One More Thing

Hi Five Oakers, The weekend's coming and there are a few things I want to share with you.

The Weekend

God makes incredible promises to us that impact us for all of eternity. You may wonder why is the journey from the promises to the full experience of the blessings so difficult? 

God promised Jacob the land of Canaan. As we continue our series on "The Gospel According to Joseph" this weekend, Jacob learns that Joseph is alive. But to be reunited, he must walk away from the land of promise. His descendants will experience hundreds of years of forced labor in Egypt. And they will all ask the question you often ask, "Why does God seem to take the longest, hardest route to accomplishing his will?"

That's one of the questions we will explore as we look at two of the most emotion packed chapters in the Bible, Genesis 44-45.

FYI

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra on "Will InterVarsity Losing Cal State Standoff Be Tipping Point for Campus Ministries Nationwide? America’s largest university system withdraws recognition from 23 student groups for not allowing non-Christian leaders."

Despite a year's worth of persuasion and a New York Times article that sparked widespead support this summer, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship has lost campus access in America's largest university system because it requires student leaders to affirm Christian doctrines.

Kelli B. Trujillo on "Embracing Science: Let’s put the faith vs. science mentality to rest"

While there certainly are arenas in which the interaction between faith and science may be difficult to parse out, those experiences of tension certainly don't mean science must be rejected as a matter of faith. "We live in a culture in which science and faith are often presented to us as being in conflict. As Christians, though, if we believe that the God of the Bible is the creator of all we see, and if nature is—as the apostle Paul suggests—just as much God's book as the written Word, then science and faith cannot be in conflict," asserts Dr. Katherine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University.

One More Thing

When Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, it's arguably one of the most emotional scenes in the Bible. At that point it is obvious that he had forgiven the brothers that had stolen thirteen years of his life and caused him so much pain and grief. How did he do it? That's one of the the things we'll look at this weekend. We can and should see things as Joseph did.

But as believers we have another important key to forgiving others that I will not talk about this weekend. One of the keys to forgiving is to learn to value reconciliation as Jesus valued it. Here are the words of Jesus' prayer for his disciples recorded in John 17.

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21)

Unity among God's people witnesses to the world. It's a sign of the kingdom. It's a picture of heaven to a world hungry for true reconciliation.

If Jesus valued unity among God's people, and if we learn to value it also, it means we will do all we can to learn how to forgive and to seek help for an unforgiving heart. We have to learn. We can learn. We have to have heart inclined to surrender to God on this and start or complete the journey of learning to forgive.

One More Thing

Hi Five Oakers, The weekend is almost here and there are a few things I want to share with  you.

The Weekend

You are important to God. Yes, you, even if you're messing up royally, ignoring God or stuck in neutral. You are important enough that he is working on you, transforming you from the inside out. He will use whatever means at his disposal to shape your character, including pain and hardship. And that's what we're looking at this week as we continue our series on "The Gospel According to Joseph."

Joseph's purposes in Egypt are part of God's grand plan of redemption. God is constantly pointing to this grand purpose in his Word and in this story in particular. But part of that purpose includes individuals, so we'll see how Jacob, Joseph and Judah are changing as the account progresses. God is at work in them, and by looking at them we can see how God is at work in us. Don't miss it!

FYI

Tish Harrison Warren on "The Wrong Kind of Christian: I thought a winsome faith would win Christians a place at Vanderbilt’s table. I was wrong."

I thought I was an acceptable kind of evangelical. I'm not a fundamentalist. My friends and I enjoy art, alcohol, and cultural engagement. We avoid spiritual clichés and buzzwords. We value authenticity, study, racial reconciliation, and social and environmental justice. Being a Christian made me somewhat weird in my urban, progressive context, but despite some clear differences, I held a lot in common with unbelieving friends. We could disagree about truth, spirituality, and morality, and remain on the best of terms. The failures of the church often made me more uncomfortable than those in the broader culture. Then, two years ago, the student organization I worked for at Vanderbilt University got kicked off campus for being the wrong kind of Christians.

Ashley Emmert on "Hey Millennials, Stop Complaining: Donald Miller shares the secret to building a great life"

Then he told me, “We Americans, especially, just don’t understand that life is supposed to be hard. And we buy things to make it easier. But God has designed life in such a way that it’s difficult, and we should be engaging that challenge rather than running from it.” I began to feel uncomfortable. I thought about how many items I’ve purchased recently “for convenience’s sake.” I decided not to think about it. “You need to have a vision for your life, and let that vision guide you,” he continued. “If you want to have a family someday, then in your daily decisions you want to think of your life like a movie. You need to ask yourself, ‘Would this girl or this guy be a scene that I’d want in the movie about a family someday?’”

One More Thing

In case you didn't read the article called "Hey Millennials" I mention above, at least read this. Here's what Donald Miller said to Ashley Emmert in an interview:

“You need to have a vision for your life, and let that vision guide you. If you want to have a family someday, then in your daily decisions you want to think of your life like a movie. You need to ask yourself, ‘Would this girl or this guy be a scene that I’d want in the movie about a family someday?’”

Then he adds this, after talking about the importance of living our lives for longer narrative:

"We’re handed the pen and we get to write whatever kind of story we want. But we are programmed from an early age to defer our responsibility onto others. We don’t take responsibility for our own lives—we don’t own our stories. But when you start looking for a solution rather than being the solution, you’re not taking full ownership of your story. Just do something. It’s not very complicated. The principle idea is that God has given us what I call ‘shared agency.’ He has shared power with us to affect our stories. We don’t have to have ugly marriages. We don’t have to have ugly relationships. It’s a simple concept.”

Take pen in hand today. Ask God to remind you of his story, his longer narrative. Decide you will live in that longer narrative by following his lead. Start writing with your life.