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Uncharted Territory

July 13, 2020 /

Whatever there is to say about the territory we are in, I think it is safe to say we have never been here before. In the book Canoeing the Mountains by Tod Bolsinger, I came across this question that stopped me and caused me to ponder a change of perspective about my surrounding environment:

Could it be that God is taking our churches and organizations into uncharted territory in order for the church to become even more of a witness for the future of the world? (pg. 202)

If so, what does this mean about the way we respond to our current realities? Do we step into them, or do we try and find our way back to familiar territory as soon as possible? What if this is not only true of the church and our organizations but our lives as well?

Blessings,
Stephen

Sources:
Bolsinger, Tod. Canoeing the Mountains: Christian leadership in uncharted territory, IVP Books, 2018.

Photo by Natalya Letunova on Unsplash

Faith Over Fear

March 24, 2020 /

A note to those who receive The Milk Can but are not part of Hope:
As we seek to understand and find the best platforms to support the people of Hope, the church Laura and I pastor, through this very unique time in our country, I have made the decision to make use of The Milk Can as a place to share and post our regular updates to our congregation. With that said, please know you will start to receive more “in house” messages than in the past, and more frequent ones. If you feel like your inbox is getting clogged please know it is okay to unsubscribe. At the bottom of every message are the instructions. Stay safe, stay well, never lose hope in the Kingdom of God. – Stephen

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Dear Friends,

In Joshua 3 and 4 the people of Israel, after forty years of wandering in the desert, walk across the Jordan River on dry ground into the Promised Land for the first time as a nation. Before the waters returned to their flow Joshua chose twelve men to each go into the center of the river and carry out a large rock. These stones were set up as a memorial to future generations of God’s faithfulness to his people. Faith is not an abstract wish or unfounded hope that things will become better. Faith is founded in experience. When future generations were tempted to question if God really cared about his people they could always look back to the twelve stones to remind them that their faith in God had a solid foundation. At least that was the plan. We know that in a short while the people lost their memory of God and turned to their own ways. They doubt the God who delivered them and placed their dependence in other nations, other gods, and themselves.

Daily we hear the message that these are unprecedented times for our nation. I do believe these are unprecedented times for these generations, but they are not unprecedented times for our nation and for humanity. We have faced times of scarcity in the past. We have felt the weariness and tension of extended anxiety. We have felt helpless before. We have faced sickness and death. We have known darkness, fear, and doubt. And we have experienced hope and light on the other side. We have known that God is good and loving. 

I believe, part of the challenge we are facing today, as a nation, is that we have lost the collective memory of the faithfulness of God. The twelve stones have become worn with time and their story forgotten that God is faithful in the days, weeks, months, and years of waiting. I know we all want to get back to normal. I believe we are only just beginning this journey through darkness. There are those, though, who can teach us how to walk it. Some around us have stories to tell us. To give us hope. Many refugees know what it is like to suffer long and experience the provision of God. Families who have sent their sons and daughters off to war know the unrelenting anxiety and worry waiting for that which they dread the most. They can teach us the experience of joy in the morning and God’s mercy in loss. And there are others who can teach us. Perhaps even you have a story you would be willing to share with others of faith in the darkest of times?

Before I close this message I want to suggest one book to you to read. The book is The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. It is a story of hard faith in the long dark days of WWII.

Blessings,
Stephen

Are we listening?

March 3, 2020 /

Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter would answer, “God’s Messiah.” About eight days later Jesus would take Peter, James, and John with him to the top of a mountain. While there Jesus would be transfigured by the glory of God and the voice of God would say, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him” (Luke 9:35). The answer to the question of who Jesus is is answered by God the father. He is the beloved son of God, and because of this, he is worthy of being listened to and followed. The story draws us into the question Jesus asked his disciples “Who do you say that I am?” How would you answer the question? How we answer the question will determine whether we will listen to Jesus and in what areas of our life we consider him to be an authority.

