When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom… Whoever derides their neighbour has no sense, but the one who has understanding holds their tongue. A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret… A wicked person earns deceptive wages, but the one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward. Truly the righteous attain life, but whoever pursues evil finds death… A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed… Whoever brings ruin on their family will inherit only wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise. (Proverbs 11:2, 12–13, 18–19, 25, 29)
“Tension” by erix! as found on flickr.
In this chapter of Proverbs the sage gives a contrasting picture between the wicked and the wise. The former fall into pride and disgrace, while the latter find refreshment and righteousness. Those who seek evil will experience ruin, deception, betrayal, and ultimately death. Whereas the righteous will be humble, prosperous, and will find life.
Reading these sayings of opposites can lead us to think that we are one or the other – wicked or wise. We can despair that we will always be beholden to our sin nature and we’ll never find victory over temptation or addictions. Or we can puff ourselves up, thinking with pride that we have this spiritual life sussed and conquered – we have arrived. Whereas the truth probably lies in the tension of the “already but not yet.” As Christians we’ve been redeemed by Jesus’ sacrifice but we’re not yet fully transformed. We still fall into sinful patterns of behaving. Yet as we live empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can enjoy more freedom and more grace to become increasingly like the righteous whom we see in these proverbs.
Humility; holding one’s tongue; wisdom; keeping confidences; sowing righteousness; pursuing life; displaying generosity; bringing refreshment… all characteristics of the new self. Why not join me in asking God to help us live out these qualities this day, this month, and this year?
Prayer: Triune God, I know that on my own I quickly fall into patterns of the old self. Come and live in and through me, that I might reveal your love, generosity and grace to those whom I meet.
I love reading Christian biographies; they remind me that God can do amazing things in and through his people. Here are two books that chronicle two remarkable women, which I came across in my publishing work with Authentic Media (we secured the Commonwealth rights for them). The first is a story of someone who dies and spends time in heaven. When I first heard that yet another heaven book had appeared, I was skeptical. But I started reading Waking Up in Heaven and was gripped, for Crystal’s life has been filled with drama even without the otherworldly journey.
As a young child Crystal suffered repeated sexual abuse, and could never feel clean – she got baptized four times as a teenager in her quest to slough off the old self. She got pregnant at seventeen and had the baby, but at nineteen had an abortion. Married at twenty but divorced after six months when she found out he was a drug addict. But when at last she found a really good guy to marry, and her life seemed sorted, she fell into a deep depression. Why? She didn’t feel worthy of her husband and his love (rooted out of the feelings of shame and self-hatred that she had endured all her life). And that’s when she died for nine minutes and experienced a life-changing transformation in heaven… You’ll have to read it to find out more!
I should mention another heaven book: Dr. Mary Neal’s To Heaven and Back. She’s an orthopedic surgeon, and her prose is not chatty like Crystal’s, but her scientific medical stance makes for a compelling read.
Another life-changing journey is that of Katie Davis. In her year before going to university, she went on a shortterm mission trip to Uganda. She fell in love with the people and the place, and knew that God was calling her to return there. But how would her family and her boyfriend react? At first she left the comfortable surroundings of her home in America for a year to immerse herself in Uganda; the plan was then to return to her life – her family, her boyfriend, her studies. But as the time drew to a close, she knew she had to stay. And she had to begin a family made up of one parent and otherwise destitute orphans.
In the years since, Katie has settled in Uganda and is in the process of adopting thirteen girls. A crazy path in the eyes of the world has been her following the call of Jesus. Radical obedience and the sharing and receiving God’s love.
What stories of God’s transforming love are you reading?
Publishing info: Waking Up in Heaven, Crystal McVea and AlexTresniowski(Authentic, ISBN 9781780781136) and Kisses from Katie, Katie Davis and Ben Clark (Authentic, ISBN 9781780780894)
Have you chosen a word for the year yet? This movement seems to be catching on, which doesn’t surprise me. It’s a simple but powerful idea (read my review of the book behind it here). One word is something we can remember and return to throughout the year. The word can inspire or encourage us; motivate and challenge us.
Some of my friends have been choosing their words: outward, recharge, joy, abundance. Rich words that speak to the individual’s creativity and circumstances. But me? Although I’ve been mulling over ideas, nothing has struck me yet. The page is blank.
I also like to choose a verse from Scripture for the year, and have been waiting to see if the Lord prompts one to me. Again, I’m not sure. One has come up two or three times, but it’s such an obvious verse that I’m questioning whether it’s actually the right one. Yep, I think I might be overthinking things…
But one beginning-of-the-year practice has borne fruit, as I’ve read through my 2013 spiritual journals and noted highlights from each month. My “word” for last year was flourish, and as I looked back over my journals – my conversations with God – I can see glimpses of growth, joy, peace, and contentment.
