John and Kathy Deisher

One Call, One Harvest, 50 Teams

life

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.

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?

Deeper Things

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“We should remember that God always meets us where we are and slowly moves us along into deeper things.”

— Richard Foster, “Celebration of Discipline”
Deeper Things
(Photo by Cristian Palmer on Unsplash)

Someone recently found an old picture of me from college in 1978. I was 5’11”, 145 pounds, and had a large, curly “afro” (as they were called). I looked like a giant q-tip.

I don’t look like that anymore.

In 1978, I thought I knew how God worked, what he wanted from me,  and how my life would work out. I thought I knew the “deeper things”.

I don’t think like that anymore.

God was real to me in 1978. But in the last 41 years, I have changed. I have had experiences I never could have dreamed about then.

I have had life experiences.

I have had God-experiences.

And I have come to realize that God is continually meeting with me in the present to draw me into his future.

That means more “deeper things”.

God loves me where I am right now. But, he is not content to let me stay here.

He has “deeper things”.

Learn to Dance

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“Learn to dance, so when you get to heaven the angels know what to do with you.”

― St. Augustine
(Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash)

Kathy and I were going through a difficult time. It was one of those dark seasons of life you never want someone to experience.

One night, for whatever reason, we decided that enough was enough. We opened all the doors and windows and put on some up-tempo praise music.

Then, we started to dance.

And dance.

And dance.

We grabbed brooms and “swept out the devil”.

Our children came out of their rooms to watch us.

We laughed. A lot.

And we danced.

It was on that night that we came up with one of our life phrases: “Dance in the midst of your troubles. It confuses the devil.”

But not the angels. They know what to do with someone who dances with joy in the midst of their troubles as well as in those times of great celebration. The angels welcome dancers as those who have learned to find their joy in God.

So dance.

Living Gladly

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“The greatest honor we can give Almighty God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of his love.” 

— Julian of Norwich

I love mornings. There is a freshness, a newness about them. I watch the sun rise and am always filled with a sense of delight that no two are the same.

I don’t love problems. There is a staleness, a sameness about them. I watch problems come and am always filled with a sense of dread whether no two are the same or whether they all seem the same.

But everyday I am provided both—sunrises and problems.

So, I chose to “live gladly” for the opportunities both bring.

I know God loves me, and in facing my sunrises and problems I have the opportunity to experience that love. It is my choice in how I live.

So I will live gladly.

Sunrises or problems.

Gladly.

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.