God is Closer Than You Think

In a recent post, I wrote about the wonder of a child in pursuit of God and how God is often closer than we are aware of.

One of my favorite authors Frederick Buechner in his book Listening to Your Life brilliantly writes,

“There is no event so commonplace
but that God is present within it,
always hiddenly, always leaving you room
to recognize him or not…
because in the last analysis all moments are key moments,
and life itself is grace.”
(Frederick Buechner)

Paul instructed the followers at Philippi to look around them and out of everything that could be observed in the world in which they found themselves to simply, find "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise." Once they were able to begin to see these things, they were to dwell on these things.

For Paul, as Henry David Thoreau penned, "It's not what you look at, but what you see." In this text from Philippians, Paul is simply encouraging us to develop a heart to discern, an eye to see and a mind that cultivates the capacity to "think" upon these things. Unfortunately, more often than not, when we look at the world around us we are more prone to see what's wrong with it, rather than what's right. We see that which is broken, fallen and needs to be fixed, rather than that which God is presently redeeming.

If we posture ourselves as Paul exhorted, we will begin to see “every creature will be to you a mirror of life," as wrote Thomas à Kempis, "and a book of holy doctrine.”

This phrase found in Philippians 4:8 is in the present tense and imperative mood, which notes, in short that it commands a continuous action…

Further, the middle voice is reflexive which means that you yourself are to continually initiate this action and participate in the effects or results thereof.

Biblical scholar Gordon Fee in his volume one Philippians, Paul's Letter to the Philippians, points out that Paul is using language the Philippians would have known from their youth, he singles out values held with the best of Hellenism. He states,

Paul is using language the Philippians would have known from their youth, he singles out values held in common with the best of Hellenism. But as v.9 implies, these must now be understood in light of the cruciform existence that Paul has urged throughout the letter…

Paul is telling them… to “take into account” the good they have long known from their past, as long as it is conformable to Christ.

Paul is encouraging the Philippians that even thought they are presently “citizens of heaven,” living out the life of the future as they await its consummation, they do not altogether abandon the world in which they used to, and still do, live. As believers in Christ they will embrace the best of that world as well, as long as it is understood in light of the cross (Fee, 416).

The most common response to such a culture is not discrimination, but rejection. This text suggests a better way, that one approach the market-place, the arts, the media, the university, looking for what is “true” and “uplifting” and “admirable”; but that one do so with a discriminating eye and heart, for which the Crucified One serves as the template (Fee, 421).

How skilled the Church has become at "rejecting" everything, rather than exercising the discernment of "discrimination." May God help us to engage the world in which we live in with eyes to see it from the vantage point of the Crucified One.

As Jean Pierre de Caussade wrote in his book The Sacrament of the Present Moment, may “each moment is a revelation from God."

Gotcha God...

One afternoon, when our son was about three. My wife and him were out on the back patio. It was a refreshing fall afternoon. As he looked up, the look of child-like curiosity became immediately apparent as he noticed the limbs of the tree moving above him. He was puzzled. He looked at her and said, "Mommy, where's God?" After a few various attempts to break down the Divine into three-year-old lingo, she, looked up at the limbs blowing in the wind and said, "Do you see the limbs moving?... They are moving, because the wind is blowing them... Can you see the wind?" To which, he quickly responded, "Nope..." She continued, "We can't see the wind, but we can see the effects of the wind... Likewise, we don't necessarily see God with our eyes, but like the wind, He is always here with us, working, moving, etc..."

Just then, a gust of wind blew threw and a few leaves rustled in the air. Without a flinch, my son jumped up and began running around the patio. His arms began to wave this way and that, along with a skip and a jump, not to mention a joy-filled smile on his face and a giggle that brings life even to the numbest of souls. Then he stopped, looked over his shoulder, turned around and in one giant swoop of the arms, as if grasping the very wind before him shouted, "Gotcha God..."

What if we could approach our days with the same child-like wonder of faith? Looking, listening, reaching, skipping, and most of all "swooping" to capture the God-moments of our day.

God’s Voice is speaking, resounding, even echoing all around us.
Can I sense it?
Fleeting thoughts, feelings, impressions, mental images, even billboards.
Did I see them?
Obscure verses embedded in Scripture, the whispering of a friend, the comment of a spouse, even the babbling of a young child.
Do I hear it?

The old poem of Elizabeth Barrett Browning still ring true,

“Earth's crammed with Heaven,

And every common bush afire with God,

But only he who sees takes off his shoes.

