Blogging on Soul Training

Why he returned his iPad

henry — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 03:02:59 +0000

This is an interesting article from the Harvard Business Review. http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2010/06/why-i-returned-my-ipad.html#comments and interesting comments as well. Wally said something Sunday about the key being slowing down long enough to listen. At least that’s what I heard. I’ve been praying for clear hearing. And clear hearing is about slowing down long enough (and slow enough) to listen. And slowing down is about creating margin. And creating margin is about being aware. God make me aware. Aware of my life. Aware of where your life intersects mine.

Our Daily Journey link

purblueple — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:35:45 +0000

Read the first 8 chapters of the gospel of John and you get the distinct impression that inaccurate views of two men—Moses and Abraham—stood in the way of many first-century Jews believing in Jesus. For instance:

Our Daily Journey: ultimate allegiance.

via Our Daily Journey: ultimate allegiance.

I’m behind on reading John even though we’ve had an extra week; what about you guys?

God Self Sacrificing

purblueple — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:05:15 +0000

How fortunate are we to have come to the God is Self Sacrificing/ Reading the Gospel of John chapter of our book during Holy Week?!
I consider myself to be even slightly more fortunate because I have been studying the Gospel of John for about 7 weeks now (in Bible Study Fellowship).
Although I have lots to write about all of these things, because tomorrow is Maundy Thursday, let’s think about John 13:1-30. These are some BSF notes and my thoughts on them:

The hour of His glorification is nearing – His arrest, suffering, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and ascension. Feel this atmosphere.
The Lord’s deepest desire was to reveal God. His mission was to cause people to participate in the divine nature; to be conformed to Christ’s glorious image. God is glorified by people transformed into Christ’s likeness. Eternal life in Glory consists in KNOWING God and Jesus. Knowing God through Jesus.
How is knowing God this way different from the way God’s people knew Him in the OT? Jesus, the Son, is God. He is God-Self Sacrificing. This is the aspect of God’s nature that had not yet been revealed. Jesus revealed this.

When Jesus dwelt upon the delights he was about to enjoy in Glory and the conditions in which His disciples would proclaim His gospel, His heart overflowed with love for them. His love found its full expression.
He knew the power and the glory that were His but He humbled Himself and took the role of servant. It was the duty of a slave to remove the sandals of guests and wash the dust and dirt of the streets off their feet. As the disciples entered they may have looked around for the servant to do this but for this occasion only they were present. It probably didn’t occur to them that one of them could perform this task. They were already preoccupied with asserting their importance over each other. (Luke 22:24)

Peter’s first resistance, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” was a mixture of shame and reverence. Jesus withheld the spiritual explanation of this symbolic action because he knew Peter couldn’t understand until after the cross.
Peter’s second resistance, “You shall never wash my feet.” might seem solicitous at first but in reality, because of feeling shame and humiliation, he is resisting submission.
Jesus’ response “Unless I wash you, you can have no part with me.” caused Peter to surrender to His cleansing because above all things Peter wanted a part with Jesus.

I have a suggestion for our next group meeting. Chris and I own a DVD called “St. John in Exile”, it is a recording of a one man play starring Dean Jones as John. It is so excellent! Its running time is 92 minutes. I would love for us to watch it since we are reading the Gospel of John. Please, please consider it. It’s a blessing.
Here is a link to see more about it:
http://www.christiananswers.net/catalog/john-vs.html

Word count

henry — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 23:42:31 +0000

The easiest simplest way for me to increase my margin is to decrease my word count. The words I speak and the words I hear (TV, radio, internet, …).

I like how this week’s content and this week’s exercise compliment each other. I’m not usually struck by God’s holiness in the noise and rush of my busting at the seams life but rather in those times of stillness and silence. One of my holiest moments is that split second between the exhale and the inhale of my next deep breath.

In the words of Habakkuk and the great band Plankeye (the great album Commonwealth, the song Placement), “God is in his holy temple; let us all be silent.”

I am waking up earlier this week to increase my margin. How are you increasing your margin? Click “Leave a comment” and let us know.

Lectio Divina

purblueple — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:17:44 +0000

Trust

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NIV)  “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 

1 Corinthians 13:7 (The Message)  ” … trusts God always….”

Remembering that God is Love and can be interchanged in this passage and that although I seek to live a life of real love in Christ it is not my natural nature. I can see that this passage tells us what God is like and how we should live. I also see it telling me the HOW.  Where some versions say “always trusts” The Message says “trusts God always”. It stood out to me when I didn’t need to say “God always trusts in God”. This was the word for me. This was the HOW.

