Want off the treadmill? Can't seem to get it quite right? Here are some strategic ways to really stop.
1. Remind yourself that in this stressed out world full of demands that are unrealistic rest is not a luxury! It's a necessity. If you want longevity, creativity, productivity and effectiveness to be sustained in your life you must STOP!
2. Reframe what stopping is. It's not an abandonment of our lot in life. It's not a quitting. And it's not an end. Stopping is the beginning of something! Stopping is loading up on recreation to be as prepared as you can be to enter the next leg of your race in life. You lose if you got into it without having stopped.
Stopping Killers: The Work of Stopping
1. That agitated feeling you get where you can't sit still. Your mind constantly goes to phone calls, to do lists, social media posts, etc.work it through. Invite those triggers to be a part of the shutting down to stopping process. Eventually they leave till it's time to get going again.
2. A 'landing bump'. This is where all your issues that have been suppressed surface or disciplines that have been ignored begin to become evident. The temptation is to get busy again to control, ignore or maintain them at a distance. This is a season to journey through! To resolve issues or to get back to some basics or to re-prioritize things in your life. Facing head on these things makes you better and stronger going into the next leg. To run mounts up the EQ work to be done then you are at a wall.
3. Extreme fatigue leading to a sense of laziness, unproductively, frustration, even builder generation guilt. Again this is both necessary and temporal! We need a re-charge! As my wife often challenges me with by saying, 'Get off the cross...we need the wood.' no matter how divinely empowered we think we are with boundless energy our created beings can only go so far and take so much.
'I would not take a fig for simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give my life for simplicity on the other side of complexity.'
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Friday, July 15, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Jesus Chronicles#1
One of the biggest challenges followers of Jesus express on a constant basis is hearing God's voice. I can relate at times.
I cannot imagine the context and implications to passionate people of God who lived in the era of 400 years of God's silence. This was the period of history between the Old Testament and the emerging of John the Baptist in the New Testament.
Scholars have called this time when God did not speak to His people 'the echo of God'. Try as they may all that came back in response to their calls out to God was the sound of their own petitions. What replaced it was a sterile attempt to follow God's teachings or a flimsy hope that one day in the distant future God would 'show up'!
What was lost was the covering and protection of a loving, gracious, forgiving God whose sole aspiration was (and is) to restore broken relationships, heal broken people, reinstate His dream for His creation. The Old Testament reveals an active and involved God in His creation and people. When lost He directed, when disobedient He brought to our attention the self destructive inclination, when off the right path He called for a national turning around, when obstinate He disciplined, and when discouraged He reminded of His promises.
A far cry from the options we tend to default to! Religion that doesn't fulfill and idealism that doesn't bring resolution here and now. The Jesus Chronicles reveal another option. Jesus came that we might have life. He offers not a sterile teaching that with gut retching effort makes us 'o.k.' or a distance hope that doesn't address our present circumstances. But a presence that brings joy, peace, and place of rightness with him, others and ourselves.
With John the Baptist's emergence the Jesus Chronicles begin in the New Testament. His message was that God was taking action, His voice was once again fresh, that He was going go protect us, and our aspirations He placed in us can be realized.
I cannot imagine the context and implications to passionate people of God who lived in the era of 400 years of God's silence. This was the period of history between the Old Testament and the emerging of John the Baptist in the New Testament.
Scholars have called this time when God did not speak to His people 'the echo of God'. Try as they may all that came back in response to their calls out to God was the sound of their own petitions. What replaced it was a sterile attempt to follow God's teachings or a flimsy hope that one day in the distant future God would 'show up'!
What was lost was the covering and protection of a loving, gracious, forgiving God whose sole aspiration was (and is) to restore broken relationships, heal broken people, reinstate His dream for His creation. The Old Testament reveals an active and involved God in His creation and people. When lost He directed, when disobedient He brought to our attention the self destructive inclination, when off the right path He called for a national turning around, when obstinate He disciplined, and when discouraged He reminded of His promises.
A far cry from the options we tend to default to! Religion that doesn't fulfill and idealism that doesn't bring resolution here and now. The Jesus Chronicles reveal another option. Jesus came that we might have life. He offers not a sterile teaching that with gut retching effort makes us 'o.k.' or a distance hope that doesn't address our present circumstances. But a presence that brings joy, peace, and place of rightness with him, others and ourselves.
With John the Baptist's emergence the Jesus Chronicles begin in the New Testament. His message was that God was taking action, His voice was once again fresh, that He was going go protect us, and our aspirations He placed in us can be realized.
