John and Kathy Deisher

One Call, One Harvest, 50 Teams

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Just Start

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It’s the job that’s never started as takes longest to finish.”

— J.R.R. Tolkien

Photo by Manasvita S on Unsplash

I have a Word document where I write down ideas for projects I would like to do someday.

It is called “Undated Projects.”

The problem with this list is that I rarely do the things on it. It is not that I really don’t want to do them.

There is a book I want to write. There is some research I want to do. There is a project I would like to build.

But I never seem to get around to doing them.

The reason is fairly simple. They are “Undated Projects.” They have no deadline, no sense of urgency in a day filled with things that have to be finished today.

So, they are never started.

And, unless something changes, they will never be finished.

Look at your list of what you want to accomplish in your life. Put a date on it.

Start it. Finish it.

Companions

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It is easier to find guides, someone to tell you what to do, than someone to be with you in a discerning, prayerful companionship as you work it out yourself. This is what spiritual direction is.”

— Eugene Peterson
Photo by Andrea Tummons on Unsplash

I have said it. So have you.

“I wish someone would just tell me what to do!”

What should I study in college? Should I marry this person? Do I take this job or that job? How do I handle this situation?

Just tell me what to do!

So we look for a book, a speaker, a conference, someone, anyone who can give us an answer.

A guide who knows all, sees all, tells all.

But we should be looking for a friend, a companion. One who will walk with us, listen to us, pray for us. They will ask the hard questions that help us discover that God speaks to us and we can find answers through him.

Life is more frustrating if you keep looking for a guide.

Life is more fulfilling if you find a companion.

Clasp Hands

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To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.”

— Karl Barth
Photo by Igor Rodrigues on Unsplash

In the Theological Roundtable class for our interns, we talked this week about how we think theologically. Part of our time was spent looking at what we do as Christians that comes from tradition, from reason, and from experience.

Why do we pray?

It should be more than just something we do because we are “Christian.”

Or because the Bible talks about prayer.

Or because we know God answers our prayers.

We pray because it is our time to join with God in declaring that the things of this world do not define us. The chaos, the clatter, the distractions, and disruptions do not dictate our actions.

It is a rebellion against the systems of the world.

We stop the noise.

And we pray.

We join together with God as we pour out our heart and find direction in the disorder. 

Join the revelation. Clasp hands. Pray.

Go!

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The child, in Jesus’ mind, was not an annoying distraction. The child was a last-ditch effort by God to help the disciples pay attention to the odd nature of God’s kingdom. Few acts of Jesus are more radical, countercultural, than his blessing of children.”

– Stanley Hauerwas and William H. Willimon, “Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony

Some co-workers of mine have a year and a half old son. I had a chance to spend some time with him this past Sunday night. He has a new word he likes.

The word is “Go”.

And he does.

I try to get him to come sit. But he grabs my hand and says “Go”.

He always seems to be ready to go. He is always moving. He is full of energy. He is full of life.

I am more comfortable with “Stay.”

But he tugs on my arm, looks at me, and says “Go.”

The Kingdom of God is “Go”. It is movement. It is energy. It is life.

And when I am comfortable with “Stay” the Holy Spirit tugs on my arm and say, “Go”.

No wonder Jesus blessed the children.

In His Image

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Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and to bring Him nearer to our own image.”

—A.W. Tozer, “The Pursuit of God” 
"Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and to bring Him nearer to our own image.”

I shared with our interns the other day a different way of looking at the Bible.

Instead of reading the Bible and asking, “What are you saying to me, God?”, we should read the Bible and say, “What are you revealing about yourself, God?”.

It seems simple when you think about it. We were made in his image. So, that means as we learn more about God, his nature and attributes, we learn more about ourselves.

We make adjustments to our lives.

What is God revealing about himself to you, so that you can live in his image?

Missing the Point

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The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” 

― G.K. Chesterton, What’s Wrong with the World

Photo by Jukan Tateisi on Unsplash

Thomas Jefferson had a Bible. It was a very private book

The reason it was so private was that Jefferson had created a Bible suited for himself. He had taken all of the miracles out of the Gospels and was left with a document showing Jesus as a man of morals.

This leaves you with an easier Christian life. No Virgin Birth to explain. No miracles to deal with. No death and resurrection to mess with your idea of the afterlife.

Just a book of moral teachings offering an easy Christian checklist on what you should do.

Except we don’t do it.

Christ was never meant to be easy. It was never about checklists. It was about things that stretch us, challenge us, frustrate us, capture us, change us, shape us.

It was about “Greater things than this you will do.”  It was meant to be difficult apart from Christ.

So, you cut out what you don’t want.

And miss the point entirely.

Ambitions

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Are you following Christ’s ambitions for your life or expecting Him to help you reach yours?”

― Stephen Davey
Following Christ

Photo by Jehyun Sung on Unsplash

A guy walks up to Jesus on the road.

Sounds like the start of a joke, doesn’t it? But it turned out to be anything but that.

He wanted to follow Jesus. I mean, REALLY follow Jesus. Great credentials. Great background.

We would have signed him up right then to be a deacon or a teacher or small group leader.

Instead, Jesus said he was only lacking one thing.

That’s not bad, right? Only lacking one thing?

Except the one thing was everything. The one thing was everything the young man had sought—money, security, comfort. They were the things that made up his ambition

And when the young man’s ambitions for his life encountered Christ’s ambitions for his life, he couldn’t do it. Achieving his ambitions were more important than following Christ.

Whose ambitions are you following?

No News is Not Good News

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The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.”

― Carl F. H. Henry

You have probably never heard of Private John J. Williams.

He is reported to have been the last soldier killed in the Civil War. He died at the Battle of Palmito Ranch, which occurred on May 12-13, 1865.

But, he didn’t have to die. We may never have heard of him because the battle never should have been fought. 

Any student of the Civil War knows that General Robert E. Lee had surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. The Civil War was over, which was good news.

But for Private Williams, the good news did not get there in time, which was not good new.

See the point?

If we have good news that could save someone but we don’t deliver it, it is no longer good news to them.

We have Good News.

And someone is dying today.

Will it be Good News for them?