I love reading through journals because they instantly transport me back to the sights and smells of the moment. I had forgotten how leveled I was in February with flu, which took weeks for me to recover from. Or the times of waiting – one issue was before me five long weeks, during which I had to let go or go crazy (I finally let go). The journals also brought alive again our five-week trip to the States this summer, including our epic road trip. I relived the enriching conversations with friends and family from whom we are usually separated by a large body of water.
So as I wait for a word and a verse, I give thanks for God’s goodness in all the days of 2013. How about you? Have you chosen a word? Made resolutions? What do you hope for in 2014?
January strikes a cold note in the hearts of many. After the excesses of December with its celebrations and feasts, the new year dawns and we wonder if we’d rather just stay under the covers. We drag ourselves to what in an image-obsessed culture might be the ultimate reality check – the scale – and see what sort of havoc our overindulgence has wreaked. “It’s time for new resolutions!” we cry, horrified at the number appearing below us.Our biblical readings to start 2014 fit well with new beginnings, for we will examine the theme of our old and new selves – how at conversion we leave behind the old and embrace the new identity that is being formed in Christ. Of course, we could explore this theme at any time of the year, for the new birth is foundational to our lives as redeemed people. But looking at it now may help us to infuse any New Year’s resolutions with the riches of spiritual depth we find in the Bible. For as we shed the old self and put on the new, living empowered by the triune God, we are able to leave behind our former ways of life, perhaps those invaded by bitterness, anger, hurt or rage. When we put on our new self, our lives will show forth the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Our readings come from the Old Testament and the New, starting at the beginning in the Garden of Eden, where the choices of our first parents effected the need for a New Adam – namely Jesus Christ. We move through some of the prophets and see how they called the Israelites to have a new name and a new heart. Then we engage with Jesus and the teachings of the early church. The apostle Paul especially writes on the new birth and life that we can enjoy after we submit ourselves to God. He who was changed so radically on the road to Damascus writes with a passion and urgency that exceeds any bland New Year’s resolution. For if we put to death what used to cling to our earthly nature, we will move forward in the freedom of light and life.
Dead in Adam; alive in Christ
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked. (Genesis 3:4–7, NIV)
Adam and Eve. Photo by Svetlana Byaka, as found on flikr
As I deliberated about where to start our thematic look at old self/new self, I realized the obvious, that our best jumping-off point is at the fall of humanity. For here in the Garden of Eden is where we first experienced the need for a new self. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s instructions, instead following the serpent’s tempting invitation to come and eat, they introduced sin into the world and into our hearts. No longer would we walk freely, without shame. Now men would be governed by the need to work and women would pine for their husbands.
But the triune God in his graciousness doesn’t leave us in the garden, hopeless and helpless. He covers their (and our) shame not only practically – with garments of skin – but spiritually through Jesus’ death on the cross. We are born fallen through the effects of our first parents’ disobedience, but we can be redeemed by the New Adam who was the perfect sacrifice. As the Apostle Paul said in his first letter to the Corinthians, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).
We may be making resolutions as we’ve entered 2014. But true and lasting change comes through living in Christ. As he dwells in us through his Holy Spirit, he will help us to leave behind our sinful patterns of behavior and travel a more fruitful path of new life.
Prayer: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we dedicate our lives in 2014 to your glory. Help us to shed the old and embrace the new. (We wouldn’t mind losing a few pounds/kilos too.)
Are you a list person? Do this; do that; scratch it off your list. Lists can focus the mind, but sometimes we create lists to foster (or manufacture) spiritual growth. Change this; read that; be that person. And yet we aren’t made to respond to such dictates, as if we were robots. Love, rather than guilt, is a better inducer of change.
My One Word is a brilliant seemingly easy approach to spiritual growth, and a way to lose the lists and effect real change. Before God, choose one word for the year. The word will be “the lens through which you examine your heart and mind for an entire year” (p. 24). It will best reflect what you hope God will do in and through you. Say you choose trust. That’s the word you bring to mind when you receive the shattering news that you’ve lost your job. Or when you send off your teenage daughter on an overnight visit with her friend. Or when your grandson needs a medical procedure. Or when you move out of your comfort zone and visit the neighbour you suspect is hurting. Choosing one word becomes the way to change our outlook and behaviour, especially when we pray through it and seek it (or the principles behind it) in Scripture.
When I first read this book last January, I loved the idea. After praying for a few weeks, a word reverberated through my being: flourish, with a verse to go along with it: Isaiah 55:10–11 (“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it”). But I questioned that I got the word right. It seemed a bit cheeky to choose such a wonderful word. Yet I couldn’t get away from the idea that this was to be my word for the year.