GODLOVE is patient, understanding
GODLOVE is kind, gentle
GODLOVE doesn’t envy; is sufficient
GODLOVE doesn’t devalue but redeems; lifts up
GODLOVE does not strong arm but urges
GODLOVE is generous not selfish
GODLOVE is slow to anger
GODLOVE is forgiving
GODLOVE delights in truth and justice
GODLOVE is strong
GODLOVE is certain
GODLOVE is foreseeing
GODLOVE always remains

The one who:
Trusts in GODLOVE is at peace and never gives up
Trusts in GODLOVE is gentle with others
Trusts in GODLOVE doesn’t want what it doesn’t have
Trusts in GODLOVE doesn’t boast of self and isn’t self-righteous
Trusts in GODLOVE isn’t graceless and domineering
Trusts in GODLOVE isn’t self-centered and selfish
Trusts in GODLOVE isn’t easily angered
Trusts in GODLOVE is forgiving
Trusts in GODLOVE rejoices in truth and justice
Trusts in GODLOVE can bear all things
Trusts in GODLOVE is confident
Trusts in GODLOVE always hopes; never looks back
Trusts in GODLOVE perseveres to the very end

Generous Delight

purblueple — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:48:10 +0000

Looks like Henry beat me to posting today. I was writing for awhile.

It is clear that God is generous when one looks and sees his grace and mercy providing beauty and comfort even to his creation that do not acknowledge him or his son. At least until final judgement they also can enjoy his mercy. Why do I, as his CHILD, feel he is sometimes harsher and less generous with me? Why do I feel petulant at the thought that he holds me to a higher standard and expects much of me while I still suffer the same as unbelievers and some times more while they also enjoy mercy and blessings and sometimes more.

What really is the standard? What is it that he really expects of me?

He tells me himself in Matthew 11:30 “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” That is the NIV. (I should never envy the world’s ignorance and apparent lack of accountability; Ignorance is not bliss and they are headed for doom.) The Message puts it this way,

vs. 28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Wow. That echos Psalm 23 very clearly.

This is a kind and generous invitation from a God who has no reason to be except than he cannot be other than what he is.

Just as I try to lighten the world’s burden of myself by hiding my flaws and trying to appease, isn’t it really me that imposes a performance on myself in order to get God to delight in me?

Is it right for me to seek delight in that way? I don’t think so. Psalm 37:4 (NIV) 4. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

(The Message) 4. Keep company with God, get in on the best.

My favorite part of this chapter on God’s generosity is the ‘God Delights in You’ part on pg. 86. DELIGHT, what a wonderful word. : a high degree of gratification : joy; also : extreme satisfaction : something that gives great pleasure

pg. 87 “…staring into faces in order to be delighted, to see the creature he made and called good…I suspect that only God, and well-loved infants can see this way. “

What if?

“… a God who responds to us with ‘absolute delight’ regardless of how we look or feel, or what we have or have not done?”

I’ve struggled with this. I’ve never delighted in myself. I’ve never believed anyone else has delighted in me. The world tells me that this is reason to despair. The world tells me that I’m not beautiful, I’m too heavy, I’m not smart, I’m not interesting, I’m not funny, I’m not talented, I’m too needy, I cause global warming, I spread germs, I’m not a good child, sibling, friend, wife, mother, employee, etc. Basically, the world tells me that I’m a drag and a drain and I should work harder at not being an unpleasant burden; to be quiet and out of the way, never growing old, while smiling and being always busy otherwise I am of no use.

The world is unkind and ungenerous. The world is the Antipsalm 23.

Why, does God delight in me? How is it possible? What is there to delight in?

I didn’t know so I Googled it.

I googled, “How does God delight in us?” and the first search result was…drum roll please…”Why God tells us he delights in his children” by John Piper @ desiringGod.org -

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2006/1759_Why_God_Tells_Us_He_Delights_in_His_Children/

What is it about us that he delights in? And two, why does he tell us that he delights in us?

“At root, what God delights in about us is that we delight in him.”

“God approves of what is right. He rejoices in our thinking and feeling and doing what is right. So we should ask, What is right—ultimately? What makes something “right”? My answer is: “Rightness” is thinking and feeling and acting in a way that expresses in true proportion the value of what is most valuable. Rightness is thinking, feeling, and doing what flows from a true perception of the supreme value of God. It is seeing truly, savoring duly, and showing consistently in action the infinite worth of God. Therefore, we are doing what is right when we are understanding the truth of God’s value for what it is, and feeling it proportionately to his universal supremacy, and acting in ways that express God’s supreme value.”

This is the standard he holds his children to. This is what he expects of me. This is the yoke that I delight in.

Unlike the world, His aim is not to use me to the point of abuse but to employ me as a mirror and a reflector of His Glory. (Psalm 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. 5 He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.)