Friday, March 11, 2011
The Volunteer Effect
Dave Hall, PAOC Alberta District Office, wrote the following article on an @Midpark Church area of service. In 2005 Randy Johnson, Sheila Muirhead and myself committed ourselves to address the need to, a) provide a truly effective support system in the local church, b) train volunteers to rise to the level of competency, and c) enmesh the ministry into @Midpark's Mission Statement.
After meetings and presentations to the @Midpark leadership, plans got under way. Today under the leadership of Danell McSween, Jacqueline Mueller, Susan Tam and Derek Sheahan @Midpark's CareNet ministry has benefitted countless people both inside and outside the congregation. CarNet has also make inroads to a host of various organizations and community resources creating true partnerships.
Much thanks goes to a movement of volunteers of 50 plus who have engaged in a Missional Christianity.
By Dave Hall
As I meet with our District Credential Holders and go to the places they minister, I often hear some great ideas for ministry in local churches and their communities. After hearing some of these ideas, I have often thought, “I wish I’d heard of that when I was pastoring. That’s a great ministry plan!” Over the past 3 plus years of hearing about great ministries that our District churches and ministries are doing, I have decided to share some of them in our District Update as a regular feature. As you read them, you might just catch something that you can do in your sphere of God’s Kingdom. It may not be exactly what is being reported but you may begin to see something you had never thought of before. So in this regular feature, if a seed gets planted in your mind, my prayer is that it will grow to be a blessing wherever you minister.
In this first feature, here is an idea for providing care in the local Church and community. Derek Sheahan is on the Pastoral team at Midpark Christian Assembly in Calgary with Lee Primeau. Here is a brief description from Derek on “CareNet”…
CareNet
CareNet is a support ministry aimed at meeting practical and spiritual needs of people at Midpark and beyond. It is a network that links one person’s gifting to another’s need. In its most basic definition, CareNet facilitates CARE.
CareNet is a community of people who demonstrate compassion, caring and serving. There are two main roles -- the first is the practical response to and care of those in need. We commit to provide an unconditional caring response to the emotionally distraught, the struggling, the lonely, the shut-ins, the sick and the dying. The second is to establish partnerships with external resources to more efficiently and productively care for those in need.
As CareNet has grown, we have implemented different teams to accommodate the regular patterns of need we have seen. The teams are:
PrayerNet: they are the prayer chain team and also are the ones we call upon in church services if prayer is needed for individuals.
MMM-Midpark Meals Ministry: this team regularly meets to cook and stock our freezer so we can give food to families in need for all occasions.
Emergency Meals Team: this team is called if we have funerals or last minute food needs
Transportation Team: this team is called if people are needing rides to church, hospital, doctors, etc....
Moving Team: this team is called upon if someone in the community is moving and needs helpers or trucks.
Miscellaneous Team: this team covers all the rest of the requests from helping someone fix a household item, to donating furniture, to whatever comes our way...no need is rejected.
In addition to these teams, CareNet oversees our support groups which are now GriefShare, Divorce Care, Surviving the Holidays, Anger Management, Dealing with Depression, Caregivers of Alzheimer/Dementia, A Trusted Friend (a facilitators course), Financial Management. Benevolence, HomeStart, and OIL (operating in love) are also under our CareNet umbrella.
Not every need can be met in-house, and so CareNet has endeavored to partner with other ministries and resources outside our church. We have a vast array of resources that we can direct for individuals from counselors, to financial aid, to shelters, to medical assistance. No need is refused.
We believe CareNet represents what the church is already supposed to be doing... making an impact in people’s lives for the kingdom of God and His glory.
After meetings and presentations to the @Midpark leadership, plans got under way. Today under the leadership of Danell McSween, Jacqueline Mueller, Susan Tam and Derek Sheahan @Midpark's CareNet ministry has benefitted countless people both inside and outside the congregation. CarNet has also make inroads to a host of various organizations and community resources creating true partnerships.
Much thanks goes to a movement of volunteers of 50 plus who have engaged in a Missional Christianity.
By Dave Hall
As I meet with our District Credential Holders and go to the places they minister, I often hear some great ideas for ministry in local churches and their communities. After hearing some of these ideas, I have often thought, “I wish I’d heard of that when I was pastoring. That’s a great ministry plan!” Over the past 3 plus years of hearing about great ministries that our District churches and ministries are doing, I have decided to share some of them in our District Update as a regular feature. As you read them, you might just catch something that you can do in your sphere of God’s Kingdom. It may not be exactly what is being reported but you may begin to see something you had never thought of before. So in this regular feature, if a seed gets planted in your mind, my prayer is that it will grow to be a blessing wherever you minister.
