Tag: God

What is “Faith”?

This Sunday we are starting a brand new series looking at one of the most important aspects of our faith, becoming an apprentice of Jesus. Dallas Willard writes this:“The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as ‘Christians’ will become disciples – students, apprentices, practitioners – of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence.”

I think this is true. The world doesn’t need more people who know about Jesus. The world doesn’t need more people who like Jesus. The world needs more people who are willing to follow, sacrifice, and become like Jesus. This is what the world needs; this is what your community, family, and neighborhood needs too. I know this is what I need too in my life.

So on Sunday we are going to start looking at how to become an apprentice of Jesus. We are going to discover how it starts and how we can start to practice our faith. Because I’m sure of one thing, becoming an apprentice doesn’t mean just learning more things about Jesus. It means starting to practice living like Jesus. In Matthew 7:24 Jesus says the wisemen hears his words, and puts them into practice. So on Sunday we are going to discover the very first and most important practice disciples are to take to start to follow Jesus. It has everything to do with where your heart is at and faith.

So before we get there I want to ask a simple question that I’ll try to answer on Sunday. What is faith?

Because I’ve seen pastors struggle to answer it, I’ve heard theologians muddle answers, and I think that’s where following Jesus starts. So how would you answer it – What’s faith?

by Andrew Mills

Finding and Seeing God in the Midst of a Mess

Bob Goff is a really brilliant guy. He’s the type of brilliant person who writes short simple sayings that are really deep. Here is a tweet he shared the other day:

“When we keep asking God to show up at places He’s already at, He isn’t mad, He probably just figures we didn’t recognize Him”

This really got me thinking…

How often am I asking God to show up somewhere and he already is but I don’t have eyes to see it? How often am I missing Jesus all around me?

And as I started to reflect on those questions I realized…I’m missing him probably more than I should…

The reality is that in really difficult situations, relationships, and even places, it can be hard to find God. When life is messy we ask God to show up, but the way God shows up in a mess isn’t to clean it up. The way God shows up in a mess is to enter into it and to start changing it from the outside. This type of involvement is slow, it is subtle and it is the most powerful.

This is really seen during Christmas which we just past. The world was broken, it was a mess, and people asked God to show up. So he did in the person of a baby, in the forgotten place, mostly alone and definitely in the dark.

The point is that we are often asking God to show up when he might already be there, working from within, and giving glimpses of grace. So for me personally I’ve moved from asking God to show up, to asking God to give me eyes to see him. That little difference has made all the difference…now I’m not waiting in God’s absence, I’m searching for his presence…

by Andrew Mills

Teaching My Son to Pray…

A few nights ago I had a really special moment with my son Hudson. I always pray over him every night before he goes to bed. In fact after I pray he often says, “again daddy”. And of course I pray again. What could be better for a parent?

Well I found “better” a few nights ago. As I was leaving his room he called out and said, “Wait Daddy”. So I came back and said “What’s up buddy?” He looked up at me and said, “Daddy I want to pray”. I was so happy and excited so I said, “of course you can pray. Why don’t you pray right now.” He looked down though and was kinda sad and said, “But I not know how…

And so I got the amazing privilege to teach my son how to pray because he wants to know how to pray. I told him how we pray to Jesus who is our friend. I told him how Jesus cares about all we care about and how he prays about those things. I told him how when we pray we give thanks for things too. And so he gave his first nighttime prayer a shot. Here is what he prayed,

“Dear Jesus, I pray for mommy and daddy, and thank you…them. I pray to not pee the bed. Amen”

Pretty great first nighttime prayer right?

But here is the point for us. Why is Hudson asking to learn to pray? Because he sees me do it every day with him. Because this is an action that has been modeled for him. This is why Jesus says, wise is the person who hears my words, and puts them into practice. This is why our faith is not about believing just the right things, but living a certain way. Because our practices show our beliefs. And so I got the amazing privilege of teaching my son to pray, because prayer has been a part of his life now for a while.

So the point is this: that if we want to pass along our faith, we need to start to practice it consistently. Because our friends, family, and neighbors notice. They see when you pray, when you bless someone, when you forgive and reach out. And as you do these things consistently they too might be like Hudson, saying, “Will you teach me” And trust me, there is nothing more beautiful than being able to teach your son how to connect with God.

So this week make sure you practice what you believe. Make sure you act and live out your faith with those around you. Who knows, maybe God will use your example and model to influence and change others. Because that’s what happened with me and Hudson.

