by RobertCummins | Jan 5, 2017 | 53. Calling
There is no way you will be able to fully appreciate this post without spending some time in our passage. I have taken all my cues from Jeremiah.
What would you say if the Lord came to you and said, “What do you see?” We know Jeremiah said, “I see a boiling pot.” If the Lord were to ask me, “Rob, what do you see?” I would say, “Lord, I see a melting pot – that is cooling rapidly.” The term melting pot was popularized by the play of that same name by Israel Zangwill, first staged in 1908. Here is the conversation where the phrase was used:
DAVID: There she lies, the great Melting Pot–listen! Can’t you hear the roaring and the bubbling? There gapes her mouth, the harbour where a thousand mammoth freighters come from the ends of the world to pour in their human cargo. Ah, what a stirring and a seething! Celt and Latin, Slav and Teuton, Greek and Syrian, black and yellow …
VERA: Jew and Gentile.
DAVID: Yes, East and West, and North and South, the palm and the pine, the pole and the equator, the crescent and the cross–how the great Alchemist melts and fuses them with his purging flame! Here shall they all unite to build the Republic of Man and the Kingdom of God. Ah, Vera, what is the glory of Rome and Jerusalem compared with the glory of America, where all races and nations come to labour and look forward!
Ah, that David and Vera had been right. The glory of the America they saw has faded however. They envisioned the grateful huddled immigrant masses, yearning to breathe free, being assimilated into a common way of American life. They saw the great Alchemist melting and fusing the myriad groups into one solid homogenous culture. Continuing in describing to God what I see:
“Lord, might I also add: it seems someone has turned down the fire beneath our pot. We are not melting together. We have become stratified into interest groups bent on having our own way. We have become a society obsessed with our personal rights and we insist that our government enforce them. It seems that lawlessness is increasing and love is growing colder.”
No doubt Jeremiah was called to be a prophet. He and a handful of other men were integral to the revelation of God in a particular season. Perhaps there are prophets today. I hope so. They are desperately needed. However, rather than wait for one to appear, I am more inclined to encourage the prophetic voice that is within each of us. My dispensational gifts-are-gone friends will protest, “Prophet? Brother, are you not thinking more highly of yourself than you ought, Romans 12:3?” (They almost always quote chapter and verse.) And I will respond, “I don’t think so… I am only thinking so as to have sound judgment. Has He not raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus? Romans 12:3 and Ephesians 2:6.” (I am not opposed to quoting scripture either.)
Those who are in Christ have a prophetic voice within them. Jesus, our Prophet, Priest, and King, resides within us, if we have been born again. It is a great mystery, but we also reside in him. The prophetic voice simply comes from people who know that God formed them in the womb and appointed them to overcome their reluctance to say what they see. They are not looking at the American dream from a cruising altitude of 30 thousand feet, considering this –ism versus that -ism. They are looking at the kingdom of God from 30 million miles and they know that “God is watching over His word to perform it.”
Prophetic vision from no more than even 35 thousand feet, augmented by just a little history, knows that nations do not have a permanent lease on their glory. Even minor prophets know that God will pronounce His judgments on wickedness, upon those who have forsaken Him, upon those who are offering sacrifices to other gods, worshipping the works of their own hands. Sound at all familiar? Not concerned?
Be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect. (Luke 12:40)
False prophets surface in times of trouble. Hitler was Germany’s. His angry rhetoric awakened the indignation of a nation with a wounded self-image. Galvanized under his leadership, his nation raised itself up and destroyed most of Europe, putting the whole world at risk. Beware of egoist leaders who promise, whatever it takes, to restore the glory of their nation (as they see it).
Perhaps God does not like the way the American Dream is playing out. What does God do with a nation of people who have become “lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful and arrogant?” Because we are Americans, will God excuse us if we are ungrateful, unholy, and unloving? Will God not have to apologize to other nations if he overlooks people who are “irreconcilable and without self-control, people who have become haters of good, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” And how much worse is it when we are “holding to a form of godliness although we have denied its power?” (Borrowing from the prophetic voice of Paul in II Timothy 3.)