Is Jesus your eternal life insurance policy? When the time of your death comes you pull him out of the safe and submit the paperwork to Peter at the gate to get in.

Is Jesus your first responder? Whenever there is a crisis, someone is sick, you give him a call and he comes running with lights flashing and sirens blaring to rescue you.

Is Jesus your defense lawyer? When you have messed up, gotten caught, you give him a call to come and make things right with the judge and hopefully get you off, even if it means a little backroom deal is made with the judge.

Is he Jesus Prime? The one go online to whenever you need something. You place your order and within twenty-four hours your new 105″ tv arrives.

Is Jesus your lord and savior? Is he the one who spoke creation into being and holds everything together by his will. Is he the source and sustainer of life?

How we answer this question will determine in what areas of our life we will listen to Jesus and follow him as he says. Let me try to illustrate this. We would all take a little investing advice from Warren Buffett, but we would never think to ask him to tell us how to throw a football. Of course, if Payton Manning offered us some tips we would listen intently, though we might not care too much about what he has to say about index mutual funds.

Every one of us are tempted to compartmentalize Jesus in the same way. When we do so, we decide what areas of life Jesus has wisdom and authority in and what areas are outside of his knowledge. If Jesus is our first responder we may call to him when we are sick or in a crisis, but when he calls us to a new way of being, a new life of holiness following him, we will say, “Jesus, stay in your lane.” Jesus says, “Love your enemies, do good to those that hate you” and we are tempted to question what he really knows about relationships in today’s digital age. He says, “Do not worry about tomorrow, do not store up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy.” and we say “What do you know about 401k accounts and do you not know the new iPhone that just came out?” Jesus says, “Follow me.” And we say, “could I please have the itinerary of my life in advance so that I can review it and make any necessary changes to ensure the purpose you have for me will give me fulfillment?”

When Jesus says that he is the “way, the truth, and the life . . . ” (John 14:6) he is saying more than he is the means by which we get into heaven. He is saying he is the way to live and be in every area of life. Jesus says he and his way is the authority. He is our example, and he says to each one of us “Come and follow me.” If he is our example for life, then it would be good to listen to what he has to say. If we are going to listen to Jesus, we have to hear him. If we are going to hear him we must eliminate the distractions and noises in our life that keep us from hearing him. The season of Lent is a time for each one of us to examine our lives and to strip away the noises we have allowed in our life that keep us from hearing Jesus. What is it that is keeping you from hearing Jesus?

Blessings,
Stephen


Giving Credit: The basic concept for this post is inspired by the “Listen to Him” Lenton resources from Seedbed Publishing.

A Clear Challenge to Change

June 14, 2018 /

Dear Friends,

One of the disciplines I practice for my own spiritual growth as well as professional improvement is to listen to the sermons of other preachers. One pastor and church I have started listening to recently is Brandon Beals of Canyon Creek Church in Mill Creek, Washington. Their current sermon series is simply called Seed. “A series about the harvest power contained in a seed.” At the beginning of the series, the gauntlet was thrown down for everyone to evaluate their giving and to make a commitment to step up and step out in our finances.

To make the challenge a giving matrix was presented. This matrix so fascinated and challenged me that I wanted to share it with you.:

challenge to give

Here is what it all means:

  • If you are one who has never really stepped out in the area of giving then make the commitment to become a first time giver.
  • Maybe you are one who has given in the past or gives when there is a special need, then step up to becoming a regular giver.
  • Are you a person who gives regularly but you also like the average American Christian who gives less than 3% to your local church? Maybe it is time to step out and respond to the Bible’s instruction to give the first 10% of your income to the storehouse, which is your local church (Malachi 3:10). I was impressed by their courage to say clearly giving 10% does not mean giving 3% to the Humane Society, and 4% to Habitat for Humanity and then 3% to your local church.
  • Finally, maybe you are a person who has already experienced the truth of the promise of God’s provision and multiplying work in your own life by giving of your first 10%. Now it might be time to step up to a new level in your life and become a generous giver. They define being a generous giver as anyone giving 11% or above.