But I didn’t put into place the many helpful suggestions the authors give about how we can own our word and incorporate it into our daily lives – I didn’t slap it on my computer monitor, for instance, or stick it up on the fridge. After a month or so I forgot about it. And only when I was leafing through my stacks of review books did I realize I’d let this drop. So a few months later, I started to follow through on my earlier good intentions. And as I look back at 2013, I do see flourishing and growth: the joy of friendships. The love of family. Stretching and enriching work. Finally joining a gym and loving group exercise. The close presence of God through it all.
What might your word be for the coming year? According to the authors, the ten most-chosen words are: trust, patience, love, discipline, focus, faith, surrender, peace, listen, and joy. All rich and wonderful words, but no doubt God will have just the right one for you.
I invite you to read this encouraging and often moving book and to join me in choosing just one word. May God transform our hearts and minds through the work of his Spirit.
My One Word: Change Your Life with Just One Word.Mike Ashcraft & Rachel Olsen (Zondervan, ISBN 978-0310318774)
Advent is all about waiting for the coming of the Lord. Well, it’s supposed to be. I’ve now cleanly disposed of any and all of my good intentions this year, having started Advent already behind. I was going to do less – fewer cookies and decorations, more time in prayer and meditation. Nope, that didn’t last.
But God is with me. Even with my failed intentions and manic pace. In the early morning, when I wake, mind racing with my to-do list, I force myself off Facebook and emails and snatch a some moments to pray and read the Bible. I leave refreshed and hopeful. Reminded of God’s love and care.
Jesus came to earth. He’s with us. That’s the message of the season – a message I’m going to try to hold within my heart this day.
Zechariah as depicted by Michelangelo’ on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Photo by Missional Volunteer as found on flickr.
I leave you with a prose poem based on Zechariah’s song about his son, John. He who had been silent for months was filled with words that have remained for centuries.
Prepare the way for the Lord
He’s coming again
To earth; to our hearts
So that his people might know
Salvation
Lasting freedom
The forgiveness of sins
A clean slate
Wrongs put right.
Through God’s tender mercy
The rising sun comes
From heaven to earth
Shining through darkness
Illuminating our way.
Even in the shadow of death
He guides our feet
Into the path of peace.
Come, Lord Jesus.
Come, Lord
Come.
Based on Luke 1:76-79; Zechariah’s song about his son John
Regular followers of this blog (love ya, Dad!) will note that I’ve been silent since Thanksgiving. Advent can be a shockingly busy time, which is ironic I know. Regular service here will resume in January, but here’s an Advent poem I recently came across, which I wrote in 1997. It’s admittedly on the twee side, but written with heartfelt devotion.
As an American in the UK, I’ve now spent a significant number of Thanksgivings out of my home country. It’s a day where I feel the cost of living here, being separated from family and friends. But we celebrate the day, and work hard to make memories for our children. They feel special for they get to miss school when all their friends have to go, and this time not for a scary medical appointment, but to go to St. Paul’s Cathedral for the annual Thanksgiving service, a quick lunch at Starbucks, and then home to prepare the food. And at the end of the day (we have to eat around 6pm because it’s just a normal day for many of our guests), we carve the turkey and sup together, enjoying our feast of food and good conversation.
But for many people, holidays such as Thanksgiving don’t hold the glossy-magazine image of loving family and friends surrounding a table heaving with tasty food. There might be material abundance but emotional scarcity. Feelings of loneliness and sadness. Seeing the chair that a loved one should be occupying, but which now sits empty. The family feud that hasn’t healed. The loss of job that weighs on the mind and heart.
When we feel pain and loss, it can be awfully hard to be thankful. And yet I’ve found that if I ask God to help me give thanks, he answers that plea. I feel a glimmer of hope; I experience a rush of love; I am overcome with peace.
Whatever your situation, may you know joy and love this Thanksgiving.
“…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:10–11
As I looked around at the multicultural faces on London’s Tube recently, I stood in wonder for a moment at the great diversity of the people created by God. I noticed different colors of skin; some who were short and others tall; those who were old and those who were young; all at different stages of life. As I paused just before hearing that my desired station was closed because of a security alert, I breathed a prayer that this myriad of faces would one day reflect that of Jesus.
It’s mind-boggling to think that indeed, one day every knee will bow and every tongue proclaim that Jesus is Lord. We don’t know how God will bring about this proclamation; we aren’t the judge or arbiter for the souls of others. But we can do our part to spread the saving news of the gospel – that Jesus through his death and resurrection can make us free.
I’m generally not brave enough to speak to strangers on the Tube about Jesus, unless matters of faith come up naturally in conversation, but I do sometimes remember to pray for the people crammed into the carriages. And I’m gaining courage in sharing my faith with those in my community – at the school gate or among newcomers at church, for instance.
Jesus asks us to be his hands and feet. Whom might you meet this day?