The last person you want at a party is a prophet, isn’t it? They say things no one wants to hear. The stock market may be rocking along, most terrorism is on foreign soil and the Yankees may be back this year. The prophet interrupts the festive spirit, saying: “From God’s perspective, things are not as they seem.”
As to our melting pot, there is a great showdown between the cross and the crescent playing out before us. It is hard to conceive that our great Alchemist will melt the two together. How are the people of the cross to turn the other cheek and love an enemy who would like their head on a platter? For my kid’s sake, I regret that a quick fix has not been offered. Shall we just tread water then, waiting for Jesus to come back, since there is no hope? (FYI: That was not the prophetic voice.)
Perhaps we should begin by praying for our leaders. Perhaps we should be careful to avoid indignant and haughty voices who lead polls by expressing their ignorance in anger. Perhaps we should not ultimately trust in our robust economy or our military might. Perhaps we can see the prophetic value printed on our currency: “In God we trust.” To avoid becoming the American nightmare, may we reclaim for God what is rightly his within this American Dream.
Father, I pray for the United States of America that you would have mercy on her. We are a proud and independent people who have lost their way. Interrupt us where our pursuit of happiness has run afoul with your idea of liberty and freedom. Raise up the prophetic voices, Lord, and grant they become the roaring and the bubbling we hear next. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Jan 4, 2017 | 53. Calling
He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:1-10)
Zaccheus was a short, rich, tax collector—not exactly a winning formula for belonging. He had whiffed on size, socio economic-class, and vocation. He had struck out and didn’t even have a bench to retire to. For that matter, he didn’t even have a team. Zaccheus was a pariah. No problem though because “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
On this day, Zaccheus woke with an ambition: “I want to see who Jesus is.” To do this he was going to have to face his fear—the crowd. The chief tax collector had hardened himself against people. He had to do something with all these people who summarily dismissed and despised him. They hated him, so he hated them back, not because he wanted to—this was just the path his heart took to protect itself from rejection, something the human heart cannot tolerate.
He heard the elevated noise from the street. The crowds were out in force and he knew why. Jesus was passing his way. He set his heart on seeing Jesus, and he set aside his aversion to the crowd. He figured if their attention was focused on someone else, it might not get focused on him. He entered the fray, knowing his size was going to put him at significant disadvantage in seeing Jesus. But if Zaccheus was anything, he was ambitious and smart. He saw the best seat in the house and made his way to the sycamore.
He hadn’t been perched long when Jesus and a throng of followers came into his view. Zaccheus was surprised; “So this common looking fellow is Jesus? This guy is who all the fuss is about?” This mystery only fueled his desire to see who Jesus was. The great Teacher was being carried along by the crowd when, suddenly, he stopped. What had happened? The crowd stilled as Jesus looked up and addressed his admirer: “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
“Jesus knows my name? He must stay at my house?” He nearly fell out of the tree as this news struck him. He made his way to the ground only to be met by the crowd who welcomed him with a barrage of grumbling. The sting was not quite so great as he saw Jesus smiling at him, “Hello my friend. Yes, today I must stay at your house.” Jericho’s diminutive outcast and Jesus were now leading this throng whose din was now muffled and sour. With each step, it was dawning on him just who this Jesus was. He was the friend of outcasts. Zaccheus’ heart was melting. Halfway to his house, he turned to Jesus and said, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”
Jesus didn’t say, “Well, it’s about time,” or, “Make it five times.” Jesus heard the words, but more importantly, he saw into this broken and hardened man’s heart. Jesus simply acknowledged what he had just seen his Father do, and said, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Many are troubled when Jesus is caught seeking out the one in 99. They grumble that he has selectively ignored the 99. I don’t think it is for us to say what Jesus does with the 99. Can Jesus not find them in their tree on another day? How many sons of Abraham were confirmed later that evening? No doubt, Jesus’ most recent follower opened his home to his fellow outcasts, perhaps other tax collectors. Maybe some prostitutes. Rather than focus on the supposed negative side of election, I choose to imagine that if these other stories were all written down, there would not be space enough for the volumes they would fill.