In this first feature, here is an idea for providing care in the local Church and community. Derek Sheahan is on the Pastoral team at Midpark Christian Assembly in Calgary with Lee Primeau. Here is a brief description from Derek on “CareNet”…
CareNet
CareNet is a support ministry aimed at meeting practical and spiritual needs of people at Midpark and beyond. It is a network that links one person’s gifting to another’s need. In its most basic definition, CareNet facilitates CARE.
CareNet is a community of people who demonstrate compassion, caring and serving. There are two main roles -- the first is the practical response to and care of those in need. We commit to provide an unconditional caring response to the emotionally distraught, the struggling, the lonely, the shut-ins, the sick and the dying. The second is to establish partnerships with external resources to more efficiently and productively care for those in need.
As CareNet has grown, we have implemented different teams to accommodate the regular patterns of need we have seen. The teams are:
PrayerNet: they are the prayer chain team and also are the ones we call upon in church services if prayer is needed for individuals.
MMM-Midpark Meals Ministry: this team regularly meets to cook and stock our freezer so we can give food to families in need for all occasions.
Emergency Meals Team: this team is called if we have funerals or last minute food needs
Transportation Team: this team is called if people are needing rides to church, hospital, doctors, etc....
Moving Team: this team is called upon if someone in the community is moving and needs helpers or trucks.
Miscellaneous Team: this team covers all the rest of the requests from helping someone fix a household item, to donating furniture, to whatever comes our way...no need is rejected.
In addition to these teams, CareNet oversees our support groups which are now GriefShare, Divorce Care, Surviving the Holidays, Anger Management, Dealing with Depression, Caregivers of Alzheimer/Dementia, A Trusted Friend (a facilitators course), Financial Management. Benevolence, HomeStart, and OIL (operating in love) are also under our CareNet umbrella.
Not every need can be met in-house, and so CareNet has endeavored to partner with other ministries and resources outside our church. We have a vast array of resources that we can direct for individuals from counselors, to financial aid, to shelters, to medical assistance. No need is refused.
We believe CareNet represents what the church is already supposed to be doing... making an impact in people’s lives for the kingdom of God and His glory.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Do You 'latreia'?
The biblical foundation of the church has always been rooted in and best understood as a movement. Implied in the term 'movement' is action. As history shows terms begin to take on other meanings and tradition sets in re-defining the word.
For example the word 'worship' has taken on the idea of meeting in a building with a steeple to congregate and follow a liturgy. While each of these words and actions are not bad in themselves, nor should they necessarily be eliminated, they have defined how a follower of Jesus is to worship Him. Get up on Sunday morning, meet in a building, follow an order of service (another word that has historically been re-defined) and leave complete! Even the most feeble attempt to 'mess' with this concept is met with resistance, opposition, anger, and either a church battle or exodus of parishioners.
As someone has said, "Christians are like cement...thoroughly mixed and permanently set".
The danger of course is that for efficiency sake we pick up definitions, traditions, and habits 'on the fly'. There is just too much information coming our way to really explore 'high ideals'. This is especially true in our 21st century information explosion. In a sense we trust those who have dedicated their lives to areas of specialization to be accurate and competent in that specialized area. Every time I drive my car out of the shop after paying good money for it to be fixed I'm counting on the mechanic to have done the job right with the right parts. The principle applies across the board!
As we gloss over the Bible and read the word 'worship', hear the preaching on Sunday and hear the word 'worship', or are encouraged to 'worship' in a Sunday service (no matter the style of liturgy we enjoy) a picture and definition is summoned. The unfortunate thing about the word 'worship' is that it doesn't exactly fill out the total meaning what the Bible says.
Context matters! This goes equally true for the Bible. A Greek word that the New Testament uses is 'latreia' and is translated as 'worship' as are other Greek words that in their context have a broader meaning than what we understand as 'worship'.
'latreia' is better understood as service, submission, and work done for God. As Evangelicals we are married to the term 'worship'. As long as we are there must be a fleshing out of the term so that we can biblically worship God. In context we discover that worship is either private or corporate, is a matter of the heart not location, worship involves unity of believers, requires a profession of our faith, the self sacrificing of self to serve others, the giving of monetary means to others and causes.
