Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.
Jesus, Luke 17:33
Our culture says: the good life = avoiding suffering + seeking pleasure. The Greek Hedonists thought the same until they discovered this formula doesn’t work. In fact, there may be no surer way to make ourselves unhappy than to follow this path. The Gospel of Jesus invites us to rest in His grace and love of God. It also suggests that joy is found in serving. The idea that the way up is down is counter-intuitive. But Jesus is clear, he who loses his life finds it.
First World Problems: I’m tired of the “first world problems” cliché. But that may be because I need to keep reminding myself that long lines at Starbucks and five minute delays while my laptop updates, are not real hardships. No one living in the Bahamas at the moment would think so. I’m quite sure they would also be willing to trade places with those who are bothered by the Cubs slide into third place and the Bears home opener loss.
Helping those in the Bahamas: Speaking of real need, if you want to offer help but have been unsure exactly how to proceed, you can click here for a link to a couple opportunities we have vetted.
Choosing to be Amazed: A friend’s memory of a sermon he heard years ago applies here. “The pastor said, ‘Why shouldn’t I wake up each morning, look out the window at the Camry parked in the driveway, and then jostle my wife and say excitedly, ‘Leigh, Leigh—you know that 2015 Camry that’s been in our driveway the past 4 years? The one we get to drive? Well—it’s still in the driveway! We get to use it again today! Can you believe it!! Thanks be to God for providing that.’”
Courage: Twenty years ago, I invited David French – then a newly minted Harvard Law grad – to talk about the legal rights of campus ministries at an Ivy Jungle Conference. Since then, David has served in the Iraq War, become an editor at The National Review, and contemplated a run for the US Presidency. I look on from a distance, pretty consistently amazed. Two weeks ago I was particularly challenged by this piece he wrote. It has left me wondering: how courageous am I prepared to be?
Systems > Stars. Like many others, I dislike the New England Patriots. But after watching just a few minutes of their dominant win last weekend, I was forced to acknowledge that,even without many of last year’s key players, – they are really good. It led me to reflect on how important systems are. And to wonder if there might be something to learn from their head coach, Bill Belicheck. (I’m hoping not. Did I mention that I really dislike the Pats).
Blindspots: Last weekend we kicked off a new ministry year with a Genesis series called Blindspots. It’s based on the idea that we cause many of our own
problems, often without realizing it. Tim Keller summarized much of the opening sermon
(which is here) in this quote, “The sin that is killing you the most right now is the one you are most defensive about, or just completely unaware of.”
Character: No one ever pays you to work on the most important things, such as your character. They just fire you if you do not.
Mental Health: The blogs I read lit up earlier this week after Jarrid Wilson, a prominent 30-year-old pastor and author, ended his own life. Jarrid, a gifted man known for his passion for Jesus and his advocacy for the mentally ill, had been quite open about his struggles with depression. In fact, the day before he died, he had tweeted: “Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure suicidal thoughts. … But that doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t offer us companionship and comfort.”
On a Related Note: Christ Church recently received a grant from the Henry Center as part of their distribution of Templeton funds to congregations that will focus on the intersection of science and faith. Our area of focus will be mental health, something the church generally says too little about.
Quotes Worth ReQuoting:
- Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter. Francis Chan
- Repent daily. Protect the weak. Sacrifice comfort. Forgive neighbors. Love enemies. Practice generosity. Don Bailey
- If you want to make sure of keeping your heart intact, you must give it to no one — not even an animal. Wrap your heart carefully ’round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change: Your heart will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable. C.S. Lewis
Three Stabilizing Institutions: There are three stabilizing institutions in society: the family, the church and the state. As the first two have struggled, the third has grown.
Closing Prayer: Grant, Almighty God, that as you see us laboring under so much weakness, yes, with our minds so blinded that our faith falters at the smallest perplexities, and almost fails altogether– O grant that by the power of your Spirit we may be raised up above the world, and learn more and more to renounce our own counsels, and so to come to you, that we may stand fixed in our watchtower, ever hoping through your power for whatever you have promised us, though you should not immediately make it manifest to us that you have faithfully spoken. -John Calvin (1509-1564)