Triune God, thank you for that Jesus came to earth to stand in our place. Help us and save us. Amen.
The recent typhoon that hit the Philippines has shocked and moved us. I watched as day by day the angry colors on the meteorological map of the BBC website move closer and closer toward the island where one of my dear friends has lived for decades. Knowing someone there makes the crisis more personable; it’s a land filled with people we’ve prayed for since she and her family moved there (she was one of my roommates at university, and one of my friends since junior-high school). I was relieved to hear via Facebook that my friend and her family were south of where the typhoon hit, and thus not in harm’s way. My heart goes out to all those who have been affected.
I wanted to put a human face to the Philippines, so below is an interview with Lynette Tillman (she has lived their since 1992). She also shared with me the incredibly moving story of fellow missionaries, who live in Tacloban, where the typhoon hit. They went back to their home before the typhoon arrived, feeling called to be an incarnational presence there even though they were putting themselves in danger. Don’t miss their story of floating inside their house on a mattress while the 235 mile winds blew out their windows. I love that cans of Dr. Pepper floated over to them to slake their thirst…
A Blonde in the Philippines
Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines on November 8, and went through the middle part of the country. Several small towns were hit, but the hardest hit city was Tacloban City. I have not been there since the typhoon hit, but the images are jarring. Whole subdivisions of cement houses have been flattened. In as much as I would like to go and help with the recovery, it is not yet time for that. Right now, what is needed is for experts to go in and clear the areas of debris (and, unfortunately, dead bodies), and to get the initial aid of food and water out to the survivors. I hope to go in a few months to help either with debriefing the survivors, or to help in the rebuilding.
Andy and Lynette Tillman
I felt a call to be a missionary since I was a young teenager. My husband, Andy, felt the same call. When we applied with a missionary-sending organization, we did not specify where we would like to go. At the time, however, there was a need in the Philippines as many missionaries were at retirement age. We have been involved in traditional church planting, and now reaching out to those of other religions (animism, Muslim, etc.).
Being blonde – with three blonde kids – in my country means we are always looked at, always noticed, usually stared at. One gets used to it. When I was newly married I received more attention; once I had children, much of the attention transferred to them. Now that my children are heading off to university in the USA, they are having to adjust to not being noticed so much!
Right now I have three jobs. I am a high-school science teacher at Faith Academy Mindanao. Faith Academy Mindanao is a small international school in Davao city in the southern Philippines. We have approximately 150 students, with 60 in the upper level (high school). We exist primarily to educate the children of missionaries, but also are the only international school in our city, so we have several children of business people as well. I teach freshman science (physical science) as well as chemistry and physics. Second, I run a guest house for workers who are reaching out into difficult areas in this country. We provide an inexpensive (US$3.50 per night) accommodation for these people, who come into the city for meetings, in transit, or just to get away and rest. We provide a venue for trainings, as well as member care for these hard-working missionaries. Third, I am the child safety officer at Faith Academy Mindanao. As we are in the two-thirds world, and generally educate foreign students, we are not adequately held accountable for reporting suspicion of child abuse. A group of like-minded mission organizations have banded together to hold each other accountable in this area. So I work to keep our campus (and community) safe for child and adult alike.
One of the dinners hosted by the Tillmans
Filipinos are some of the most hospitable, loving people in the world. Currently we are working with the unreached peoples in this area. It is heartbreaking to realize that although there are many in this country who call themselves believers, they do not share their faith. The rich culture of these unreached peoples will only be enhanced as they come to know Jesus as the Messiah.
We are now experiencing one of the costs of being a missionary in the Philippines – our eldest child, Marisa, is away at university in the USA. It is difficult to be so far away from her, especially as she struggles to find places where she feels comfortable spending holidays (such as the upcoming Thanksgiving break which she will spend with 3 different sets of people, as she does not feel that she should stay at any one of these places for more than a day or two), and when she is just not feeling well (she has had a fever and cold this recently, and it is difficult not being there to mother her). Another cost is that if we were in our home country, we would not be able to live off of our current salary. Monetarily it is difficult, and as we are looking at retirement age not too far off, we do not have the means to retire.
But there are so many joys. We are able to see the joy on the faces of people that are helped. We have seen many come to know Jesus. We have seen people fed, and clothed. An example is that in early December we will host a Christmas party with any local missionary who is reaching out to the unreached in our area. This annual event is such a joy. For several who attend, this is the only chance they have to freely celebrate Christmas. We are able to also give gifts to the children of the workers. A simple doll or other toy (which may be their only gift for Christmas) brings such joy to these children.
I hope you’ve been able to support the disaster-relief projects through prayer and finances – Tearfund or Compassion or World Vision are good organizations to give through. If you’d like more information on Lynette and Andy Tillman’s work in the Philippines, you can visit here.