The movement that Jesus initiated was a movement of service to others in all practical ways that would validate and affirm the value of each one of His creations. When the serving of others is replaced by the tradition of worship the movement ceases to be anything other than a religious expression of doctrine. From a biblical contextual perspective 'worship' is intentionally setting out to make ourselves available to the needs of others.
Mark 10:45 "The son of man did not come to be served but to serve and give himself up as a ransom."
Romans 12: 1-3 "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."
"Worship is the response of grateful and humble people to the living God where submission, sacrificial service, praise, profession, testimony and gratitude are freely expressed in innumerable ways. This is a much richer concept than mere corporate singing and praise once each week for 20 minutes - an event that could occur without any actual worship going on at all." Elmer Towns
Do you 'latreia'? Have you lately? READ; Worship God by Getting Up....Getting Out....Getting Going.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Glory & Misery
Thursday, 24 February, 2011
Blaise Pascal was a philosopher, mathematician and an inventor. He also was a man with exceptional reasoning powers and strong Christian faith. In his Penses he speaks about the 'glory' and the 'misery'.
The context is that life is never one or the other but both. The 'glory' experiences of people speaks to us of what God intended for us before the Fall and the 'misery' of people reminds us of something in all of us that was lost. It's the human condition we live every day of our lives. And it's the condition we work on to deny, hide and overcome.
The Bible, God's story, is essentially a three part act. Creation that reveals what God ultimately intended for us as His creation, the Fall which recounts something that went horribly wrong and which we live and face everyday in ourselves and world, and the Redemption which tells of God's plan to restore His ultimate intention. This being the greatest expression of unconditional love when God became man and died on the cross to reinstate us into right relationship with Him and secure an eternal future.
Are you, like Blaise Pascal's observation, in a season of 'glory' or 'misery'? You are in good company with all of creation experiencing what you could become or are experiencing how broken we are.
Recently in my small group study we discussed how individuals came to a personal relationship with Jesus. Everyone has such a fascinating story and journey! My unique experience was that God 'rained on my party!'. Unlike many others I was living a life of 'glory'. No money concerns, not yet at a totally self destructive point with alcohol or drug problems, no dreary depressive outlook on my future. It was all good! Money, great friend,s promising educational future, secure business future! A great place to be in to refuse religion.
But I was faced with an opportunity for a personal relationship with God. That was a hard one. But the 'glory' I was enjoying had a shelf life. It wasn't going to last forever and payday was coming. The converted Scholar and Rabbi Saul of Tarus wrote to Roman citizens that, 'the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life'.
Whatever your present condition a free gift is available. Not care free, not free for all but free to receive at a great cost of Jesus' death on the cross.
Blaise Pascal was a philosopher, mathematician and an inventor. He also was a man with exceptional reasoning powers and strong Christian faith. In his Penses he speaks about the 'glory' and the 'misery'.
The context is that life is never one or the other but both. The 'glory' experiences of people speaks to us of what God intended for us before the Fall and the 'misery' of people reminds us of something in all of us that was lost. It's the human condition we live every day of our lives. And it's the condition we work on to deny, hide and overcome.
The Bible, God's story, is essentially a three part act. Creation that reveals what God ultimately intended for us as His creation, the Fall which recounts something that went horribly wrong and which we live and face everyday in ourselves and world, and the Redemption which tells of God's plan to restore His ultimate intention. This being the greatest expression of unconditional love when God became man and died on the cross to reinstate us into right relationship with Him and secure an eternal future.
Are you, like Blaise Pascal's observation, in a season of 'glory' or 'misery'? You are in good company with all of creation experiencing what you could become or are experiencing how broken we are.
Recently in my small group study we discussed how individuals came to a personal relationship with Jesus. Everyone has such a fascinating story and journey! My unique experience was that God 'rained on my party!'. Unlike many others I was living a life of 'glory'. No money concerns, not yet at a totally self destructive point with alcohol or drug problems, no dreary depressive outlook on my future. It was all good! Money, great friend,s promising educational future, secure business future! A great place to be in to refuse religion.
But I was faced with an opportunity for a personal relationship with God. That was a hard one. But the 'glory' I was enjoying had a shelf life. It wasn't going to last forever and payday was coming. The converted Scholar and Rabbi Saul of Tarus wrote to Roman citizens that, 'the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life'.
