The Phil Files

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

Okay. Ricky (one of my ministry teammates) challenged a bunch on our leadership team to pray and fast either Monday or Tuesday. So, during my appointed “lunch time” today, I was munching on leadership principles from Numbers. I know, the Old Testament book of Numbers doesn’t sound exotic or life-changing — more like walking through a bunch of sand. But when you dig a little deeper (sorry about the bad pun), there is a lot there to be found.

From good ol’ Moses, the greatest leader ever before Jesus, came some interesting insights.

• I got a good dose of raising holy hands (wave offering) in relationship to leadership — the laying on of hands and the raising of hands was a key part of placing new leaders before God!
• I got a large dose of falling on my face before the Lord interceding for the people of God.
• I got a reprimand on not listening for the voice of God and not being more passionate to live out His clearly stated will.
• I got a reminder that leaders are going to have to deal with a lot of whining and blaming and complaining and questioning — even from those closest to us.
• I was blown away by the importance of obeying and responding to the call of God when given the opportunity, or it may not come again in our generation.
• I saw how negative voices are much more easily heard in a crowd and nay-saying can swamp the vision of God’s people and drown out the promises of God from their hearts even if the clear word of God is declared.

But the one thing that haunts me most, especially as we deal with learning how to communicate God’s truth to post-mod adults and how we help them experience the presence of God in their lives is this:

“‘You said your children would be carried off as plunder.’ Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised. But as for you, you will drop dead in this wilderness. And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness for forty years. In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the wilderness.” (Numbers 14:31-33 NLT)

I am a boomer. Not proud of it, but it was when God chose for me to be birthed. So as we sit around and complain about the church’s past and we moan about the present and we navel gaze about what pleases us … I fear we do not demonstrate that Jesus is found in action and emotion and service and challenge and …

Enough said. Only 15% of the leadership had the vision in God to act … so the 85%, with the support of the “led,” missed the opportunity and cost their children 40 years of experiencing God’s power and grace! They had to wander around in the sand until all their parent’s fears and faithlessness were buried.

That being said, who suffered most? I say it was the parental generation who never got to see their children experience God for real. Of course those children did experience God for real, it’s just that their parents were buried and gone … under the sand.

Please, dear God, may it not be so of us … of me!

Each of us has a hunger in our soul — sometimes called a “God-shaped” hole — that can only be filled by God Himself. Two now classic books speak to this hunger, Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God and J.I. Packer’s Knowing God.

In my Heartlight.org post this week, Drawing Nearer, I begin a several week look at the different ways we can “know” God. Of course, Jesus made the clear the importance of knowing God in the following statement He shared with His closest friends shortly before the agony of the Passion:

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

We will use what I call “Immanuel sayings” from the gospel of Matthew because they tell us four ways for God to reveal Himself to us in Jesus:

Through the story of Scripture with Jesus as a focus (Matthew 1:22-23)
Through radical forgiveness, accountability, fellowship, and worship (Matthew 18:20)
Through loving service to those in need (Matthew 25:40)
Through reaching past barriers and helping others know and live for Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20).

I would like to challenge you to think through some things and get your comments, especially if you have read the Heartlight.org post, to the following questions:

Do you think addictions spring from folks yearning to know God, but trying false ways of doing that and getting trapped by Satan?

What is the biggest difference between knowing about God and actually knowing God?

The term “knowing” is a very intimate term in biblical language (see Genesis 4:1, 17, 25 and Luke 1:34 where the term refers to the intimacy of a husband and wife: modern translations do not keep the metaphorical “knew” but look at the KJV.). Why would the Holy Spirit choose that term to talk about our relationship with God?

How does eternal life hinge on knowing God? (John 17:3)

In my Heartlight.org post this week, “Star Bright,” I talk about the Magi (or Wise Men) who come from the east and worship Jesus. They undertook a long and difficulty journey to honor the newborn King of an enemy nation. They did this at great personal cost and risk. Yet these astrologers — astrology was a practice prohibited in both the Old and New Testaments for being associated with witchcraft — found their way to the manger where Jesus was born so they could worship Him. Meanwhile, Herod used the prophecies about the Messiah’s birth in the Old Testament to determine where the Messiah would be born so he could kill the child, Jesus. Herod saw this child as a rival to his control and sought to kill him, just as he did with two of his own boys who he feared would threaten his rule.