If I never forget my true purpose I will never willingly suffer from the world’s abuse. JOY. Joy in all circumstances.

(NIV) Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

(The Message) Philippians 4:4-5 Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute! 6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

8-9 Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

My value is in being made in his image/having my life in Jesus. I am consumed by and reflect a beauty that has no words for it. God delights that I delight in being in the image of The Good and Beautiful God. I am in awe.

That yoke is easy considering the reality of the supreme value of God and the ease of coming to that true perception when we are given evidence in creation, in the bible, in Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Praise him! He is truly delightful!

“…he delights in our seeing, savoring, and showing his own supreme value.”

“Why does he tell us this? Should we be glad to hear it? Yes, we should be glad to hear it. But why? What is the bottom of our joy in hearing it? It is possible to hear it, and be glad to hear it, in a way that is devastating.”

“The proper reason to be glad that God delights in our delight in him is because it confirms that our delight is truly in God. “

“The teaching that God delights in us is very dangerous. Very true. And very dangerous. The reason it is so dangerous is that we are fallen and the chief pleasure of our fallen nature is not sex but self-exaltation. Our sinful nature loves to be praised for what we are and what we have done.”

Therein lies my anxiety and/or depression when the world doesn’t love me and also when I KNOW that if I can’t be good enough for them I can never be good enough for God either! Can we say FALSE NARRATIVE?

“God forbid that his praise of our delight in him would lead us away from delighting in him to delighting in being praised by him.”

I must forget myself; must not seek to be delighted by delight in myself! I must lose myself in communion with Him by silence (“The wise man comes to God without saying a word and stands in awe of him.”-Francis Chan*), and by hiding the Word in my heart (119:15 I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. 16 I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.) and by counting my blessings (Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world.**); delighting in His goodness, trustworthiness, generosity, love, IN HIM.

*Habakkuk 2 (NIV)

14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,

as the waters cover the sea.

18 “Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it?

Or an image that teaches lies?

For he who makes it trusts in his own creation;

he makes idols that cannot speak.

20 But the LORD is in his holy temple;

let all the earth be silent before him.”

**Ephesians 5:16 Because of all that the Son is, we have been given one blessing after another. 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Deuteronomy 8:10 When you have all you want to eat, then praise the Lord your God for giving you a good land.

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing.

2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Heavenly Father, Your children come delighting in You, putting all things of the world aside and focusing on Your holy presence surrounding us right now. Lord we acknowledge your glory; we praise and honor you for each and every blessing! There’s so many Lord to keep track of, You are merciful, you are gracious, you are generous, you are love. Lord, our appreciation is often lacking, please free us from our self seeking nature then we will delight in you forever; we will be grateful for blessings generously poured out on us. We put our full trust and faith in You and know that You are the only one that provides us all we may ever need or want. Thank You God Almighty, all-sufficient and all-bountiful; the source of all blessings, fullness, and fruitfulness, in the name of Our Lord Jesus, your beloved Son.

Sorry it’s so long. I didn’t realize it until I previewed it.

to whom I belong

henry — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:50:05 +0000

^“23For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, ²⁴and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ ²⁵So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. ²⁶But we must run aground on some island.” -Acts 27:23-26

“to whom I belong…” That’s where it’s at! ”and whom I worship…” Do we belong to him because we worship him or do we worship him because we belong to him? Have you noticed this recurring theme from Smith in The Good and Beautiful God? Every chapter, he uses a different size or type of hammer but pounds the same nail, 1 John 4:10-11. ”¹⁰In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

Abba, I belong to You. And because I belong to You I’m free to love You, love others and -gasp!- even myself!. But…

^“26But we must run aground on some island.” -Acts 27:26 Belonging to God doesn’t mean our life won’t run aground. Last week we talked about our “cups” and how they keep us from trusting God. This week we’re looking at God’s goodness and generosity. Guard against interpreting the narrative of your island as God’s abandonment or punishment. You just may be shipwrecked on the island of God’s goodness and mercy. (Lost fans are free to insert applicable analogies here) Have you been chewing on Psalm 23 this week? What about verse 5? God prepares a table for us. But the table isn’t set in the safety and comfort of a fortified shelter; it’s within striking distance of our enemies. God may have run you aground to spare your life from the approaching storm. The whole counting your blessings exercise was about finding beauty on your scary island.

And I can rest in the knowledge that even on my island, 1) I belong to him (Acts 27:23) and 2) He will provide for me (Psalm 23:5).

That’s how the Word read me this morning.