Whatever your present condition a free gift is available. Not care free, not free for all but free to receive at a great cost of Jesus' death on the cross.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Moving 2 Change
Moving 2 Change
John Kotter's book 'A Sense of Urgency, a loss of urgency in our lives is a key problem in effecting change. The opposites of 'true' urgency are seen in two areas. The first is in the area of complacence where people have experienced attempted change but have come up short. The resulting effect is defeat, despair, and denial. Defeat in that all attempts to hope, trust or believe in the possibility of change are non-existent. In despair in that once hope is lost depression sets in. And in denial in that life is lived with the belief that there is no need to change.
The second opposite that Kotter points out is 'false' urgency. False urgency demonstrates itself in endless lists, meetings, and to do's. It operates from a base of anxiety and fear that if something doesn't happen then everything will implode. The problem with living on this type of urgency is that it requires a constant volume of adrenaline which is impossible to sustain. The manifestation of false urgency is that life is live in desperation mode at a frenzied paced with no single direction. It is living in the Tornado not the 'eye of the Tornado'. The commentary of this type of attempted change could very well be what the Bible calls, 'Ever learning and never coming to an understanding of the truth'. The emotional cost is severe because people end up living in cynicism, anger, and frustration.
Kotter sees that the answer lies in what he calls 'true' urgency. 'True' urgency is defined as living with clear intent. An individual (or organization) can identify a critical area of change that is needing to take place. Attached to this identification is a very high level of emotion which is undeniably required in order for true change to occur. Absent of the denial of complacency and the frenzied, distracted approach of false urgency, true urgency has the positive emotion of anticipation with it. Missing the 'A' type personality image of what urgency can be true urgency is intentional, methodical and deliberate. It builds on clarity of a preferred future and focus' on that one critical outcome that can be a 'game changer'. The benefits of operating in true urgency mode is that success is a real possibility! In addition, according to Kotter's research, there is a halo effect where the results are exponential affecting many other areas that were in need of change. So practically if you are in a position where 'everything' is wrong and in need of change, choosing just one area and passionately going after that one area will impact other areas creating a sustainable and significant difference.
Questions:
Are you at a point where denial is the only space to be in order to cope?
Are you moving at break neck speed attempting to bring change but when the dust settles all you have is an adrenaline hang over?
What if you tried to identify the one critical issue that needs to be addressed? What if changing that one thing would create a domino effect bringing change to others areas of life?
What is that one thing for you? What action can you take immediately?
John Kotter's book 'A Sense of Urgency, a loss of urgency in our lives is a key problem in effecting change. The opposites of 'true' urgency are seen in two areas. The first is in the area of complacence where people have experienced attempted change but have come up short. The resulting effect is defeat, despair, and denial. Defeat in that all attempts to hope, trust or believe in the possibility of change are non-existent. In despair in that once hope is lost depression sets in. And in denial in that life is lived with the belief that there is no need to change.
The second opposite that Kotter points out is 'false' urgency. False urgency demonstrates itself in endless lists, meetings, and to do's. It operates from a base of anxiety and fear that if something doesn't happen then everything will implode. The problem with living on this type of urgency is that it requires a constant volume of adrenaline which is impossible to sustain. The manifestation of false urgency is that life is live in desperation mode at a frenzied paced with no single direction. It is living in the Tornado not the 'eye of the Tornado'. The commentary of this type of attempted change could very well be what the Bible calls, 'Ever learning and never coming to an understanding of the truth'. The emotional cost is severe because people end up living in cynicism, anger, and frustration.
Kotter sees that the answer lies in what he calls 'true' urgency. 'True' urgency is defined as living with clear intent. An individual (or organization) can identify a critical area of change that is needing to take place. Attached to this identification is a very high level of emotion which is undeniably required in order for true change to occur. Absent of the denial of complacency and the frenzied, distracted approach of false urgency, true urgency has the positive emotion of anticipation with it. Missing the 'A' type personality image of what urgency can be true urgency is intentional, methodical and deliberate. It builds on clarity of a preferred future and focus' on that one critical outcome that can be a 'game changer'. The benefits of operating in true urgency mode is that success is a real possibility! In addition, according to Kotter's research, there is a halo effect where the results are exponential affecting many other areas that were in need of change. So practically if you are in a position where 'everything' is wrong and in need of change, choosing just one area and passionately going after that one area will impact other areas creating a sustainable and significant difference.
Questions:
Are you at a point where denial is the only space to be in order to cope?
Are you moving at break neck speed attempting to bring change but when the dust settles all you have is an adrenaline hang over?
What if you tried to identify the one critical issue that needs to be addressed? What if changing that one thing would create a domino effect bringing change to others areas of life?
What is that one thing for you? What action can you take immediately?