What were the first painful words you ever heard about yourself? Mine happened to come from classmates who I had thought were like me. I was thinking I belonged to them and I was like them. It was in this warm sense of belonging that I first heard kids say, “He’s rich.” The realization that I was not a member of them put some things in motion that effect how I believe Zaccheus thought about the crowd.
Protecting myself from the revelation that I did not belong, prompted me to consciously build my first wall (at a younger age, I had already built a few, which were more reflexive). I became a proficient builder as, over the years, I erected one wall after another. We all do. We all left the Garden with a cosmic sized rejection complex. Our walls become impenetrable fortresses where love is neither received nor given. Like Zaccheus, we end up with hardened hearts—wounded people wounding people. I suspect this is the backstory of human history.
Our one hope is that Jesus is still seeking and saving those who are lost—imprisoned within the fortresses they have built. Zaccheus’ story tells us that when we move toward Jesus, wanting to know who he is, he is faithful to move toward us, in surprising ways. He came to set us outcasts and captives free. Jericho was a city that knew something about walls coming down. How fitting that Zaccheus would have his walls demolished in this city. How fitting that we would invite Jesus to tear down the walls in our own hearts, that we night receive his love and, in turn, be a conduit of it—that the world might see—that He might reign supreme. Regardless of our theology, we are each the one in 99.
Father, thank you that you still are seeking and saving that which is lost—even those parts of us that remain imprisoned. May our hearts grasp our blessed status as the 1 in 99. Overturn any lies in our hearts which have suggested that we have either been overlooked or are without need. Help us to see who you really are. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Jan 3, 2017 | 53. Calling
Since I am a fisherman, this passage had me at first cast.
In this case, it is a last cast. Jesus persuades the fishermen to make one last cast of their nets. (I prefer 12-pound mono with a Pop-R, but I am a catch-and-release guy.) Simon & Associates caught and kept fish. Their last cast, prompted by a preacher with a huge audience, netted a windfall. Peter’s response was quite odd. He didn’t say, “Praise Adonai! We’re going to make payroll!” He said, “Please leave me alone. I’m a sinful man.” Profits producing conviction? What manner of Teacher was this? He was a very persuasive one, because “When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.”
Can you be a follower of Jesus and not leave everything and follow Him? My story explains why I personally answer “no” to this question.
When I came to Christ in 1976, I was lost and alone. I was without hope. This will sound over dramatized, but I knew I was being stalked by something dark and very powerful, and I knew it was going to catch me. I was scared. But a master fisherman was about to make a strategic cast. For a 23-year-old boy, His choice of bait was not surprising. I was lured into a church by a girl I was trailing. There I was, bushwhacked by a man with a very direct question, “Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?” I responded, “I have no clue what you are talking about.” Before he could launch into the Four Spiritual Laws, I added, “I know I am ruining my life, and I am willing to give it to Jesus to do anything He wants with it.” I had never been more sincere. The gentleman led me in a prayer I don’t remember. All I recall saying to God is, “Here is my life. It is now Yours.”
I had no idea what I had just signed up for. There has never been a more shocked human being than I was as Jesus, the new titleholder of my life, started doing anything He wanted. The demon trailing me was now off the job. The foreboding was replaced with a peace that freaked me out. For months I lived in a state of blissful shock: “This just cannot be! Frogs do become princes!” The dramatic changes Jesus had made in my heart stunned me. I could not account for them outside of the new arrangement between God and me.
I discovered quickly mine was not the conventional path into God’s family. As I spoke to others who identified themselves as Christians, I discovered I was missing many standard “conversion” features: I had not heard a clear presentation of the gospel; I had not felt an overwhelming conviction of sin; I had no fear of hell (other than the one I was living in); I had no thoughts of heaven; the Bible had not been opened; no scripture was quoted; I did not pray a conventional sinners prayer; I did not publicly walk down the aisle. Even though Jesus had obviously moved into my life, people wanted me to back up and cover these bases! It appeared at the time that Jesus had made a very unusual cast to catch me.