What I like most about this matrix was that it was clear and easy to understand. Anyone could easily see for themselves, in the privacy of their own chair, where they were at and see what the next step was they needed to take.

I was convicted as a preacher by their courage to specifically call people to sign a commitment card pledging to the change they were going to make in their life. How often have I resisted calling people to change and growth because of a fear of offending? Money fights and money problems is the number one cause of divorce in our country. Married or not, it can be one of the most significant areas of stress and anxiety in our lives. If we are going to healthy and whole persons as followers of Jesus, the church is going to have to get over our fear of talking about money.

Finally, what about you? If you had been sitting in the chairs listening to these sermons would you have had the courage to fill out a commitment card? What would you have written on it?

Blessing,
Stephen

If you would like to listen to their whole sermon series you can watch the videos here: http://canyoncreek.church/sermon/series/seed-series/

Getting Better Every Day

June 2, 2018 /

question marks on trees
Marshall Goldsmith, outside of the world of business executives, is a name you may not know. He has been called “the world’s top-ranked executive coach.” He has helped some of the world’s highest performing men and women in the worlds of business, sport, and government get even better at what they do. And as crazy as it may sound, he pays a woman call him every single day to listen to him read questions he wrote and provide answers he himself came up with to those same questions. Why would he do such a thing?

Take a moment and watch his video:

After watching the video, what top three questions would you ask of yourself, every day, about the practices of your spiritual life? Do you have the courage them write it down? In the video, Marshall says, “If you have the courage to write down the behavior that’s most important in your life and the discipline to do this every day you are going to get a lot better.” What’s the “this” he is talking about? Well, you will have to watch the video.

Take some time to ponder and process. It is not nearly as easy as it may sound.

And now that you have watched the video here are a few additional things I have learned about the process.

First, if you take on this challenge, you are going to fail and it will be epic. You will become discouraged. You will want to quit. Your ego and self-esteem will take a cataclysmic beating. But don’t give up.

Second, not just anyone can be the person who hears you give your answers. It must be a positive person. It must be a person you trust. It must be a person whose commitment to you remains unchanged no matter how legendary your stumbling might be.

Third, the only feedback the person can give you is positive and encouraging feedback. We are our own worse critics. There is nothing the other person can say to you that will be worse than what you will already be saying to yourself. What you will need is someone to help you battle the negative thoughts and remind you, you can do more than you think possible.

What’s left? To do it, and don’t give up.

Blessings,
Stephen

 

 

Credits:
Post Photo by Evan Dennis on Unsplash

Even So

March 22, 2018 /

burning match

Dear Friends,

The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego found in Daniel 3 has always intrigued me.  In the story, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, a man with significant leadership issues, concocts a scheme to construct a giant gold statue, place it in the plain of Dura, and then command all of the people to bow down and worship his golden abomination. Those who failed to bow down and worship the golden figure were to be given the opportunity be special guests in the king’s sauna of fire.

Three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, exiles from Isreal, are not too keen on this new plan of the monarch. They unequivocally refuse to bow down to worship the shiny man because to do so would be an anathema to their God. This royally ticks off the king who forgets everything he learned in his years of therapy for anger management issues and he orders the three men to be thrown into the blazing furnace but just to make sure the men are really dead dead and not just dead he orders the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than normal. Unfortunately, this story happened in the days before OSHA. The heat from the furnace was so extreme it killed the soldiers who had been given the charge to toss the three men into the furnace. We all know how the story ends. Once they are tossed into the furnace the three men are joined by a fourth for a little furnace warming party. When the festivities are over, the original three walk out of the furnace without a scorch to a hair on their head or even the smell of fire on their clothes.

What fascinates me most about this story is not their miraculous deliverance from the furnace, as amazing as that is, but the speech they give to Nebuchadnezzar just prior to his attempted murder. With defiant courage they boldly declare to the king, ” If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand” (vs. 17). That had to take some major chutzpa to declare with such confidence their deliverance to the king who was about to have them burned alive. It is their next words that are the words of dazzling faith, “But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (vs. 18). That’s unconditional faith.

