Have a great weekend. Go worship with people not like you.
{the rest of the post is really good too)
Overheard at Gospel-Driven Church
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The iMonk’s Sanity Verses
For your edification, I give you the iMonk’s Sanity Verses. Great stuff.
I particularly liked this one:
Philippians 3:12-16 If any passage deserves the title of “The Sanity Verses,” Paul’s words of determination to be free from the past through Christ certainly fit the bill. What strikes me about these familiar encouragements is the relation to “maturity.” If we are mature, we will think this way. Refusing to give the failures of the past- the ministry failures, the personal failures- to Christ is immaturity. It is the junior high boy who says he can handle everything himself. It is the twenty-something college student who believes his anger and brandishing words make a difference. It is the emotional immature Christian who lives off his personal dramas, forever portraying himself as a victim to manipulate the sympathies of his friends because he is afraid they really don’t like him.
The “mature” Christian moves on. He gives it to Christ- the mess, the garbage, the failure, the refusals to believe, the rejections of the Gospel- and goes to the next chapter. There is no maturity in punishing yourself. There is no maturity in burnout, broken health and divorce. There is no maturity in choosing to refight meaningless battles that amount to the raging of an undisciplined ego or a wasted war with fools. Listen to Christ. Move on, even if it’s hard. Even if it’s a strain. Listen to the voice of the Spirit telling you that God doesn’t hate you. He loves you. You aren’t garbage and you aren’t here on earth to waste your life in meaningless suffering. If there is to be suffering, let it be for joy, not for madness or bitterness.
Move on. Give Christ the mess and take the gift of another day, another chance.
Overheard in the comments thread of another blog
“Fortunately, my blog is a small fraction of my life…”
Beautiful faith
From the iMonk; below is an excerpt, but I recommend you read the whole thing.
At age 23, Doc was deer hunting with a friend when he slipped and fell into a direct shot. The shot entered the back of his head and came out under his eye. The picture- which he didn’t show- is of a man with a massive head wound, obviously affected the brain, vision and mobility.
He shouldn’t have survived, but he did. Multiple surgeries and major expenses followed, but God supplied his physical, financial and emotional needs. He not only lived, he walked and was able to return to a normal life.
Now blind and deaf on one side, with immobility because of brain damage, he met and married another hospital patient. She had MS.
After ten years of caring for her, Lori, Doc’s first wife died. In the midst of grief, his pastor directed him toward Bible college, and he took the opportunity. Three years later he was graduating and married again to his current wife. Now both serve with us.
When I hear this kind of story, it is almost more than I can take. My faith is small and my tolerance for pain and loss is low. Questions of suffering and loss are not easy for me to contemplate. What would I do? Would God keep me? Would I despair, quit, abandon faith?
And here is Doc. Standing in front of our students, saying again and again that God is good. His suffering and loss can’t be measured, but his faith has grown every step of the way. In his gentle, Minnesota accent, he says over and over, “God is good. I’m so thankful.”
What is a testimony like Doc’s worth in this world? Maybe nothing to some. Maybe a priceless amount to others. I do not know. What I do know is that Doc is untroubled by the problem of evil. He is untroubled by the questions of theodicy. He doesn’t know the answers of the philosophers. If he has thought about the objections of the atheists, it was long ago. He isn’t a Calvinist and he won’t be lecturing on the comforts of various theories of God’s Will. He’s simple. He is, today, a grateful man.
Doc is the work of God in a world of absurd suffering. Whatever has been taken from him has not left him empty and bitter. He is full of the love of God, and bitterness is nowhere to be seen or heard.
Emphasis mine.
Overheard at Gospel-Driven Church
Who is our audience?
God
What does the audience want?
glory
(Great reminder. Thanks Jared)
Overheard at church today
“Our faithfulness must be greater than our fame.”
Prepare to be happy . . .
I mean, can you watch Polyphonic Spree in action and not be happy?
Here they are doing “Light and Day” live:
And, for a bonus, their cover of Sergeant Pepper’s:
Addendum
Did a bit more iMonk surfing . . . Not to get into the controversy that fuels this post (although I’m a teetotaler who agrees with what’s written there), this line completely cracked me up:
“Everyone is aware that this isn’t about the abuse of alcohol, and a fair number of the people getting red-faced over the issue show evidence that if the bar in question were a buffet, they’ve been frequenting it more than once a year.”
Heh heh.
“It’s really refreshing . . .”
In the comments thread of the iMonk post I referenced in my previous post, a commenter wrote this:
“Thanks, Michael, this is good work. It’s really refreshing to read something this positive on a Christian blog.”
I can well understand where this commenter is coming from, which is one reason I’m on a very refreshing blog-reading hiatus. Other than blogs by family members, I currently only read what Jared’s writing on Gospel-Driven Church, and what Michael’s writing on the Internet Monk. These are two of the very best out there.
I can understand where the commenter’s coming from, but it doesn’t mean I wasn’t depressed when I read that comment.
I’m looking forward to the day when “Christian blog” and “positive” aren’t seen as an oxymoron.
We’re not there yet.
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
The iMonk eats some crow
Willingly.
I found this very inspiring. And not so much because of the controversy that is the subject matter of the post, though I’m pretty sure I agree, limited as my understanding is on the subject, with every word Michael says here.
It’s more than that. I am consistently inspired by people who are willing to publicly admit they may have said or written something unfair in the past, and who are publicly willing to affirm ones that others are trashing, and who write with such generosity and grace (and skill).