Oh…and by the way…Jesus answered both our prayers that night and our little boy didn’t pee the bed…

by Andrew Mills

Keeping Up with the Jones’

Ever heard the phrase “keeping up with the Joneses”? I’m not sure how to correctly spell Jones-es. But my guess is that the Jones’ do and would correct my spelling…

Because isn’t that the point about that phrase? That around us are these people with perfect put together lives, lawns, children, and even grammar? These are the people who are always smiling and life seems to just go well for them. And secretly, many of us try to keep up with them, or just hope our lives would be like them. While this is a struggle for many of us on a personal level, it becomes even more difficult on a spiritual level.

Because I believe we often base our hope for God’s involvement in our lives, on our present reality. Meaning that if our lives are a bit of a mess we don’t expect God to change things that much. While we might not outwardly say it, we feel it. We think that God might answer the prayer of the Jones’ because they pray everyday, they give to the church, their kids are perfect, and their lives are put together. Sure God would show up in their always perfectly clean life, but it is less likely in our messy lives.

After many years of listening, I hear these thoughts so often. They are objections to God’s involvement in our lives because… “I did this….” “I don’t deserve God because…” “That might work for some but I’m just…”

So we don’t hope, we don’t expect God to show up, and we struggle. We know that God answers prayers for parking spaces for the Jones’ but when we’re drowning in debt he seems far away.

Well this Sunday I want to challenge that thought. I want to challenge that belief because it’s not true, and it’s not biblical. This Sunday I want to discover how God loves to show up in a mess, and we’ll discover how in the midst of family drama, division, hurt feelings, rejection, and mess, Jesus shows up. I think that’s worth discovering because if your at all like me, my life has some mess in it. But the beautiful thing is that is exactly where Jesus wants to show up…

by Andrew Mills

The Depth of Love: Family, Faithfulness, and Hesed

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about love. And not so much the gooey, lovey-dovey feeling of love. Instead I’ve been thinking about love in the faithful, committed, covenanted, never give up, type of love.

In our church family there have been new babies born recently and each group of parents talk about how quickly they love their new little ones. Not just a “feeling” but also a firm resolve to protect them, care for them, be with them, guide them, and walk alongside them. I know that feeling from when Hudson was born, and I look forward to that experience again with our new baby due any day.

The amazing thing is that this idea of love as, deep loyalty, unending commitment, patient endurance, faithfulness, is what is found in the Bible. The idea of love in the Bible isn’t just a feeling but a commitment and a covenant – that never ends.

In the Old Testament when the Bible often uses the word “loving-kindness, mercy, steadfast love.” The word is “hesed” in Hebrew. It speaks of God’s commitment to his promises, to his people, and his plans because of his deep love, commitment and fidelity.

The idea is simple: love isn’t simply a feeling or a contract. Love, or Hesed, is a covenant promise that cannot be broken. This is why when the Bible speaks of God as love (1 John 4) the point isn’t just that God has loving-feelings towards us. No, it is so much more than that. God being love means that he is defined by a passionate commitment, unfailing fidelity, a covenant of mercy, and a faithful promise to keep choosing to love you each and every day. This gets to the heart of God, and the scandal of God’s love. God’s love goes beyond just feelings and moves into action and deep commitment. So when we speak of God’s unconditional love for us, it isn’t just never-ending, good feelings about his people. God’s unconditional love means that his posture to us is one of faithful grace, active commitment, purposeful mercy, and consistent care because that is his promise to us.

In 1 John 4:8b – 9 we read, “God is love. God showed us how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have true life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to rescue us from our brokenness”

This is love. Love that is about action. Love that is about commitment. Love that is about sacrifice, fidelity, and a decision to reach out and give while we don’t deserve it. And this is what makes God so beautiful.

And this is also what makes me excited, because soon I will have a new son or daughter. That deep connection and desire to be committed to them for life I now know isn’t a biological evolution thing, it isn’t a psychological phenomenon thing, it isn’t even a socially prescribed thing. That deep desire for life-long love and commitment is a God thing. It starts with God, comes from God, is modeled by God, and is given by God.

And that, my friends, is a beautiful thing….

by Andrew Mills

The Story of Baptism ~ Grace, Gospel, and Gift

On Sunday we looked at the story of Baptism. You’ll be able to download the sermon here. And what I realized as I prepared the sermon on Baptism is that it’s really about grace, gospel and gift.

We looked at Acts 8 and in the story we meet a eunuch. This is a man who has been socially excluded, hurt, suffered something that is humiliating, and has no opportunity for a family or descendants. And he is reading a passage about humiliation, cutting, and a loss of family (Isaiah 53:7-8). This is a passage that would resonate with a man who has been cut, humiliated, and will never have descendants. Right at that moment Philip asks if he understands what he has read and shares with him the Gospel of grace and Jesus Christ.