The rest sit around and picks blackberries.

Or, as John Ortberg wrote in his book God is Closer Than You Think, “God wants to be known, but not in a way that overwhelms us, that takes away the possibility of love freely chosen… He often shows up in unexpected ways. He travels incognito… You never know where he’ll turn up, or whom he’ll speak through, or what unlikely scenario he’ll us for his purpose.”

“For over the margins of life comes a whisper, a faint call,

a premonition of richer living…”

~Thomas Kelly

The question becomes, how do/will I capture the “whisperings” of God in my life?

"Thoughts disentangle themselves
when they pass through the lips and the fingertips."

(Dawson Trotman)

Spiritual Transformation is...

Spiritual Transformation…

…is essential, not optional, for Christ-followers.

…is a process, not an event.

…is God’s work, but requires my participation.

…involves those practices, experiences, and relationships that help me live intimately with Christ and walk as if he were in my place.

…is not a compartmentalized pursuit. God is not interested in my spiritual life; he’s interested in my life - all of it.

…can happen in every moment. It is not restricted to certain times or practices.

…is not individualistic, but takes place in community and finds expression in serving others.

…is not impeded by a person’s background, temperament, life situation, or season of life. It is available right now to all who desire it.

…and the means of pursuing it, will vary from one individual to another. Fully devoted followers are handcrafted, not mass produced.

…is ultimately gauged by an increased capacity to love God and people. Superficial or external checklists cannot measure it.

From the small group resource Fully Devoted by John Ortberg, Laurie Pederson, & Judson Poling.

Philippians: Too Many Minds_Week Nine

Our minds are amazing and complex. This week, as we continue our study in Philippians, we explore some of the battles that play out in the arena of our imaginations. Paul said to "be anxious for nothing." In this context, what is anxiety and what's a biblical response to it?

Philippians: Too Many Minds_Week Nine from Jerrell Jobe on Vimeo.

Honing Skills

This morning, I was struck by something, as I was reading Margret Feinberg’s Organic God. It’s not particularly a new thought, but nonetheless, one that penetrated through the veneer of my day and spoke to something deep within my soul. Doesn’t it seem that the most penetrating messages aren’t the new insights from afar, rather simply, those truths we’ve long known, yet desperately need to be reminded of. As C.S. Lewis often said, we often need to be reminded more than instructed.

Feinberg in her chapter “surprisingly talkative” is reminiscing about how God spoke to her - directing her into that which she was to do with her life. The Voice spoke more in silence than that of a sonic-boom. Later, she reflects on this process and her perspective and posture now towards this “gift,” and this is what caught my attention. She writes,

“In his silence, God allowed me to discover the gift that he had woven inside of me. That process has given me a deep sense of appreciation for the gift, so that I just can’t walk away when things get tough. Because of God’s silence, I recognize writing as one of those things I was created to do. that’s why, like an artisan, I spend long hours honing my work - praying for the beauty to emerge” (Organic God, 85).

As I began to reflect on these lines, it caused me to look at my own life and gifts - those things - that thing - that I’ve felt God’s nudging on most in my life. I began to wonder, “how am I ‘honing’ my gifts?” I practice using them a lot, but am I honing them?

Teaching and preaching can often be a touchy subject to ask such a thing. It’s as if, there’s this mystical-sacred force behind it, that to ‘hone’ in and practice the art of communicating would in some way contaminate the gift itself. Yet, I’ve heard some really dry, boring, and in need of some serious ‘honing’ preachers. I often wondered when listening to such aforementioned preachers, “who are you talking to?” and, “have you ever listened to yourself talk?”

Yet, if one were called to be a musician, a writer, or even a plumber, they would do everything possible to stay up with their particular field of discipline. Why wouldn’t we do so with teaching and preaching?

I often have paid attention to various forms of communicating and read up on a number of authors perspectives, yet deep within there’s a sense that “to practice” and developing such skills is in some way less pure.

After all, all we really need is the ‘anointing.’ Right? Just two weeks ago, I spent a couple of hours in Barnes and Noble perusing through a half-dozen communication books. Every book was trying to tell me how to “get people’s attention,” “prove my point” or what have you. Part of it just felt so mechanical, predictable and well honestly, manipulative. I don’t want this. I do want to engage the minds and hearts of listeners, but not by the means of some trite, slick or mechanical persuasive skill.

At the end of the day, there must be a balance between our personal integrity and our intentional and development of the skills and gifts that God has entrusted us with. I love what it said of David,

And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;
with skillful hands he led them.