How often do we pray with conditional faith? Conditional faith is a faith that says to God, “I will worship and follow you so long as you __________.” There are so many things we could finish the sentence with:

So long as nothing bad happens.

So long as I get to live the way I want.

So long as you give me what I want.

So long as you don’t ask me to give up anything or move to another country or change jobs.

Our three friends have a very different kind of faith. Their unconditional faith recognizes our ways are not God’s ways and his plans are not our plans, and even when things don’t go the way we would want them to we will still worship God.  Their faith says:

God, I know you are are able to rescue me from the furnace, but even if you don’t I will still worship you.

God, I know you are able to heal this sickness but even if you don’t I will still worship you.

God, I know you are able to provide me a better job, a new house, a car that runs but even if you don’t I will still worship you.

God, I know you are able to mend my broken relationships but even if you don’t I will still worship you.

God, I know you are able to take this depression, darkness, and anxiety from me but even if you don’t I will still worship you.

God, I know you can remove the cancer from my body but even if you don’t I will still worship you.

God, I know you are the one who raises the dead but even if you don’t rescue me from death (my own death or that of someone I love) I will still worship you.

God, I know you are able to prevent wars and famines but even if you don’t I will still worship you.

This is the profound faith in God demonstrated to us by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Their faith in God remained unchanged even if God didn’t “come through” but what about us?

Blessings,
Stephen

Hone Who You are For God’s Glory

February 15, 2018 /

So I will admit it. When I am reading through the Bible I do great at the start, but around about the middle of Exodus things get rather bogged down and crawl to a near halt at the descriptions of skin diseases and bodily discharges of Leviticus. My morning coffee begins to taste funny and quickly I decide it might be just best to skip breakfast.

Toward the end of Exodus, the people of Israel are starting to be formed into a self-governing nation. Their existence as slaves is being peeled away and they are taking on their identity as children of God. Essential to this is the construction of the Tabernacle along with the tents and articles that will used in this place of worship and sacrifice for the nation.

Reading these descriptions I was suddenly struck by the words at the opening of Exodus 31.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts. (vs 1-5 NIV)

Jeweled HeartBezalel has been given by God the gifts and abilities to fashion the articles needed for the worship of God. When were these gifts given to him? When did he hone the craft? It must have certainly been while he was living as a slave in Egypt.

Had Bezalel built a successful business designing exquisite pieces of jewelry? Did his work sit on the tables of Pharaoh and his officials? Did the young women say of their betrothed “He went o Bezalel’s?” We will never know, and it all might be a little bit of an exaggeration to think such, but I do wonder. What gifts and talents have we been given? Perhaps God has a grander purpose than we could ever imagine.

Prior to his becoming the leader of World Vision, Richard Stearns was the CEO of Lenox China. He had built a career on selling luxuries to the world’s wealthiest. God used him and the wealth of his position in amazing ways to support the work of his kingdom. Richard thought this was his purpose in life. What he did not know was that God was honing and equipping him to serve the world’s poorest.

What about us? What talents and opportunities has God given to us? Are you in a place of leadership? Do you have musical abilities? Can you fashion things of beauty? Are you able to build the tallest buildings and widest bridges? Whatever you have been given and wherever you are, hone those skills for God’s glory. Become the very best of the best but don’t be too surprised to find that the path you thought you were on to use these talents is not the one God actually has you on.

What do you think?

