a trip to the UK. We spent several days in Edinburgh on that trip, staying with friends. We did the usual tourist stuff, up and down the Royal Mile in the heart of the old city. I fell in love with St Giles cathedral. Built between 1400 and 1492 (when Columbus sailed for America! Not that that is germane, but it gives an historical reference point). The cathedral was used as a place of worship, an indoor market, and abandoned at various times over the last 500 years. It was also a place of revolution and a place of conformity at intervals. The church I visited had high vaulted ceilings, in the Gothic style, with both gargoyles and saints looking down from on high. The sanctuary itself was massive and open. Along each side were little chapels; some big enough for dozens, others for just one of two. The picture attached to this blog entry is from Chamber's Chapel there at St Giles.

I took most of one day to explore and meditate in St Giles. Reflecting on the architecture, the history- Knox preached there!- I felt connected with God. I know a lot of that has to do with my personality. Big spaces draw me in and closer to God. For others, time in nature, or in music, or with large crowds help them sense God's presence. But for me, being alone in an old, large building is like spiritual meat and potatoes. So why does Starbucks do the same thing for me?

The Starbucks I'm in now is new, small, well lit. There are several people in ones and two sitting around tables sipping coffee. This is nothing like St Giles. The only common threads I can identify are the following: God is in both places, I was/ am in both places, and I was/ am really relaxed in both. I guess my mood affects my sense of God's presence. "Wow! What an insight! Andre has just discovered what every follower of Jesus already knew- mood impacts awareness of God." But what is the next step? To somehow project my sense of God into whatever environment I am, so that the car, the street, and even the mall become St Giles and Starbucks to me.

I remember having a coffee with a young woman who went away for a year to Spain. Someone had given her a Bible just before she left. The adjustment to the culture was difficult for her, so she would take the Bible and go down to the beach to sit and read and think and journal. She met God that year. In the old evangelical sense, she "got saved" that year. When she came back to Canada, I was taken with her serenity. I sensed God just being in the same room with her. Somehow, she was able to take the beach, and project that atmosphere into every situation she found herself. I asked how she did it. She said, "I know in a deep and satisfying way that God loves me. That's all I need to know." All this, without setting foot in a church. I envy her.

Where do you connect with God? What atmosphere chases away the distractions, and allows Gods presence to fill your soul and your environment? How do you take God's presence into every situation? What hinders you? Jump into the discussion by clicking the comment link below.

Peace.

Posted By Andre Lauzon At 2:06 PM • Comments (1) Trackbacks (0)

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Legalism

Legalism can be defined as rules that get in the way of living. I like that definition. Living free is why God gave the Jewish people the Law- the first five books of the Old Testament in the Bible. The law was summed up in the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. God was taking a people out of four-hundred years of slavery in Egypt. They had held on to pieces of their own culture, but in many ways they were very Egyptian. God's "rules" found in the law was His way of setting up a whole new society, helping the former slaves shed elements of a culture not their own. God did this to help the transition from slavery to freedom. Somehow though, in the subsequent centuries, the leaders of the nation turned these freedom rules into another form of slavery- legalism.

Fast forward to Israel in the first century. The Sadducees, a liberal leaning religio-political group is in charge of the Temple in Jerusalem, established to that position by their Roman overseers. Zealots, a terrorist group is busy planning attacks on Roman strongholds. The Essenes, essentially Jewish monks, are in the desert, withdrawing from society, expectant for a coming messiah. The Pharisees, a conservative Jewish group, have started a "Back to the Torah" movement, centered around the establishment of synagogues in every Jewish community. Every person living in Israel of the day had expectations placed on them by these various groups. The Pharisees expected a people to follow "the Law", even beyond what was listed in the Torah. A set of over 600 oral rules or traditions were established and passed down to each generation. What once had been a symbol of freedom had become a yoke of oppression and manipulation in a highly charged political atmosphere. The big loser was the common person, just trying to live their lives. It is into this situation that Jesus begins to teach, heal and challenge.

Click on the link to read Matthew 12:1-14.

There are a few things we can learn from this passage about legalism:

Legalism leads to judgmental attitudes (v2)

Jesus' disciples picked a few ripe grain heads off the stalks. The Pharisees freaked out and accused them of breaking the law. Any regular person would have been fearful of this. Jesus took on the bullies.

Legalism twists the real meaning of Scripture (v 2-8)

They said Jesus' group had broken the law by harvesting grain on the sabbath. No way! Deuteronomy 32:25 says clearly that, "And when you enter your neighbor’s field of grain, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not harvest it with a sickle." Harvesting is not done with the hands, it is done with a tool, a sickle in that culture. To say they were harvesting was a twisting of scripture for some political purpose. If their complaint was that it happened on the sabbath, they were still out to lunch. The disciples were not working, they were eating, in a perfectly acceptable manner for the culture. The Pharisees were just plain wrong, and Jesus knew it.

Jesus fights them on their own ground- an argument based on the Law. He brings forth scriptural precedent from 1Samuel 21:1-7, and then refocuses them on what is important- relationship with God and a heart that reflects that relationship. He drives home his point with a most radical statement- that he is greater than the Temple! The Temple was the center of Jewish life and custom. It represented God's presence with His people and the Law He had given them. Jesus said that he superseded all of that. In effect, he declared himself God. The Pharisees would have been wild!

Legalism lifts rules above love, people and mercy (v9-13)

Matthew 12:7 sees Jesus quoting from Hosea 6:6 about God desiring a merciful heart over legalistic ritual. Jesus then illustrates this point on the Pharisees' home turf- a Synagogue. Jesus asks them if the Law permitted him to do the work of healing on the Sabbath. He seemed to be walking into their original trap with that phrase work of healing on the Sabbath. The Law is clear that one is allowed to do good on the Sabbath, as illustrated with the Jesus' story of the sheep falling down the well and being rescued (see Deuteronomy 22:1-4). Jesus goes ahead and heals the man with the withered hand, while pointing out his listeners' legalistic adherence to the Law actually twists its meaning and defeats its purpose.

Legalism destroys, it does not discuss (v14)

the last verse of this passage is telling as to the real motives of the Pharisees. That they called a meeting to plan to kill Jesus showed that their hearts were about power and tradition, rather than love, mercy, and people. Their zealous pursuit of the law had taken them further away from God's heart, not closer. That they had to plan in secret to kill Jesus shows that they knew they did not have the authority under the Romans, nor the mandate under the Scripture to execute him openly. By their own tradition, the Pharisees should have engaged Jesus in debate and discussion. Instead, they revealed themselves as the cowardly bullies they were.

What does this mean for us today?

I have a few questions to help apply all of this to where we are right now.

What is the equivalent to the sabbath in our church culture? How are we guilty of legalism in the church today? When is tradition and power more important than the Bible in our churches?

I'd love to read you answers! Just click on the link below to add your voice to the discussion!

Peace

Posted By Andre Lauzon At 9:36 AM • Comments (0) Trackbacks (0)

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