The Phil Files

What? Yep, they are called the eleven!

Doesn’t sound right does it? We’ve heard of a baker’s dozen (13) and we’ve heard of the twelve (apostles), but what in the world we do with the eleven?

Twice in Luke 24, as he is sharing the story of Jesus resurrection, Luke refers to the apostles as the eleven (Luke 24:9 & Luke 24:33). Ouch! We feel the deep wound in even saying the number 11. This number is a reminder of the night of failure –  the night that Jesus’ closest three friends couldn’t stay awake with him in prayer (Peter, James, & John in Gethsemane), and  Judas betrayed him, and Peter denied the him three times, and the rest of the twelve abandoned him to die alone. It is most clearly a reminder of Judas, the betrayal for thirty pieces of silver and the suicide in sorry for what he had done and how the apostles were left incomplete after the horrors of it all.

The term 11 reminds us of the flawed nature of our best intentions to never forsake the Lord. The number 11 is a reminder of our brokenness and incompleteness and failure. Even the mere thought of the number 11 is the jarring number reminder to us of the wounds in Jesus’ side and even deeper wounds in his heart. And, 11 reminds us that the account of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection does not sugar coat the unfaithfulness of the early church’s greatest heroes. So 11 reminds us to be humble about our biggest promises to the Lord.

The Bible is filled with all sorts of great numbers:

• 3 for divinity
• 4 for creation
• 7 for perfection
• 10 for greatness
• 12 for the twelve tribes of Israel, the people of God, and the apostles
• 40 years for the lifetime of a generation
• 1,000 for an exceedingly long time or large amount of something

But 11 is the perfect number for us.

• Flawed people , but remade by God’s grace
• Disciples carrying the scars of our own failures, but made whole by Jesus’ sacrifice
• Followers who are broken, but forgiven and called back to service
• Worshipers who are wounded, but being healed by the Savior’s touch
• People who can be crushed on their darkest Fridays, but for whom Sunday is coming

11!

NUTS! Yes, the weather is officially off it’s rocker here in Abilene. Of course we can have weird weather in the spring. Yes, we can have a cold spell. But come on … 90’s yesterday, blizzard warnings today … now it’s sunshine but windy enough to blow the paint off our cars. I just saw a weather warning: “The National Weather Service has issued a severe winter storm warning to all pet owners: keep cats and small dogs inside today or else they will blow to Brownsville.”

Weather has always been hard to figure out for us mere mortals. I guess that is why I love Nahum 1:3 and the images it evokes. I felt like it was an idea to pursue with a Scripture graphic. The image and message seemed to go with where a whole lot of us are, caught up the whirlwind of uncertainty about the road ahead. So, hope you are blessed by the image and the thought. Oh, and don’t go outside with your cat today!

You can get free 1024 X 768 versions of this image and two related ones for free download from Heartlight.org:

Full Version (as above)

Title Only

Text Only

You can find thousands of other free Scripture graphic backgrounds and a search tool to find color, theme, or Scripture reference at Heartlight Backgrounds.

You study and prepare, thinking you have done all you can do and think all that you can think, and then you are surprised! It can be a question at a presentation or a question during a test or a question in the doc’s office. Or, you can get up each week and try to speak God’s message to folks seeking to be God’s people and you get surprised by what comes out of your own mouth – stuff that isn’t in your notes.

Sometimes, unfortunately, you think, “Ouch! I wish I hadn’t said that, somebody is going to pulverize me over lunch for it!”

Other times, with great joy and surprise, you think, “Wow! I wish I had thought of what I just said. That’s so good I’d like to stop and take notes.”

This past Sunday, I had a bit of both. It would be stupid (yes, I know I am not supposed to use that word around kids, but sometimes is the perfect sounding word) to repeat any of the “Ouch!” comments. But I’d like to share — if with no one but myself — the “Wow!” comments. These latter comments are not things I’m not smart enough to think up. I hope they were the product of trying to deliver God’s message, listening to the Spirit, faithful preparation, and the hearts of the people hearing that message and helping shape it as it is delivered.

While the first statement felt like an “Ouch!” when I said it, the more I thought about it, the more true I believe it is. I said something like, “I know a lot of folks are very nervous about all of this post-modern stuff, but I would like to confess, as one who has grown up a modernist, that our era killed God. We bought into the scientific method, we depended upon what we called ‘rational thought’ and we broke the tie between the earthly and the spiritual. You younger folks, you post-modern folks, have reminded us that we have to account for the spiritual world.”

I know some folks probably didn’t agree with that, or even like it, but the more I’ve pondered it, the more I believe it’s true. Our modernism has split the world into secular and sacred, flesh and spirit. Heresies among followers of Jesus repeatedly have tried to do it. But a whole wave of human culture, now firmly entrenched since the 18th century, has enforced it and chosen the rational over mystery, proof over prayer, and lived in the world of the secular because we felt we could manage it better – because, we claimed, the secular world is tangible, empirical, touchable, solvable, provable, demonstratable, and real.