The Eunuch understandably wants to join this movement, to be included in a family, but he is scared and scarred. Because the eunuch has just been turned away from the Temple in Jerusalem (see Deut.23:1). He has just been excluded, thrown out, and rejected because of who he is. What is amazing about the story in Acts 8 is that Philip immediately baptizes him and welcomes without wasting any time. The gospel of grace doesn’t demand that the eunuch change before he comes to Jesus; the gospel of grace is that people change by coming to Jesus.

So from this story I pulled three main thoughts. That baptism is really a reminder and a marker of the story we are a part of. It also reminds us of grace, identity, and inclusion in God’s family.

First, baptism is a reminder of the wideness of God’s mercy. So we need to be careful if we limit the scope and activity of God’s grace. The religious institution of the day excluded this man whom the Kingdom of God welcomed. The truth is God’s gospel of grace is for everyone and anyone. Everyone is free to come to Jesus. Jesus died for the whole world and baptism is a reminder of the wideness of God’s grace.

Secondly, it reminds us of our identity. The eunuch is no longer a broken, excluded man with no descendants. He is a part of a spiritual family. He is pure, holy, and clean. Baptism doesn’t save us, make us holy or clean; Jesus Christ does that. Baptism doesn’t change us, but it does remind us of the change that has happened. And when we follow Jesus, we are new, we are no longer sinners, but holy, perfect, and clean because of Jesus’ sacrifice. Paul says, “Those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore for the old life is gone. A new life has begun (2 Cor. 5:17). So Baptism is a reminder of our identity in Christ. We are no longer the same anymore. The old life is gone and new life has begun. We don’t need to cling onto our old identity but embrace our identity in Christ.

Lastly, it reminds us we are part of a family. The eunuch joins a family of God, and tradition says that he brought the gospel to many people. So while he may not have any physical descendants, he has many spiritual descendants. He is a father to many. Baptism is a reminder that we are apart of a family and a people called by God. We are included in God’s family and that gives us reason to celebrate.

So from an odd story about chariots, eunuchs, and running disciples, we learn about God, gospel, and most of all grace.

by Andrew Mills

Prayer Thoughts, and Tips

Today I want to share a short post on prayer; a few things I’ve learned that have helped me grow closer with God. Here are a few suggestions in no particular order:

1)    Give God Space:  At one point in my life my relationship with God seemed to slide but I couldn’t discern why. It just seemed as if we weren’t close anymore. As I reflected, I realized that while I hadn’t done anything overt to distance myself from God, I didn’t give him any space in my life. I listened to my iPod in the shower. Listened to the radio in the car. Had music playing while working, and cleaned the house with the TV on. I was asking God to speak to me, but I realized I hadn’t given him any space to speak. My entire life was filled with noise, with stuff, with things happening. What I’ve started to realize is that for God to speak I have to leave space in my life and day for him. I need to give him my attention and that has changed our whole relationship.

2)    Pray in the Morning:   I really don’t believe there is one time in the day to pray, but I have found, for me, that prayer in the morning is crucial. Brother Andrew said, “If we do not actively seek God early in the morning, it will be very unlikely that we meet him later in the day.” I have simply found this to be true in my life. If I rush past God in the morning the chances of me slowing down in the day aren’t great. So even though I have a thousand other things I’d like to do in the morning, I know the most important thing is to connect with God.

3)    Pray all the Time, Not Just the Mornings: I know this sort of contradicts my last suggestion, but well…life is complex. Here is though what I noticed in my own life a few years ago. What I noticed was that I prayed to get it done, to get it over with, or to put in my time. I prayed in the morning so I could get on with the business at hand and forgot about God the rest of the day. It was as if being present for a moment in the morning was enough for the whole day. Now I know better. I need God all throughout the day. Now my morning prayer is often a prayer to help me discover where God is acting throughout the day. And this has made all the difference.

4)    Don’t Give Up:  Ready for a confession? Not every conversation I have with my wife is scintillating and life changing. But she has had a tremendous influence in my life and changed me in so many ways. I think something similar happens with God. Not every prayer time is amazing, deep, and energizing, but I know it does change me. The point is to not give up, and to keep in the rhythm of prayer. Prayer is often called a spiritual discipline and this is true. It does take some discipline. So now, when after I’ve prayed and I feel a little frustrated, I remind myself it’s not about how I feel but continually being in the relationship that brings about change. That’s true in my relationship with Krista and even more true in my relationship with God.

So I hope those help you. But what have you learned? What would you add?

by Andrew Mills

Overwhelmed By God in a God-Absent Place

Last Sunday we talked about Ezekiel 1. You saw my most terrible rendition of the passage on a white board. In case you missed it – here’s what you missed.

Yes it was that bad…

The point though was that this is a difficult passage to picture, it’s a difficult passage to understand, it’s overwhelming and even a bit odd. So what we wanted to discover was what does this passage mean for us?

