The Phil Files

Last night, as Donna and I lay in our bed praying with a candle flickering and the sound of the fan filling the room with its gentle white noise, I remembered. It was a long ago memory of having the room across the hall from my parents and hearing them talk and pray at night. Very seldom could I hear well enough to understand their words, but the sounds were soothing and reassuring.

Now that I am older than they were when they spoke those words to each other, just knowing they were spoken brings me comfort and joy. How blessed I am to have grown up in a family where mom and dad loved each other and gave their three boys a stable place to grow and develop into men. These times were cut short by my father’s death when he was 51, but these times also still live in the flickering light of a candle, the gentle whir of the fan, the tender touch of a partner, and the final “Amen” at the end of the day.

Thank you mom and dad … and thank you Donna, for a night to slip off into gentle sleep feeling secure in your love and the sweet grace of memories and a special moment of joy.

In my Heartlight.org post this week, called Delivered, I reflect on Jesus “dominating the dominion” of darkness and delivering us from the powers that hold us captive. Paul mentions three specific habitations of the dominion afflict us:

1. Rulers and powers, both spiritual and political
2. Consequences of our wrong and rebellious choices
3. Rules, laws, and the whole effort to justify ourselves through religious systems

So will you abandon the addictions that hold you and follow Jesus, relying on His community to help you find new life? (Finding ways to get out of our deception mode and trusting others to help us is crucial, but feels very dangerous to us.)

Will you trust Him to lead you through the consequences of our rebellions to a better place and a fuller life? (After all, it is our own rebellious spirit that got us into most of our troubles to begin with.)

Will you abandon rule-keeping as the basis of your salvation and trust His grace to be your source of goodness? (For those of us who are religious, especially those of us claiming to be followers of Jesus, maybe we need to go back and read the Gospels and assume that Jesus’ comments to the religious leaders of His time are intended to make us think and evaluate ourselves!)

What is holding you back from fully trusting Jesus to help you escape? (Be honest with yourself. What will you not relinquish to the Lordship of Jesus?)

Those are tough questions, but ones I hope you will answer either in the response section below, or share with a couple of other folks seeking to follow Jesus.

Last Updated 10.05.08

Colossians #8: Sharing the Mystery – Colossians 1:24-2:5 – for 10.12.08

We all love to have a secret no one else knows. And if we gently taunt them, we can drive them crazy trying to figure out what that mystery, that special secret, really is. That’s the power of Christmas gifts sitting under the tree and us not knowing what that is. There is a curiosity about them that is nearly an addiction for kids trying to wait to find out what the gift is.

The Christian community Paul is writing faced a problem. People were claiming they knew secrets about the mysterious things of faith that they were lacking. They felt “less than” or deficient in their faith and were looking for someone to teach this “mystery.” The fear is about what they lacked. After all, it was “only” Epaphras who had taught them the good news message of Jesus. They knew him. He wasn’t a special apostle, like Peter or even Paul, so what if he missed something. Plus, their neighbors had all these special religious rituals. What were they missing? These fears made them easily manipulated by those pushing for special extra things that needed to be added in to the simple message about Jesus and how we respond to Him.

Paul writes, reminding them of his suffering for sharing his ministry, to say, “Look folks, here is the mystery. It’s been hidden for ages, but it’s been revealed to all of us who follow Jesus. In fact, it’s God’s will that it be revealed to all nations. I’m willing to suffer for it, and for you, because this simple message is the true message — it doesn’t need to be layered on with special practices or extra rules.

So what is this mystery? Surely it had to be more than the simple message Epaphras shared with them?

But Paul is emphatic. The message is Christ! He is the one where fullness is found! This is the message for which Paul suffers, serves, and strives to share (1:24-25; 2:1-2).

This is the message that serves and forms the people of God, hidden for ages, but now fully revealed to all of God’s people and not just in the hands of a select few (1:25-26).

This message is all about Christ coming alive in us (1:27):
Christ is our hope of glory! (1:27)
Christ is our message! (1:28)
Christ is our goal! (1:29)
Christ is our power! (1:29)
Christ is our treasure, wisdom, and knowledge! (2:3)
Christ is the focus of our faith! (2:5)

And what does this mean?

Our message is not complicated, esoteric, or difficult to understand. We don’t need some secret knowledge, some new and astounding author, or some deep and mystical wisdom. Our message is Jesus.

As we focus on this at our different assemblies, we need to go back to simple songs and remind each other of the simple message of Jesus. “Jesus Loves Me” sung by and for adults, “O How I Love Jesus,” “Why Did My Savior Come to Earth,” “Victory in Jesus,” “It is Well with My Soul” fit alongside “In Christ Alone” and other simple songs that focus on Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15 coupled with the Lord’s Supper becomes crucial to reminding us of that simple message – Jesus died for my sins, he was buried, and he was raised on the third day so my life would not be lived in vain and I can share in his victory. In addition, I believe we have a real invitation song and tie Romans 6 (or Colossians 2:12) in with Romans 15 right after The Lord’s Supper to give folks an opportunity to respond to Jesus.

Daybreak

Coordinate each of the elements above into the flow of the service in our usual order.

Refresh

Put our Time in the Word early in the assembly, use 1 Corinthians 15 as our focus for The Supper, and actually have an invitation later in the assembly.

