The Phil Files

I’d like to invite you on a journey. It’s a one year journey, begun during the time of year that most of us go into vacation mode and get ready for our summertime trips. But the beauty of this journey is that it doesn’t cost anything and the results can be astounding.

I’d like to challenge you to go on a one year journey through the teaching of Jesus. In particular, I want to invite you to join me in reading through the teaching sections of Matthew (5:1-7:29; 10:5-11:1; 18:1-19:1; 23:1-26:1), doing two things, and documenting it through a downloadable spreadsheet I’ve prepared for us. So what are the two things?

1. Let’s read these teaching blocks. I’m not talking about reading them once, but reading them again and again. Over the next year, let’s read through them at least once per month in two different translations. Let’s commit portions of these blocks of Jesus’ teaching to memory — this was probably the reason Matthew concentrated them into the five blocks of teaching to begin with!
2. Let’s live what we’ve learned. Jesus’ emphasis is on putting into practice, obeying, and faithfully living God’s will (Matthew 7:21-27;Matthew 12:48-50;Matthew 28:20). So let’s remember life application must be the focus of our learning the words of Jesus.

For more on this idea, and the reason behind it, I invite you read my article in heartlight.org.

What you say let’s take a little trip together that can change everything?

Thursday, May 6, in the U.S. we celebrate The National Day of Prayer. (See the companion thoughts on Heartlight.org). I am committing myself to pray for our nation, for other nations in the world where we have Compassion International Children we sponsor, for places I’m going on mission trips this summer, and places where we have mission efforts going on as a church family. I am also committed to praying for those believers who are persecuted and those groups who are under oppression from their government or the anarchy in their streets or their lack of water, food, and proper medicines. I will also pray for those impacted by the flooding in the U.S..

For whom and for what will you pray today? Why not add to the list below and share your prayers. And please remember, this is not a time to bash anyone or any group politically, but a time to offer to God our deepest concerns and greatest hopes that His Kingdom will come to our world, through us, in our time, in ways that unite the world, break down the barriers, and bring Jesus glory.

Thanks to the folks at worshiphousemedia.com for the clip. If you use it, please purchase from them!

And I’d love to see what you are praying for in the comments section below.

Sometimes, probably more often than we realize, God finds alternate ways to say what we have worked hard to say in just the right way. But if we look and listen, God will illustrate His point even more powerfully than our words or music can say and show.

I don’t know if you have seen my friend (from Compassion’s Uganda trip) Carlos Whittaker’s unrehearsed homeless partner in the park when he went to shoot a recording of a song from his newest album, God of Second Chances. I encourage you to watch and listen all the way through and then see if God doesn’t surprise you as you seek to communicate His glory in the everyday places of your world.

For more of Carlos, go take a peak at Ragamuffin Soul and here are the Lyrics to the song!

We humbly respond
To the call of Your love
Gracious Father
Like a child we run
With our arms lifted up
So let the praises rise

You’re the God of second chances
You’re the God who still romances
We’re in awe before You now
And our hearts are bowing down
You’re the God of all the ages
Who are we that You would save us
We’re in awe before You now
And our hearts are crying out

Hallelujah to our God
Hallelujah to our God

Righteous Savior
By Your wounds we are healed
Your compassion draws us here
How amazing
Is the mercy of the Cross
That You would reach out for us
So let the praises rise

You rescue with unfailing love
Hallelujah to our God

Been reading a fascinating book by Euguene Peterson: The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways That Jesus Is the Way. In one chapter, he talks about two powerful metaphors for the failed ways religion has tried to change people: professor and policeman. The first tries to educate people out of our sinful ways and the other tries to enforce the rules or punish people out of our sinful ways.

It occurred to me — just further proof of my warped perspective, maybe — that there is another metaphor that might be helpful here: plumber. A plumber is someone who sees our worst messes and works on the things that are absolutely necessary, but which are usually unseen systems. A plumber works to set those internal systems right so life can function properly. In many ways, that is a more fitting metaphor of what God did for us in Jesus than professor or policeman, but clearly it is not as glamorous. Plus, plumber is a metaphor that reminds us that God was willing to get his hands dirty in the mess of our world.

