The Phil Files

Sometimes images and music make the words we hold dear, dearer still. The emotion of the music and the grittiness of the images make the truth of God no longer something to be studied, but grace to be received. So first the holy and inspired words of an outcast turned into a witness. Then the powerful demonstration of the truth of these words in song and sight for us to capture and hold and say, “Be born in me.”

The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn’t know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.

While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—‘God saves’—because he will save his people from their sins.” This would bring the prophet’s embryonic sermon to full term:

Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Emmanuel (Hebrew for “God is with us”).

Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God’s angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.

In my Heartlight article today, The Gift of Influence, I try to show that we each have influence over certain people to help them know Jesus, follow Jesus, and learn to live the life of Jesus. Sometimes, however, a picture (or in this case a video) is worth a thousand words. Unfortunately there is a problem with the embed code, but here’s the link to this video: Strangers.

The forgiven and formerly sinful woman of the city risks everything to come into the Pharisees house and then cleans Jesus’ feet with her hair and tears, anoints Jesus’ feet with expensive perfumer, and kisses Jesus’ feet to show her great love. Her love is extravagant and dangerous … it’s crazy love! But her risk-taking and her extravagant giving show her great love to Jesus for being forgiven (Luke 7:36-50). Her actions remind us that the heart of loving — and knowing we are loved — is giving. We are most like God when we show crazy love … when we give extravagantly. And when we do, like the woman, we enter a life blessed by Jesus with true shalom — grace and peace, wholeness and joy, life lived to the full!

The most famous verse in the Bible is John 3:16 and you probably know the next word that follows this quote: “For God so loved the world that He …”

And what is that word? Yep, you got it. The word is “GAVE.” Yes, we are most like God when we give and show crazy love!

We are entering the season of giving. We are reminded that we have so much for which we can be thankful (Thanksgiving) and we are reminded of the gift God gave us (Christmas). So let’s open up our hearts … and schedules … and pocket books … and practice some crazy love!

And speaking of Crazy Love, here’s a powerful little video segment from Francis Chan!

And where should we give? Ah, that’s easy.

To your church. I know that’s what I’m doing this week, because right now our church has …

• Giving Tree (Christmas gifts for mentally challenged and disadvantaged children and adults)
• Harvest Missions (funding mission works and mission trips for next year)
• Food Offering (for a local Christian pantry ministry)
• Sock and Underwear Offering (for Love and Care ministry to the homeless)

Not sure about your church, but I bet it has some places you can be generous and these kinds of things are worthy of gifts!

In addition, I would point you to a couple of other things that are especially close to my heart:

• Peru Orphanage
• Compassion International
• Christian Homes and Family Services

We remain blissfully ignorant about persecution in our time. Some of this has to do with the American press, which as a whole doesn’t like evangelistic Christians and so doesn’t care much about reporting persecution and atrocities committed against them. But also complicit is the U.S. government that will not take a human rights stand on persecution against Christians in other parts of the world. Worst of all, our churches are to blame for our ignorance as a people — persecution is too unpleasant to talk about in many of our churches.

Our personal ignorance, however, is our own doing. Let’s be honest: we don’t like to hear bad news or think about faith in Jesus having dire consequences in our time. So off we go into the trap of the evil one who doesn’t want us riled up about our faith. If we don’t know about it, it doesn’t exist. We don’t have to be troubled by it. We don’t have to feel threatened by it. We don’t have to worry about the consequences of our own faith. We can blissful keep thinking that faith guarantees us good things and we can go on believing that if we work hard we will get the good things we deserve.

Truth is, persecution is real and we have many ways to learn about those who can be heroes for us today and remind us that the passion and courage we see in Acts isn’t just something from long ago and far away. Here are some resources you might find helpful to help you have solidarity with your friends in Christ who are suffering throughout our world today.

• The book Radical: Taking Your Faith Back from the American Dream by David Platt
• The website Persecution.com and Voice of the Martyrs newsletter available from the site
• The inspirational book by a non-Christian about faith in China, God is Red

Those will get you started, but here are a couple of things you can immediately do.

