John and Kathy Deisher

One Call, One Harvest, 50 Teams

Thoughts

Reading

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“If the book we are reading does not wake us, as with a fist hammering on our skull, why then do we read it?” Franz Kafka

One of my favorite questions to ask people is “What are you reading”?

It is hard for me to comprehend why someone would not want to read. But more difficult for me is why someone would read some of the things they read.

We spend time reading the next new thing, the “latest and greatest” that will show us how to do whatever it is we need to justify doing. Books become an affirming, comfortable whisper in our ears that says, “Everything is alright.” The latest self-help book takes the place of spiritual disciplines as we look to have a happier, healthier life.

But when we read C.S. Lewis (who wrote more than “The Chronicles of Narnia”) or G.K. Chesterton or Teresa of Avila or Blaise Paschal or Stanley Hauerwas or N.T. Wright, there is no coddling, no slumber, no cozy blanket of self-affirming satisfaction.

They bring a Holy Spirit driven fist, forcing us to cover-up, to counter punch, to think deeply and long on whether our position will stand the true test—a life lived well in Christ.

Go to the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for some great books online. Read “The Practice of the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence. Read “Orthodoxy” by G.K. Chesterton. Read “Pilgrims Progress” by John Bunyan.

Then prepare for battle.

Resurrection Hope

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In his Commentary on Romans, Karl Barth quotes Friedrich Nietzsche:

“Only where graves are is there resurrection.”

There has to be a death before there is a resurrection. That may not be something we want to think about—letting something die. It could be our plan, our dream, our relationship. It’s not working but we want to keep it on life-support, avoiding the grief of its death. But, what if we embraced that grief and waited to see if God desires to resurrect the dead to a redeemed life.

Lamentations is about death and grief. It is the death of a nation and the grief of its people. But right in the middle of the laments, Jeremiah writes:

But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:21-24 ESV)

It is alright to grieve for a season. There is a need for lamenting. But in the middle of the grief, there is a morning coming where the ceaseless love of God is faithfully unfolded through his unending mercy.

So I can stand at the grave with resurrection hope.

Learn to Fear

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Deuteronomy 17:18-20 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.”

Long before the kings of Israel showed up, God had set a plan in place for that day to come. He gave those future kings a list of things not to do: don’t acquire a lot of horses, don’t acquire a lot of wives, don’t acquire a lot of money. And to keep the kings on the straight and narrow, they had to write their own book of the law that they were to keep and read for the rest of their life.

I remember when Kathy showed me this one day. I went to look and see if it was recorded what the kings did.

They acquired horses.

They acquired wives.

They acquired money.

You know what I didn’t find? I didn’t find any mention that they had written their own copy of the law of God. So they broke God’s laws, and were judged by God for breaking those laws. So, instead of receiving God’s blessings for obedience, they received judgement for their disobedience.

Maybe the first thing any person who becomes a Christian should do is not buy a Bible, but get a guide who walks with them as they write a copy of the laws of God. Or, maybe every Christian should write their own copy of the law and read it throughout their life.

It might make us all more aware of how we should live.

A Colony of Hope

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“It had taken me a long time, with considerable help from wise Christians, both dead and alive, to come to this understanding of church: a colony of heaven in the country of death, a strategy of the Holy Spirit for giving witness to the already-inaugurated kingdom of God.” Eugene Peterson, The Pastor, A Memoir

I am often asked, “What is Chi Alpha?”

The definitions get muddled sometimes.

“We are a Christian community on campus.”

“We reach students for Christ.”

“We reach students, train them, and send them out for the glory of God.”

We know what we do, but what are we?

What if we saw ourselves as a “colony of heaven in the country of death”? What if our task were to be the way the Holy Spirit announces that the Kingdom of God is here, smack dab in the middle of my campus?

My community?

My world?

How would we then look? How would we act? 

We would be people of hope.

And in a country of death, hope is a bright light that people desperately need.

Giving Thanks

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Psalms 118:28-29

28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;

    you are my God; I will extol you.

29 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

    for his steadfast love endures forever!

Steadfast.

I don’t know why, but to me “steadfast” sounds, well, plain. Steadfast sounds like a description someone would use when they couldn’t come up with another word to describe someone.

“Well, at least he’s steadfast, bless his heart.”

(Yes, I even hear “bless his heart” added to make it somehow more, well, pitiful.)

But there is a reassurance to “steadfast” that says no matter what else may happen, this will continue. It may not be flashy, or the “latest and greatest”, but in spite of everything else, what is stead fast will still be there.

Like God’s love.

Steadfast.

Enduring.

Forever.

No matter my situation, no matter how fluid the moment, I can give thanks because God’s love will always be there.

And that blesses my heart.

Prayers and Problems

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“I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:18-20

“Our problems don’t define us; God defines us. Our problems are neither the first nor the last word of who we are; God is. As we pray, the God who is previous to who we are and what we are doing, the God who is previous to what has gone wrong in our lives will show us the fulness of the love of Christ.” Eugene Peterson, Practice Resurrection 

It should come as no surprise to anyone that knows me that I love the writings of Eugene Peterson. As I have been preparing myself for our Spirit Walk retreat, I have been writing reflectives from Ephesians. I have issues. We all do. There are things that I have faced (and sometimes continue to face) that I can feel are insurmountable.

But then I read this passage.

And I pray the following prayer:

I pray that God “may grant … power through his Spirit” to face the issues in my life (3:16).

I pray that Christ may dwell in my heart and bring the peace that passes all understanding (3:17).

I pray that I may have the power to comprehend the love of Christ in the midst of my issues. (3:18).

I pray that I may be filled with all the fullness of God as I live this Spirit-infused life (3:19).

Act Your Way

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“The rule for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbour; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets.”  C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Dr. Ray Brock helped shape me during my Masters program. One of the things he said has stayed with me throughout the last 35 years:

“It is easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than to think your way into a new way of acting.”

C.S. Lewis agrees. The question is not “Do I love this person” but “How do I show love to this person”. The act does not flow out of my thought. My thoughts flow out of my desire to act. 

And this is a good thing.

Because often, I don’t find find myself really wanting to love some people. I want to choose those worthy of my love (whatever that means). But, of course, as a Christ-follower I don’t get to think about those things.

I get to act.

In acting, I find my thinking comes around, and that there are lot of people that I love. 

And that is a really great thing.

God’s Faithfulness

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I planted a garden this year. OK, I actually planted some vegetables in three large containers. That is what you do when you live in an RV.

I planted tomatoes, peppers, and pickling cumbers. I did not expect bushel baskets full of produce, but I thought it would be nice to have a few fresh vegetables.

But it rained. All of April, all of may, much of June, it rained. Despite the rain, I picked two tomatoes and had three more growing, along with two peppers and one cucumber. Not a bumper crop.

Then it got hot. Hot as in a week of over 100 degrees. Two of the three tomatoes survived the heat, but the rest of the vegetables wilted and died.

Where am I going with this?

I could have lamented what was lost. I could have shaken my fist at the rain and the sun for ruining my harvest. I could have regretted the money I spent and the time I invested.

Or, I could enjoy my salad. Actually, two salads, each with two tomatoes. And I could look forward to next year.

Life brings you stuff. But we choose how to live, how to respond.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

I wonder what I should plant next year?