(Psalm 78:72)

What does it look like for you do intentionally develop your skills and giftings?

What is Spiritual Formation...?

What exactly is Spiritual Formation?

This is a question I get asked quite often. In some circles its a "buzz word" of the latest discipleship-lingo, while for others, it's a word of apprehension, held with no small level of suspect.

Below, is a sampling of various authors and their attempt to conceptualize and define the essence of spiritual formation in a couple sentences or less. As you read through them, note the various nuances particular authors make or emphasize.

What make each unique? Look for the common themes that emerge throughout them. As you reflect on what others have written, begin to ask yourself, what's truly imperative, essential and beneficial in a person becoming "formed" into the "image of Christ."

1. “A process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others.” (Mulholland, Invitation to a Journey 15)
   
   
2. “Spiritual formation is the process of being conformed to the image of Christ by the gracious working of God's spirit, for the transformation of the world.” –from The Upper Room (http://www.upperroom.org/companions/tipsarchive.asp?act=details&loc_id=2974&item_id=203312)
   
   
3. “Thus, we can define spirituality this way: Spirituality is about what we do with the fire inside of us, about how we channel our eros. And how we do channel it, the disciplines and habits we choose to live by, will either lead to a greater integration or disintegration within our bodies, minds, and souls, and to a greater integration or disintegration in the way we are related to God, others, and the cosmic world.” (Rolheiser, The Holy Longing 11).
   
   
4. “Spiritual formation is the continuing response to the reality of God’s grace shaping us shaping us into the likeness of Jesus Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit, in the community of faith for the sake of the world.” --Toward a Definition of Spiritual Formation by Jeffery P. Greenman and Donald Goertz (Tyndale Seminary)
   
   
5. “The dynamics of shaping the human spirit toward maturity and consonance.” (The Upper Room Dictionary of Christian Spiritual Formation 107)
   
   
6. “The end of all Christian belief and obedience, witness and teaching, marriage and family, leisure and work life, preaching and pastoral work is the living of everything we know about God: life, life and more life. If we don’t know where we are going, any road will get us there. But if we have a destination—in this case a life lived to the glory of God—there is a well marked way, the Jesus-revealed Way. Spiritual theology is the attention that we give to the details of living life on this way” (Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, 1)
   
   
7. “My condition is called a desire for God’s ‘habitual presence’….In spiritual theology this condition is not merely recognized; guidance is provided on how that hunger may be satisfied.” (Diogenes Allen, Spiritual Theology, 2)
   
   
8. “Spiritual formation for the Christian basically refers to the Spirit-driven process of forming the inner world of the human self in such a way that it becomes like the inner being of Christ himself.” (Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, 22)
   
   
9. “Scripturally speaking, the spiritual life is simply the increasing vitality and sway of God’s Spirit in us. It is a magnificent choreography of the Holy Spirit in the human spirit, moving us toward communion with both Creator and creation. The spiritual life is thus grounded in relationship. It has to do with God’s way of relating to us, and our way of responding to God.” (Marjorie Thompson, Soul Feast, 6)
   
   
10. “Christian spirituality, then, simply put, is God’s passionate embrace of us; our passionate embrace of God.” (Robert Webber, The Divine Embrace, 16)
    

1. What features you deem most important as you create a definition of Spiritual Formation.

a. It’s a journey…process…continuous…ongoing…
b. It’s intentional.
c. It’s relational. True formation can’t happen void of community.
d. It’s influential (to others in our community and the world at large).

2. What issues are at stake?

a. Spiritual Formation (and the quality of my life) is always transforming… is it “integrating” or “disintegrating”?

"Each day we are becoming
either a creature of splendid glory or
one of unthinkable horror."

C.S. Lewis

b. others…?

3. What categories re-surface in the definitions I provided?

a. It’s a process…
b. It’s our response to God’s initiative…
c. We’re being formed to the likeness/image of Christ.
d. It influences others…

What are some key elements to spiritual formation from your perspective?

Which of the above definitions do you like best and why?

Philippinas: Rythms of Life_Week Eight

“If you are weary of some sleepy form of devotion,” wrote Frank Laubach, “probably God is as weary of it as you are.”

This message explores various ways of engaging God in rhythmic seasons of life. In it, we look at the role of spiritual disciplines and a Rule of Life in the process of our spiritual transformation.

Philippians: Rythms of Life_Week Eight from Jerrell Jobe on Vimeo.