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Crisis, Concern, Christ
Rome Burns
In 64-65 AD two thirds of Rome was burned. Nero was Emperor at the time and is strongly believed to be the cause of this great disaster. However, and conveniently, Christians were accused of starting the fire and a 'killing time' of Christians ensued. Among those who were killed were the Christian church leaders Peter and Paul.
Good News is Recorded
It was with this backdrop that the earliest Gospel in the New Testament, The Gospel of Mark, was written. The motive for the writing was to document the life of Jesus before all the eye witnesses died. Another reason was to encourage Christians during a terrible time of trouble where hate, anger, persecution, and execution were the order of the day.
Imagine being a Christian during one of the worst times of the church life. The pause it would give you, the fear it would incite, the panic it would create in ones life.
Three Acts
So Mark writes essentially a three act story of the story of God in Jesus. In keeping with one of the major themes, immediacy, it's a short book leaving out the birth of Jesus and begins with John the Baptist's preaching, going right into Jesus' teaching and miracles, and ending with a long Passion story.
Mark addresses the powerful distraction of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) by drawing the Christians attention to the three acts of Jesus;
1. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies
2. Jesus is the forgiver of mans sins. (Only God can forgive!)
3. Jesus is the forerunner to eternal life
Simple, effective and powerful for anyone, anytime trying to live out the Christian life. How can we continue on the faith journey? The same way.
Relevant for Today
Today's cynical environment can make us weak in the certainty that Jesus is who he said he was. They did too. So Mark challenged them to stand on the certainty of the Old Testament...to be bold and confident.
Mark spends special focus on the fact that Jesus is the Answer! To what? To that deep vacuum and longing need for us to experience freedom from the regret, guilt, and sense of shame we live with.
Lastly Mark points us forward to an eternal hope. His claim (Jesus' claim) is that Jesus is God, died on the cross for our sin and rose from the dead making a way (a clear cut path) to life here now and forever.
Authentic Questions
How's your faith journey going? Where are you in strength of certainty? The need of forgiveness? The desire for peace about the future?
Is fear, uncertainty or doubt creeping into your sacred faith? Take time to pore over Mark's Gospel and discover the validity of Jesus being the fulfillment of our hopes, the authoritative issuer of forgiveness, the assurance of eternal life.
Jesus is still the answer!
In 64-65 AD two thirds of Rome was burned. Nero was Emperor at the time and is strongly believed to be the cause of this great disaster. However, and conveniently, Christians were accused of starting the fire and a 'killing time' of Christians ensued. Among those who were killed were the Christian church leaders Peter and Paul.
Good News is Recorded
It was with this backdrop that the earliest Gospel in the New Testament, The Gospel of Mark, was written. The motive for the writing was to document the life of Jesus before all the eye witnesses died. Another reason was to encourage Christians during a terrible time of trouble where hate, anger, persecution, and execution were the order of the day.
Imagine being a Christian during one of the worst times of the church life. The pause it would give you, the fear it would incite, the panic it would create in ones life.
Three Acts
So Mark writes essentially a three act story of the story of God in Jesus. In keeping with one of the major themes, immediacy, it's a short book leaving out the birth of Jesus and begins with John the Baptist's preaching, going right into Jesus' teaching and miracles, and ending with a long Passion story.
Mark addresses the powerful distraction of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) by drawing the Christians attention to the three acts of Jesus;
1. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies
2. Jesus is the forgiver of mans sins. (Only God can forgive!)
3. Jesus is the forerunner to eternal life
Simple, effective and powerful for anyone, anytime trying to live out the Christian life. How can we continue on the faith journey? The same way.
Relevant for Today
Today's cynical environment can make us weak in the certainty that Jesus is who he said he was. They did too. So Mark challenged them to stand on the certainty of the Old Testament...to be bold and confident.
Mark spends special focus on the fact that Jesus is the Answer! To what? To that deep vacuum and longing need for us to experience freedom from the regret, guilt, and sense of shame we live with.
Lastly Mark points us forward to an eternal hope. His claim (Jesus' claim) is that Jesus is God, died on the cross for our sin and rose from the dead making a way (a clear cut path) to life here now and forever.
Authentic Questions
How's your faith journey going? Where are you in strength of certainty? The need of forgiveness? The desire for peace about the future?
Is fear, uncertainty or doubt creeping into your sacred faith? Take time to pore over Mark's Gospel and discover the validity of Jesus being the fulfillment of our hopes, the authoritative issuer of forgiveness, the assurance of eternal life.
Jesus is still the answer!
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