I asked each of you to think of one place where you assume God isn’t in your life. The reality is that we each have these places where our experience tells us God just isn’t there, or that active. That in this relationship, that workplace, that family, that street, that place God doesn’t seem to be there.

But as we discovered Ezekiel was in a place where God was supposed to be absent and gone. He was in a far away land, in a different god’s land, his temple was gone, his connection with God was strained and he felt alone.

But what is so amazing is what God does.

He shows up and overwhelms Ezekiel with his presence and a vision. That even though Ezekiel was sure he was in a place God wasn’t, God shows up. Amidst all the amazing details of the vision, one incredibly important one stands out. Ezekiel had a vision from God, a connection with God, in Babylon, a place God wasn’t supposed to be.

So what we can learn is that even those places in our lives where we feel or think God is absent or isn’t active – that he can show up and surprise us. There is no place in our lives thatis absent from the presence or activity of God. And on Sunday we prayed that in those places where we feel alone, that this week God would surprise us, overwhelm us, and connect with us just like he did for Ezekiel.

So as you go off to school and you feel God isn’t there, as you enter that workplace that seems so dark, as you meet with that friend where it seems God is no where near…may you discover him today just as Ezekiel did in a surprising, life changing and deep way.

Because this vision is a reminder to us that when we feel far from God, and alone, that today could be the day he shows up, surprises us, and changes our lives…

Group Discussion Questions:

– What places in your life does God feel most absent? Where do you wish he would most show up? What do you think Ezekiel felt after that encounter with God? Do you trust that God can show up even in dark places? Who can you have commit to continue to pray for you that God surprises and shows up for you?

Discussion Questions for Young Families

– Spend time with your kids asking them – is there anywhere God can’t be? Ask them how they know God is with them? Then spend time sharing with them that God is always with them, and that they know that from the Bible and God’s promises (i.e. Hebrews 13:5)

by Andrew Mills

Verbal Sparring Partners

Henri Nouwen, a favorite writer of mine, writes this: It seems that I am perpetually involved in long dialogues with absent partners, anticipating their questions and preparing my responses. I am amazed at the emotional energy that goes into these inner ruminations and murmurings.

Does anyone else struggle with this too? Replaying in your mind pretend conversations about how things could have gone? Creating new situations in your thoughts where you get verbal revenge, with a great response?

What I love about Nouwen’s quote is that he gets it right. When I look back on my life I’m amazed at the amount of emotional energy and time I give to these fake situations. I’m amazed at how much thought space these pretend situations, that flow out of real people, take up.

After realizing that, I’ve decided to give up the fight. I no longer want to have pretend verbal sparring with the difficult people in my life. I no longer want to replay how conversations could have happened or should have happened. I no longer want to give up that time and energy.

The question is how?

Because my guess is that if you’re like me you get stuck there. So the question is how do you let go? How do you give up the mental fight? How do you let your verbal sparring partners go?

The answer is easy but hard to live out.

It’s simple: start to bless them and pray for them.

Jesus teaches us that we should pray for our enemies. What he is teaching is not just about our posture towards others but where our time and thoughts should go. So now every time my mind starts to pick up that conversation, preparing answers, playing out situations, I stop and pray. I say,” God bless this person. God be with that organization. God give grace to that committee, group, or family member”. I start to change my thoughts for sparring to blessing.

And that one little change, changes everything…

So why not try it today. Seek to bless rather than rehearse verbal dialogues..

by Andrew Mills

What’s Your Name?

Naming someone is important and hard. Krista and I really debated and talked through naming our son. We wanted a strong name, and a courageous name, and one that we both loved. Not a name we liked, but one we loved. And that’s how we chose the name Hudson. Here’s Hudson learning to say his name and he loves to say it:

So the next time you see him, ask him his name he will grin, smile, and yell Hud-son.

But names are important. Right now Krista and I are back in the process of choosing names for a boy and a girl with our upcoming baby in November. Our girl one is picked, and but we’re still struggling with a boy’s name. The reason is that name’s last for a lifetime and we want it to be the right one.

But it got me thinking about the how God gives Jacob (which means deceiver) a new name in Genesis 32:28. God renames Jacob into Israel and changes his destiny. His change of name marks a course change and character change in his life. One deep encounter with God leads Jacob to no longer be a deceiver, and a cheat but a different person. A different person with a new name.

So my thought was this: What name might God give you? If you were to deeply encounter him today – what name or characteristic would he give to you to shape and change you? What names would you leave behind – like failure, cheat, liar, sinner? What name would he give you – cherished, faithful, courageous, loved? Or maybe something else entirley…

The point is we receive names from those around us. But the names that matter most are the names that God gives us. So maybe today spend a few moments, encounter God, and ask him – what is my name?

And if you have any boy suggestions – send them my way…

by Andrew Mills