• Read about the pending execution of a pastor in Iran named Youcef Nadarkhani
• Sign the  online petition to help free Asia Bibi, a Christian wife and mother convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death in Pakistan.
• Watch the video below

And please, don’t forget to do what the apostle Paul urge us all to do years ago as he faced his own battles with persecution:

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people — for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed tob at the proper time (1 Timothy 2:1-6 NIV).

I’ve enjoyed the juice from Switchfoot’s newly released CD Vice Verses. I know Christian crossover rock isn’t for everyone, but going back a long time with Delirious, it’s been a source of motivation and energy for me. The whole set of songs on Vice Verses is available to the public tomorrow, September 27, but I’ve gotten a sneak peak and have listened the whole set several times.

Here’s a glimpse of one song, Dark Horses, on YouTube. This song is about people who were thrown into a bad situation for any number of reasons, but have chosen to live above the mess of their lives because they know a different way, The Different One, who gives them courage to ride through their tough times — their the dark horses. The following is from Jon Foreman about the song:

“I wrote a piece awhile back on the Huffington Post about Dark Horses and underdogs and I started thinking about it and for me the true underdogs are the people who didn’t chose their situation, but are rising above it. For me that song the Dark Horses is all about the homeless kids back in San Diego, specifically the ones who are being helped out by Stand Up For Kids. It’s always nice when you have a song you are passionate about singing night after night that has a deeper meaning than simply another verse and another chorus.”

The group Switchfoot is doing a tour they calling Stand Up For Kids, to bring attention and help to homeless kids on the street. As part of a church that supports Dry Bones Denver (please click the link for more info and think about offering them support) and their outreach to the homeless kids there, it rings through to my heart. More on the tour and the effort in links at the end of the video.

Lyrics below the video.

I’ve made my mistakes
I’ve seen my heart cave in
I’ve got my scars
I’ve been to hell and back again

Born for the blue skies
We’ll survive the rain
Born for the sunrise
We’ll survive the pain

We’re singing …
Hey, You can’t count us out
We’ve been living up against the crowd
Yeah, we are the Dark Horses

We’re singing …
Hey! It’s not over now
We’ve been down but we’ve never been out
Yeah, we are the Dark Horses

We found a way out
The city takes everything it can
But outside the crowds
I can feel my lungs again

We’re singing …
Hey, You can’t count us out
We’ve been living up against the crowd
Yeah, we are the Dark Horses

We’re singing …
Hey! It’s not over now
We’ve been down but we’ve never been out
Yeah, we are the Dark Horses

We don’t care what they say
We know we’ll find a way
Yeah! … We are the Dark Horses

Keep running with the Dark Horses
Hope makes the blood change courses

Keep running with the Dark Horses
Stand up for the Dark Horses

Keep running with the Dark Horses
Hope makes the blood change courses

“Invite me in … please!”

I don’t know about you, but I’ve invited several folks to share in a special Sunday this week at our church, Southern Hills. And when I invite folks, I’m always a little bit nervous because I notice everything that happens in the worship assembly, I hear the things that are said that are full of insider language that my guests don’t understand, I worry that no one will speak to them, and I worry that they won’t feel welcomed into our circle.

Why all this worry? I mean, didn’t Jesus say not to worry? Well yes, he did say not to worry about stuff, but …

Paul worried about his new churches and new followers of Jesus and the lost people who had never heard of Jesus and his fellow Jewish people who did not accept Jesus. So if the apostle Paul could worry about those things, I think I can have a little holy concern — in cornbread English, that’s “loving worry” — for those folks I hope will come share some time with Jesus and His people. I just hope we will be Jesus’ people. I want my church family to invite them — those who are our guests, those who are searching, those who are yearning, those who seem disinterested or least likely — but not just invite them to come, but to also invite them in.

So while I do worry about how folks will be this Sunday, I know what I’ve committed to be. Why not join me and let’s invite folks in!

May the grace of Jesus be real to us and through us. Amen.