Blessings,
Stephen

Do something new

January 11, 2017 /

Start something new this year. Go where you have always wanted to go. Try what you always wanted to try. Failure isn’t fatal. You may not have everything you need. You may have more fear than faith. You may not have a functional plan. There may be more doubts than answers. Your friends may try to have you committed. But do it anyway…

Anything worth doing

Blessings,
Pastor Stephen

Micromanaging God

April 26, 2016 /

man holding a banana gun

We have all had that boss. You know the one that makes the pointy-haired boss in the Dilbert cartoons look like a managerial ninja. There are not enough hours in the day to tell the stories of the trauma we experienced at the hands of our micromanaging bosses. The micromanager will say they view themselves as an empowerer of employees. If pressed further to explain why they must check with a ruler the trash bags to make sure the tops of the bag descends exactly 2.78 inches over the lip of the garbage can the micromanager will say it is because it is important . . . and everything is important.

The foundation of any relationship is trust. The micromanager has none. If they trusted their employees they would allow their employees to do the job for which they were hired. What keeps them from trusting? Low self-confidence and fear. They doubt themselves and their employees. They are filled with fear of what could happen if they were not there to handle every situation. No one likes a micromanager.

All of us have a little micromanager inside of us. This manager’s name is “fear.” But it is not employees we are hovering over it is God. To be consumed by fear is to micromanage God. Craig Groeschel puts it another way “Fear is placing your faith in ‘what-ifs’ rather than in ‘God is.'”

What’s the problem with micromanaging God? First, you are not his boss. Nothing more should really need to be said here. Second, do you honestly think you can run the world better than its creator and sustainer?

In this dramatic political season, many of us are tempted to be fearful of the “what-ifs.” To do so is to attempt to manage our world and not trust God’s capacity to manage. It is to place our faith in our capabilities or the capabilities of a particular candidate rather than the capabilities of God.

In this time, let us place our faith in who God is rather than being consumed by what could be.

Blessings,
Stephen

An unlikely person of faith

March 8, 2016 /

three crosses at sunrise

Faith sometimes comes in unlikely places, in unlikely ways, in unlikely people. No person in history may have had a more unlikely experience of faith than the man who hung on the cross beside Jesus. Suffering his own just punishment, as he would describe it, he would be the first to see Jesus’ death on the cross as something more than a great hopeless tragedy. The Roman Centurion would witness Jesus’ death and declare, “Surely this man was the Son of God” but there is no indication his statement was anything more than observing a tragic loss or that had any future significance for the life of the centurion.

Peter had at one time declared of Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” but he was nowhere to be found on this day having fled with the other disciples. No, the first man to see Jesus’ death as victory would be the man hanging beside him. In simple, incredible words he would make his request of Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” In response to this man’s incredible faith, he would hear Jesus’ words “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Salvation had come to the man suffering beside Jesus.

What happened to the thief hanging beside Jesus in the next moments? Did anything change for him? In one respect, no. Nothing changed for this man. He still hung on a cross, people still hurled insults at him. Salvation came, but suffering did not end. He was not in that moment lifted from the cross. He did not even experience a quicker, easier death. His body still writhed in pain and as the shadows grew long his legs would still be broken to speed his death. Nothing changed and yet everything changed. This man could know in his heart that his death was not the end. He might say as Paul does in 1 Corinthians, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting” (15:55)?

As Christians, we are often tempted to paint faith as a “Get out of Jail Free Card” on human suffering and trials. While we may not say it so explicitly, we live as though we believe if we only say a little prayer then any problems we might have in this life will be magically taken from us and we will live life in perfect harmony. How do I know this? Because we panic when suffering comes and have a crisis in our faith. Faith doesn’t take away pain. Faith changes the lens through which we see our pain. Faith did not take away the man on the cross’ pain. Faith enabled him to see his pain through the lens of Jesus’ promise to be with him in paradise.

John Wesley would say of early Methodists, “Our people die well.” So did the thief. He died well because he had met the Lord of life. May we not only die well but live well, living life through the lens of the promise that “weeping may remain for a night but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5) for in the morning, Jesus says, you will be with me in paradise.

Blessings,
Stephen

 

 

Giving credit where it is due:
The concept for this series of blog posts and its accompanying sermon series draw from the masterful work, Seven Words to the Cross: A Lenten Study for Adults by J. Ellsworth Kalas.

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