Baaaaaa

henry — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:40:10 +0000

Good evening my fellow woolly grass grazers. How is Psalm 23 treating you? My 9 year old has been having trouble falling asleep this week. So Monday night we each got our journals and wrote Psalm 23. We talked through it and then later prayed through it when I tucked her in. She told me the next day that she woke up in the middle of the night. She said she couldn’t remember all of it but prayed through what she could remember. She said she especially like the part about God using his rod and staff to protect her. What about you? What part of Psalm 23 has been reading you this week? If you haven’t finished the chapter yet then jump to the Soul Training. At the very least meditate on it (think through it) when you’re laying in bed at night and first thing when you wake up in the morning before you get out of bed.

Bumpin’ around the ol’ World Wide Web looking for stuff on Psalm 23 is much like cleaning my desk – where do you start? I came across this while getting acquainted with my fellow bloggers. It’s the “antipsalm 23″. Here’s an excerpt:

“I’m on my own.
No one looks out for me or protects me.
I experience a continual sense of need. Nothing’s quite right.
I’m always restless. I’m easily frustrated and often disappointed.
It’s a jungle — I feel overwhelmed. It’s a desert — I’m thirsty.”

Give it a read. http://truthcrossing.com/2009/07/29/psalm-23-and-two-ways-of-doing-life/

How good is it to know that God really is with us?

I also found John Piper’s sermons on Psalm 23 and the transcript of Charles Spurgeon’s sermon on Psalm 23.

Pastor’s challenge – How’s the Word reading you?

henry — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:47:01 +0000

Here’s a recap of Pastor Jim’s church-wide challenge (herein after referred to as PJ’s CWC):

For the next 30 days don’t do what you normally do when you wake up. Instead…

Wake up 15 minutes early
Wake up (shower, coffee, exercise, etc.)
Pray
Read the Community Bible Reading (at least the New Testament reading)
Take note – how is the Scripture reading you?

So here’s how the Word read me Monday morning. During my time of silence I confessed sin and likened it to a roaring lion that pounces to devour. It literally overpowers or at least that’s what it feels like at times. Then I read Acts 14 in the CBR (yes, I was a little behind. don’t tell pastor). I likened giving in to temptation to Paul being stoned and left for dead. That’s how the enemy wants us to react. Just lay there and die. Quit. Give up. But then the disciples gather around Paul (vs 20) and he gets up. There is an interdependence with the Body that God uses to get me up. Of course it’s all Him, His forgiveness, his grace, his strengthening. But he uses his disciples surrounding me. It was the exact thing we talked about in group the night before. We need Jesus. We need each other. We need Jesus in each other.

So how has the Word been reading you this week? Click “Leave a comment” on this post and let us know.

Suffering and happiness

henry — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:38:36 +0000

I’m almost finished with Viktor E. Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning. He was an Austrian psychologist/therapist who survived three years in the Nazi concentration camps. In this book he shares his gut-wrenching experiences in the concentration camps and then gives an introduction to his philosophy of therapy called logotherapy. It is by no means Christian or Christ-centered but it’s better then any Freudian school of therapy (at least in my humble opinion). Logotherapy is meaning-centered as opposed to the stereotypical Freudian pleasure-centeredness. A good deal of the book is about finding meaning in and in spite of suffering. In one section he quotes Edith Weisskopf-Joelson, a fellow psychology professor who escaped the Nazis by immigrating to the United Sates.

“Our current mental-hygiene philosophy stresses the idea that people ought to be happy, that unhappiness is a symptom of maladjustment. Such a value system might be responsible for the fact that the burden of unavoidable unhappiness is increased by the unhappiness about being unhappy.” (1955)

Later Frankl quotes her again when discussing the “…unhealthy trends in the present day culture of the United States where the incurable sufferer is given very little opportunity to be proud of his suffereing and to consider it ignobling rather than degrading so that he is not only unhappy but also ashamed of being unhappy.” (1958)

There was a moving movie about a true story a few years ago – The Pursuit of Happyness. The true story has some inspiring moments. The message of the movie was horrible – risk it all to be happy. In the movie’s case money was the vehicle to happiness. Thinking along these lines Frankl says, “People have enough to live by but nothing to live for. They have the means but no meaning.”

For us as apprentices of Jesus I think the message is that true, ultimate meaning is found only in Him. Frankl never goes there but I think we can still learn from his philosophy that the pursuit of happiness is the wrong approach in life. Jesus said abundant life (happiness) is found in Him (John 10:10). So instead of pursuing happiness, we pursue Jesus. Instead of seeking to secure our own comfort and well being we seek to secure His glory. I think this is how we find meaning in our suffering and unhappiness. It’s not a sin to be unhappy. It’s a sin to be unthankful.

Can I pray, “God thank You for my unhappiness, for through it You strip me of every false notion that my worth and purpose is tied to feeling good, whether about myself or my world. Rather, my meaning is found in knowing that You are good, and that I belong to You.”?