My experience was outside the church’s sanctioned protocol. I hadn’t invited Jesus into my heart because I was afraid of hell or because I believed God had a wonderful plan for my life. I had simply given my life away to God and He took it. Right or wrong, I had always equated my surrender to God as the same “leaving everything and following Him” we saw with our fishermen. I didn’t know you could invite Jesus into your heart—get saved—then pursue the life of your choosing. I didn’t know there were other paths allowing varying degrees of devotion. As void of orthodoxy as my experience was, I have never questioned its validity. I have never regretted how I came into God’s family. I gave my life to Him and He gave His Life to me, in Christ.
Being young and semi-pliable, I was quickly equipped by sanctioned persons with sanctioned ways. They had to shut me up. I was driving people crazy telling them about what Jesus had done for me. Since muzzles were not allowed, they taught me how to refine my story. I learned The Roman Road, The Four Spiritual Laws, Evangelism Explosion and The Bridge Illustration to share Christ with others. Experience is a powerful thing. To this date though, I cannot share Christ without telling them that one must leave everything to follow Jesus. Surrendering title is just part of the deal.
Many souls see God as a tough owner, one who would sheer you of all you have and keep you shorn if you ever did anything so radical as leave everything and follow Him. This is enormous B.S.
Think about it. If the Owner, who chose you and loves you, happens to have a radical pathway for you, it would only be because that is the path where He plans to fulfill His part of the deal. This is the path where He plans to reveal Himself to you. That is the big deal! Seeing God as a hard man (Mat 25:24) will lead one to the tragic act of burying his or her talents.
If you have been this fearful person, renew your mind. Repent of misshapen ideas of God. Surrender your life to Him with no strings attached. He is the Good Shepherd. He is trustworthy. The Lion of Judah is not tame but He is safe. Thinking of yourself as Christian, knowing you have never given your life to God is not a safe place. Surrendering is sound advice. There is really no other way.
“He is no fool who gives away what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot
It is never too late. If you want to visit with me personally about this gospel, I’m always available to give an account of the hope that is in me.
Father, let the sifting and sorting begin. Draw our hearts to You. Captivate our loyalties. May we season this world as with salt where needed. May we overthrow it where it is killing people’s souls. Awaken us to our callings as sold-out sons and daughters that we may see the kingdom of darkness flee in fear. In Christ, let us reclaim the ground our enemy has stolen which is rightfully Yours. May Your majestic name be revered and honored at the core of our beings and to the ends of this earth. In Jesus Name. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Jan 2, 2017 | Kingdom
When I first met Brad Sprague it was 2011 and he was trying to build his business as a life coach. Myself? I was just trying to make a friend (and sense of my life). The fact that we did ultimately connect probably had little to do with either of our motives, at least in the grand scheme of things. Being at cross-purposes with each other was not a deterrent to God however, who was just doing what I perceive God is always doing – building His kingdom by way of His family, sometimes in spite of us. God just wanted Brad and I to discover our brotherhood in Christ and enjoy the byproduct of our interaction, which has been considerable. The staying power of our relationship and the fruit it has born can be traced to our brotherhood in Christ, who is our life, pure and simple.
Life coach, counselor and mentor are all modern words that cover the gaps created by our mishandling of the word “pastor.” Pastor in our modern understanding has come to mean the main speaker and/or the chief administrator. No matter what we have told ourselves, we did not get these ideas purely from the Bible.
Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder … shepherd the flock of God among you. (from 1 Peter 5:1-2)
Our word “pastor” can be traced to Peter’s word “shepherd” which he is using as a verb not a noun. This is because the word “pastor” is more of a gift to be exercised than an office to be occupied. A deeper study into the biblical meaning of elders (presbuteros) and overseers (episcopos) would help us in recovering a truer understanding of what it means to shepherd or pastor.
My brother Brad, functioning as a life coach, was actually shepherding my soul. His work began, rightfully assuming that God is always at work in His children. Without preaching a single sermon or administrating a single program, the pastoral gift was in full expression as Brad pulled alongside and began asking his well placed questions. Brad’s mission was simply to help me discover the story God was writing in my life.