Bottom line reality is this: we are right earthy folks. We’re made of dirt. One of these days – and I’m not being insensitive here, just honest – all of us are going to be the main attraction at a funeral. People will hopefully say nice things about us. Then they will haul us out to a pretty place with grass, flowers, and trees, drop us in the ground, throw some dirt in our face, and go back to the church house and eat chicken. Some of those folks will hurt like crazy, but the world will go on and part of us will go back to dirt.

But, every part of the living, dying, crying, eating, and all that goes with this earthy existence is spiritual – even the dirt. It is a reminder that God made us out of this stuff and our rebellion broke our world – it’s all broken dirt. And just as we cry out for deliverance, so does the broken creation (read Romans 8:18-25). So every time we are sick or someone dies or there is a natural disaster we are reminded that everything, everything around us is part of the spiritual world in which we live. All of it begs us to seek after God and find Him in our earthiness (Acts 17:24-28).

The amazing thing is that God chose to live in a house of dirt, to wear skin, just like us. That is who Jesus is! And no matter how much folks want to separate the earthy from the spiritual, the secular from the sacred, the matter-of-fact from the mystery, Jesus is the great reminder it goes together. He spoke peace to the winds and the waves and to the woman with an uncontrollable menstrual flow. He made mud out of dirt and spit and put it on a blind guys eyes. He lived in the world of fish, storms, green grass, leprous skin, dry deserts, and rugged mountains. He got hungry, tired, thirsty, and cried – cried real tears for Lazarus, Jerusalem, and the impending Cross. And He did as God – the One who is Spirit!

Which brings me to the other “Wow!” – the other thing I wish I was smart enough to think up before I preached.We prayed the Lord’s prayer and were reminded that the way we deal with our brokenness is to be dependent upon and love God with all that we are and love our neighbor enough to be reconciled through forgiveness. Just as the Lord’s prayer anchors us to God and to our neighbor (Matthew 6:9-13), and just as Jesus taught us the two great commands are loving God and our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39) , Paul taught the same thing. He said that God was at work in every circumstance to bring about His good in our lives if we love Him and are called according to His purpose – loving others for him (Romans 8:28-29).

I think we all live between the “Ouch!” and the “Wow!” I am so thankful that Jesus came as a God’s great gift of grace and grit, the divine in dirt, to show us the way of grace is not an escape from earthiness, but through it.

This is an ACU student production. I thought it was worth passing on and I love the concept. With everything else burning up in central Texas, surely Jesus’ followers ought to see His Holy Fire make some observable differences in their lives!

How about some scattered ramblings from the mad Philippian.

My dominant conviction this week: there is no Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20) without the great Incarnation (John 1:14-18; 3:16-17; 20:21-22).

Go to http://www.givmusic.com/bluetree for free download and also acoustical video of “God of this City” and great interview of the band.

So my only bracket has UConn vs. OU in final (UConn over Louisville and OU over Duke).  But, if UNC can get a toe well they could be there and I think Louisville is playing best. Ready for UT to get their 3 new guys in this next year after having great guys who should be seniors lighting it up in the NBA.

Bowhunters first group meeting tonight and I’m really looking forward to that.

Dallas tomorrow about a couple of crucial meetings on future of a bunch of things. Would appreciate your prayers.

We live in a time of growing hostility to the Gospel of Jesus — pending U.N. resolutions to make sharing our faith illegal in any country in the world, legislation in the USA hostile to churches and religious non-profits, a hostile press, growing world persecution of believers, and a wave of public sentiment against Christianity in the culture. (The following discussion comes from my Heartlight.org article for this Monday.)

So how are followers of Jesus going to live in such times?

Can we find something to do besides whining and combatant hostility?

Look at the following Scriptures and then make a short summary statement of your convictions on how you are going to live!

Principle One: We live before five audiences and I have a responsibility to live with purpose before each audience! (John 13:34-35;  1 Corinthians 14:23-26;  1 Thessalonians 4:12;  1 John 3:13)

1. Believers, our brothers and sisters in Christ, whom we are to love.
2. Inquirers, those who are seeking to learn more about Jesus, but are not yet disciples. These we are to lead to worship and honor God.
3. Unbelievers or outsiders, those who do not believe, but who are willing to listen and visit with us. These we are to help to know our hope in Christ and live in such a way they can see Christ in us.
4. Enemies, meaning those who count us as enemies. We are to pray for them and live before them in such a way they can see our good and godly behavior.
5. God himself, our Father in heaven. We are to live to honor him and reflect his character and compassion.

How to live before a growingly hostile world is an issue addressed repeatedly in the New Testament. I would encourage you to read through the book of 1 Peter, but the following principles are taken from one central passage in this letter (1 Peter 3:9-16). In a hostile environment where our faith is not appreciated, Peter outlines several guidelines consistent with the rest of his letter:

• Honor God while loving your brothers and sisters.
• Live to be a blessing to others, because we will be blessed by God.
• Do good to others, even if they do evil to you.
• Seek peace with others without being afraid of those who would harm you.
• Always be ready to share the reason for your hope, and do this with gentleness and respect.

So what does that say about how you need to live?

Where do you need to change your focus, your lifestyle to impact those who do not know Christ and especially those who oppose Christians?

How can we help each other live without fear and with the integrity needed to display God’s character and compassion?