This story is a reminder of how easily we can use Scripture for ungodly means if we lose sight of it’s purpose and the basis of which we interpret it. A few questions seem in order to help us avoid misusing Scripture:

How can we get so far off base in our religious practice that we would reach the point of killing Him because He challenged us in areas where we were comfortable and didn’t want to be disturbed?

How do I use Scripture?

Am I using it to seek after God?

Am I reading Scripture to know God and not just know about God?

Am I listening to Scripture to obey it and honor God, or simply to justify what I do?

The key point is to remember that the center of Scripture and the key to understanding Scripture is a hunger and faith for Jesus (2 Timothy 3:15; cf. John 1:1-18; Hebrews 1:1-3).

So how do we keep Jesus at the center of our lives?

How do use Scripture as a Holy blessing, but not worship Scripture and lose sight of the character and compassion of Jesus?

Haysel got to go home today. The last year or so has been pretty tough for her. Well over 102, her body really began to wear out this last year. I’m happy for her and relieved for her precious family — especially her daughter, Danelle, who made sure Haysel was loved and care for with grace.

Haysel is precious. With beautiful white hair and always conscious of how she presents herself, Haysel is very much a lady. Even more, Haysel is a person of deep faith. One of the favorite and most cherished parts of my visits with her came during the prayer time. Nearly everyone I visit in the hospital wants me to pray FOR them. When I visited Haysel, she wanted me to pray WITH her. Her prayers, even on days when she was a bit confused and her voice was weak, were rich with faith and clothed in a reverential familiarity with the Father. Several months ago when we visited and it came time for prayer, I had to pray alone. She was comfortable when I prayed, but was uneasy and confused when it was her time to pray. It was then that I knew it was time for her to go home.

Every spring, our church has what we call WATS Day — “We Are The Sermon.” We have a communion service and then go out and serve our community all Sunday afternoon doing things for folks who can’t help themselves or are in special need of work done around their house but can’t do it themselves. Before our little work team went to our work site, we went by Haysel’s place to have church with her and the family. For a family service, we went a good bit of time doing church — somewhere north of 40 minutes. This included singing, praying, preaching, and the Lord’s Supper. But for an ol’ preacher, Haysel’s words at the end of our service were precious: “I appreciate it, but you know, you could have preached longer.”

We will miss Haysel deeply, but are really happy for her to start her new journey to a more glorious existence. Living well over 102 years on this earth is quite an accomplishment, but to wake from the hard realities of a failing body and find yourself in the presence of the Lord is greater by far!

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands (2 Corinthians 5:1).

Some folks thought it sounded crazy. Some folks thought it sounded crazy cool. A number of folks gave to the fund anonymously to help make sure it could happen. 85 folks left church with more money than they came with and they also left with a mission to share that money in ways that change people’s lives in the name of Jesus.

On November 23, Southern Hills members who attended Refresh had the opportunity to participate in a Reverse Offering.  Eighty-five envelopes containing a total of $2,500 (all of which had been given by anonymous benefactors for the purpose of the Reverse Offering) were handed out to volunteers. They gave their name and email and promised to share how they used the money to bless others. Every person I’ve heard from took the task very seriously, looking at people in a very different way and prayerfully going about finding the right person in answer to prayer. One of the exciting things about this is that we have heard from people from all sorts of age groups who picked up one of the 85 envelopes to help. Generosity and concern know no generational limitations in the Lord’s family.

Read some of the stories about the reverse offering.

Like most churches, our finances have been extremely tight as the economy issues have settled in, so there was some wondering about how smart it would be to give money to folks to give money to the needs they saw in our community. However, the stories of how this has impacted both giver and receiver, and the anticipated stories we believe we will be able to tell about how it has impacted our church family, are incredible.

Paul knew a statement Jesus made that wasn’t recorded in one of the four Gospels. He shared this statement with men he was seeing for the last time. He was close to them and was pointing them to God’s way of leading His people:

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35 TNIV).

So maybe we shouldn’t call it a “reverse offering,” maybe we should call it a “blessed offering” for our church and those who participated.

As Paul said as he wrapped up his instructions about giving to the Corinthians, “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)