Shepherds coach, counsel and mentor others so that they can personally meet God in all His goodness in the midst of their often bewildering circumstances. There is simply not enough of the “conventional” pastor to go around and watch over the souls of their flock to such a degree. Tragically, true shepherding is often outsourced because it is so messy and time consuming. Regardless of what my brother Brad was calling himself, he was shepherding me in the truest sense of that word.
One of the most valuable things Brad did for me was to hand me a simple devotional called The Blue Book. Mature brothers always point those entrusted to them directly to the Father, who is much closer than most of us understand. For this reason The Blue Book can be a true shepherd’s best friend. What greater good could we do than to help each other discover how to keep company with God. Jim Branch is the author of the Blue Book, another one of those brothers without the title “pastor” who shepherd the flock so well. Jim would say that he is simply helping us discover the ancient rhythms of God that were whispered into us when He breathed us into being. He would add that place and time are important elements to this process because they help us ward of three of our soul’s greatest enemies; crowds, noise and busyness.
I’ve given out hundreds of Blue Books simply because of the profound impact it has had (and is having) on my life. They can now be purchased on Amazon. I know. The New Year has already started but order yourself a Blue Book. Order some for friends and help them begin watching over their souls in a whole new way. Work through it together and explore the kingdom of God. Perhaps we will discover Christ (the Good Shepherd) in us and help actually fill some of the gaps left by the extra-biblical ways we have chosen to function in the Body of Christ.
Father, may 2017 be a year when You find more and more of Your sons and daughters at Your feet listening intently to Your words of Life, keeping company with their Father who is on earth as He is in heaven. So be it.
by RobertCummins | Jan 1, 2017 | 52. Down
When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:1-12)
I think of The Beatitudes as a kind of Magna Carta of the human soul – not a description of the souls’s rights so much as a description the soul’s rightful condition – the state of blessedness God aspires for it. Yet, when asked to offer our testimonies, do we often hear people explain just what the blessing has turned out to be and how they went about qualifying themselves to receive it?
That’s ok. It may be that God in His kindness and wisdom prevents us from doing this math as it pertains directly to ourselves. Yet, Jesus did say these things to His followers. No doubt He knew that throughout their lives they would be rehearsing these other-wordly pronouncements, making observations and asking their questions, if to no-one other than themselves.
What does it mean to be poor in spirit? What does the kingdom of heaven look like when it belongs to us? What type of mourning was Jesus referring to? What will our comfort look and feel like? How gentle must one be and to whom? And what does this earth (the whole thing?) look like when one inherits it? Should one expect it in this life? We have only considered three beatitudes. There are five more and a flood of question that would accompany them.
I truly believe the Holy Spirit within us uses the experiences of our life to expound on Jesus’ words. Don’t we know a bit more today about being poor in spirit than we once did? I think we do. Don’t we mourn more today than we did in the prime of our youthful strength and idealism? Hasn’t time and the delayed fulfillment of God’s grand promises produced a kind of hunger and thirst within us. I think for many of us it has.
Hasn’t God been at work in us (beyond slaying us in His Spirit that is), producing a more gentle and mercifull view of our neighbor? Aren’t we a bit purer in heart, having suffered in our relationships, our vocations and our aging bodies? I suspect we have.
And as aliens and strangers in this earth who have identified openly with Jesus, haven’t we experienced ridicule and rejection from this world? I pray so. If these things are ours, we are experiencing the life of Jesus Christ. Even if only in very small ways, we are being transformed, in some measure, into the image of Jesus Christ – the image of God.
We know we have received mercy and our soul’s have known a measure of satisfaction that this world never provided us. When we aimed at inheriting the earth we missed it. When we embrace the kingdom we gain eternity, which contains this world. Ours is the kingdom of God. Even if our vision is incomplete, we are seeing God, in Christ as we behold these transformations in each other. As His sons and daughters, we are being well-equipped to be peacemakers, fulfilling our responsibility as ministers of reconciliation.
May God give us words of Life and lives of the Word to demonstrate with authority our rightful place as blessed souls, called to appear as representative samples of Jesus’ very own life. May we rejoice and be glad, for our reward in heaven is great.