Sundown

Focus on how and why the Gospel is simple and it’s about Jesus: it mustn’t be made complicated! Maybe compare the key parts of 1 Corinthians 15 (died, buried, raised) with the key parts of Romans 6 (died with Christ, buried, raised) and how the latter helps us experience the Gospel.

LIFE Questions

What makes so vulnerable to latest religious fad?

Do you feel pressure to know the latest Christian book or sing the latest great Christian song?

Do you ever worry that you don’t know all you need to know about the message of Jesus?

What are some things that you will not compromise on in your Christian faith?

If everything is up for grabs, that what solid ground do you stand on for your faith?

When we declare that “Jesus is the message” (something John 1:1-18 beautifully says as well), why is it so hard to limit our message to just Jesus?

What are some things you catch yourself wanting to add to the message of Jesus?

What are some of the most dangerous things you worry about that are being added to the message of Jesus?

What does Jesus really mean to you — describe how the Lord impacts you in different areas of life?

In my Heartllight.org post this week, called “Godly Organic,” I share the “Spirit-natural” principle that we are made to live and grow. It is who and how God made us to be. When we don’t grow, we know that something is wrong. Yet so often, we settle for just treading water spiritually. The power behind this growth, however, can be found in the prayer we offer for each other and the power of God released to empower us toward this growth:

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God … so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,  being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might (Colossians 1:9-11).

So I want to challenge you to ask yourself a few questions about your own personal growth in the Lord and commit yourself to praying for your brothers and sisters in Christ and releasing the power of God into their lives.

How has God continued to fashion you to be more like Jesus?

Can you say that God is re-creating life in you out of the barrenness and scars of your past life?

What is a sign of growth, God’s power, at work in you?

I’d love to hear your response to these questions!

Last Updated 9.30.08

Colossians #7: Screwtape’s Demise – The Joy of Simple Service for 10.05.08

An old story attributed to various sources (CS Lewis or Jewish Rabbis), describes both heaven and hell as the same banquet room filled with wonderful chairs, a huge table, plenty of guests, and a limitless supply of sumptuous food. The problem is that all the forks and knives are 3 foot (sometimes said 6 foot) long. In hell, the people are arguing and fighting and starving. Mounds of food rot on the plates and rats run to and fro among the putrefying bounty. The forks and knives are too long for anyone to feed himself, so the people fuss and fight and squabble and go hungry. In heaven, however, the same banquet hall, chairs, table, and food furnish the scene of joy and feasting and fun. The difference, in heaven, they feed each other with their long forks. You see, they know the joy of simple service and no one is left out. All are full.

For the followers of Jesus, table fellowship and serving each other around the dinner table was always special. Luke emphasizes it more than any other gospel, but all the gospels show Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners, feeding the crowds, blessing bread, going to feasts, and sharing in the Last Supper. Some of this goes back to His Jewish roots and the importance of feast days. Some of it anticipates His presence in all meals — remember the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24 — and His followers sharing in the “breaking of bread” (aka the Lord’s Supper).

Not surprisingly, Jesus reminded His followers repeatedly that the greatest in the Kingdom is a “servant” (diakonos – a table servant and the word from which we get the word “deacon” Matthew 23:11). Jesus is the ultimate example of what this means: 1) He identifies Himself as a table servant (Luke 22:24-27) and 2) he demonstrates himself to be a table servant when He washes His followers feet (John 13:1-17). In both cases, the Lord calls on His followers to be servants to each other (again, all of these words come from the noun or verbal form of the word from which we get the term “deacon.” We shouldn’t be surprised, then, when the early church appointed 7 men to serve at tables to make sure widows are fed in Jerusalem (again, same root word for service).

So rather than a position of power, Jesus is calling us to a life of service. And this powerful, simple and important root term is used to describe this kind of service. (Download study chart which will also downloadable on sh-refresh.com and church website, and can be provided for LIFE groups to use.)

This term is used in Colossians several times (1:7 “faithful minister”; 1:23 “servant; 1:25 “servant; 4:7 “faithful minister”; 4:17 “work” or “ministry”)

Daybreak

Begin with illustration and tie to Jesus in Luke 22 and John 13. Then from there, show it used in Colossians and focus on how the work of the Kingdom only gets done through servants. Overview biblical material related to the term and show how important this is. Focus is on our need for folks who are wiling to be servant leaders — people who lead by their service and not their rank.

Refresh

Begin with illustration and then go to Luke 22:24-27 and refer to John 13. Key lead in to the Lord’s Supper this week and our call to serve each other in this process.

Sundown

Shepherding Group Night, but we would have covered other New Testament background for the term “deacon.”

LIFE Questions

How do we come to value servants as a reminder of Jesus instead of looking down on and treating poorly those who serve us?

What makes being a servant hard?

What are servant kinds of jobs today?

How are these people treated generally?

What are servant kinds of jobs in God’s family that we often take for granted?

Who is someone you don’t want to ever have to serve?

How do you think Jesus could serve Judas both by washing his feet and also sharing the meal at the Last Supper?

What is the most joyous service you have ever offered to someone else?

What made it a joy to serve them?

Who is the greatest example of a servant that you know?

Why did you choose this person?

How have you — or how should you — show that you value this person and appreciate what they do to bless you and others in the Lord?

Please check my post on Heartlight.org about helping those whose lives have been severely impacted by the recent hurricanes. I’d love to get your reaction to that post and also your ideas on how we can be ready to help those whose lives are severely impacted by future natural disasters.

Thanks!