I know this isn’t earthshakingly theological or significant, but I wonder if it might give us a point of reference to think through Jesus in terms that are not neat and tidy, and put a little more of a “manly” face on Him than the movies and artist renditions do. And before you get all bent out of shape about me comparing Jesus to a plumber, let me just remind you of some of the Lord’s own words:

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked,  “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” …

Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into your mouth does not defile you, but what comes out of your mouth, that is what defiles you.”

Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides.d If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”

“Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these defile you. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile you; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile you.” (Matthew 15:1-2, 10-20 tniv emphasis mine)

This week’s Hearlight.org article, “The Power to Risk,” furnishes the background for this post. I would encourage you to read the article and please, I’d love to get your input into this discussion.

So frequently, our first reaction to anything that calls for risk in churchland is to pull out the old and often repeated maxim: “I’d rather be safe than sorry.” This maxim — or more accurately, this excuse — places anything new into the spiritually questionable category. Little by little, this mentality can so pervade a group that it gets to the point that it are afraid of doing anything for fear it might mess something up. The group gets so afraid of messing up, that it ends up doing nothing and thinking that it should be should be rewarded for simply existing. The Master, however, in Jesus’ parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30, makes clear that the those who use this “play it safe” mentality with what God’s has entrusted to them are “evil and lazy.”

I love this Frances Chan piece on this principle that dramatically brings home the foolishness of the “play it safe” mentality:

So what are you called by Jesus to risk for the Kingdom? Have you thought about it? I would love for you to put down some specific things for you to risk for the Lord. (There are questions that follow the very end of this post to help you consider these things.

And as you try to discover that one calling Jesus is challenging you to embrace, view this sarcastic piece written to make us laugh and maybe get a little bit angry as we peer into a community called  Bubble Creek Canyon. We would probably feel spiritually protected here, but I am not sure how much good we would be able to do for the Kingdom.

LIFE Questions to Consider:

Why do you think so many Bible-believing followers of Jesus approach life and their discipleship with the idea, “I would rather be safe than sorry.”

Read the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 and discuss the following questions:

• Is the theme of this parable using our talents?

• Look at verses 18 and verses 24-30: what was the problem with this servant?

• How did his view of God effect his decision to just bury his “bag of gold” (his talent)?

• How did this servant practice the “better safe than sorry” principle in his use of what the master entrusted to him?

• What was the verdict of the master on this servant and why?

Jesus called His followers to be His witnesses – to tell all that He had done in their lives and in His ministry – to the whole world (Acts 1:8).

• Why do you think it is so hard for folks to “witness” to what Christ has done in their lives today?

• When is the last time you heard a follower of Jesus say, “We cannot help but speak of what we have seen and heard”? (cf. Acts 4:18-20)

Do you think that most of Jesus’ modern followers’ inability to witness to Him is tied to their unwillingness to risk for Him and need His presence in their lives?

What promises about Jesus’ presence in our lives can you remember and what are they tied to in our lives? (Here are so examples to get you started:)

• Matthew 28:18-20
• Hebrews 13:5-6
• Romans 8:32-39
• Matthew 25:31-46

If yesterday was “Good Friday,” then today would have to be aptly named, Sad Saturday. This day, caught between heaven and hell, good and evil, Sunday and Friday, is the day of sacrificial rest and remembrance, the day of bitter herbs and distant memories of God’s great acts now seemingly turned impotent and God’s powerful and creative voice fallen silent. I can’t imagine how the closest friends of Jesus felt so many years ago, because crushed seems to mild and devastated too shallow.

So today, as I read about Elijah from Eugene Petersen’s incredibly convicting book, The Jesus Way, I was reminded how much I want to dictate the ways and timing of God. So frequently, it seems to me, we don’t — I don’t — have the patience or the faithfulness to let God work His costly grace in my life. But, just as surely as Saturday rests between Friday and Sunday, so also God is at work in the silent moments when His voice is not heard and darkness appears to reign.

This powerful compilation of an old message and the scenes from The Passion of the Christ remind us of this once again: