Archive for the 'Soul Talk' Category

Why I need Easter and Jesus

Published
by
Eddy E
on March 23, 2008
in Reflections and Soul Talk
. 0 Comments

Thanks for visiting my blog, Serving Bread. Here you'll read stories, insights, reflections and ramblings from a campus minister, father, husband and Jesus-follower. If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to the RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

This is a season of new beginnings of the church. The 40 days of Lent culminate in celebrating the fact that “Christ is risen!” This past week, I studied Mark 8-10 with students, where the theme of “What does it mean to follow Jesus” emerged for us. And time and again we were struck by how Jesus uses graphic terms to describe his fate and what it means to follow him. There is no escaping that when we follow Jesus, we are following him into suffering and death.

Jesus, co-creator of the universe and God in the flesh, submitted to the laws and fallen-ness of this world. The curse of death would not escape anyone, including Jesus. We may try to escape it and even deny it as Philosopher/Psychologist Ernest Becker argues, but ultimately, we are all susceptible to death. Physical death is perhaps the best symbol for the death that we experience on so many levels (spiritual, emotional, etc…). This has been a particularly trying season for me as I see the reality of the frailty of life very close to me.

And this is why I need Easter. I need Easter because it re-orients me to true reality — that death is not the final voice. Jesus defeated death. And this is why I need Jesus. He has the antidote to defeat the ultimate curse on humanity. I need Jesus because I need the antidote to defeat death and rise again.

Jesus is risen! Thank God he is risen!

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John 10.10: The gift of Jesus

Published
by
Eddy E
on December 25, 2007
in Faith, Reflections, Soul Talk and Theology
. 0 Comments

For my last message of the semester, I gave a Christmas message out of John 10.10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” It is not a traditional text on the Christmas season, but to me it encapsulates why Jesus came.

Using an illustration of sheep-pens, Jesus sees himself as an excellent shepherd in contrast to mediocre care-takers and even the thieves who have malice in their plans toward the sheep. This verse has probably served as one of the core / life verses for me. It is a verse that urges me to receive and live in the abundance of life that Jesus offers.

There are many ways to live our lives. There are plenty of philosophies and economic models that can shape how we live our lives. None of the ways we live our lives come close to what Jesus offers. Tupac Shakur captures a life paradigm that seems rampant in our society. In “Runnin’ (Dying 2 Live)” the chorus laments, “Why am I dying to live if I’m living to die?”

We live for certain moments—whether it be the holidays or the weekends—allowing our day to day lives to simply be fodder for those brief moments that give us pleasure. We don’t enjoy life. We just enjoy brief moments.

Jesus offers life that promises abundance. Why did Jesus come? He came that we may have life and have it abundantly. Our trajectory gets interrupted and in Jesus we receive better life. There are many ways this gift manifests itself in our lives. For example,

  • We enjoy the moments between the moments, not just the events themselves.
  • We recognize more and more a God-given meaning to our lives.
  • We enjoy relationships.
  • We enjoy God’s love in our lives.
  • We look for the ways that God speaks to us and leads us.
  • We enjoy obedience and living right in the sight of God.
  • We seek justice and peace in our relationships, in our world and the world around us.

Mary-Jane Watson, in “Spiderman 2,” captures this God-given life in her appeal to Peter Parker to consider a romantic relationship:

I know you think we can’t be together, but can’t you respect me enough to let me make my own decision? I know there’ll be risks but I want to face them with you. It’s wrong that we should be only half alive… half of ourselves. I love you. So here I am - standing in your doorway. I have always been standing in your doorway. Isn’t it about time somebody saved your life?

Mary-Jane is right. It is wrong that we should be only half alive. We need someone to save our lives and give us the good life. And Jesus is standing in the doorway—he has always been standing in the doorway—ready to offer us the good life.

Socrates said, “Not life, but the good life is to be chiefly valued.” This good life is only offered in Jesus. In this Christmas season, we celebrate the one who has come into our lives to offer us the good life.

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Intercession and Calling, Part VI: Conclusions

Published
by
Eddy E
on November 17, 2007
in Reflections, Soul Talk and Theology
. 1 Comment

(Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V) (The article in its entirety is found in the Resources section)

BEST PRACTICES

As I mentioned in the footnote above, there are many definitions for intercession and this paper is by no means a final or complete word on the subject. My hope through this paper is to articulate and clarify how intercession can inform our calling in ministry and how the lack of intercession can defeat us.

Here are some practical ways that have aided my intercession:

  • Read the Bible: The more I read the Bible, the more I know the character and heart of God. I am better at connecting with God when I know him.
  • Keep a journal: I keep a journal where I record my joys and disappointments. This gives me a record of what is irritating me and what is propelling me to joy.
  • Be real: Work hard not to explain away or avoid disappointments. I want to experience the disappointment for what it is. The more I can recognize the disappointment, the more equipped I feel in connecting with God and asking him for transformation. By expressing my feelings toward the disappointment, I am able to better articulate the pain I feel and why I want God to bring change. Disappointment may be the most valid emotion when we confront the realities of the world. Avoiding it will not help us articulate how we need God’s transformation in our lives and our situations.
  • Ask for input: I am not as self-aware as I would like. Having people speak into my disappointments and realities, allows me to recognize if I am avoiding my problems and disappointments, or engaging them, which then propels me back into intercession.
  • Struggle with God: By entering into intercession, I find myself praying and struggling with God for wisdom. I like the picture of Jacob who wrestles until the Lord gives him a blessing. Our best intercession, and best engagement with the world, will come when we’re persevering and wrestling in need of direction.
  • Believe the word: When God gives us a word, we need to believe and act on that word. That word can be a word of hope in the midst of empirical data that suggests otherwise. Faith is to believe and act on that word.

EPILOGUE

Intercession is an important and necessary practice that will lead us closer to God’s heart and vision. Without the practice embedded in our lives, we will allow disappointment to have the final word and it will shape our decisions. With it, we will experience new life and inspiring vision to engage our calling.

Disappointment is an expected emotion in ministry. People will disappoint us and our ministry contexts may often seem fruitless and bleak. We have a choice to respond to disappointment by turning to God or by turning to hopelessness. Hopelessness will invite defeatism and death into our spiritual lives. But when we turn to intercede, we invite ourselves to be shaped by God.

Ultimately, our calling will be shaped by God or by the emotional and spiritual death in our lives. A calling that is not rooted in God will have little faith for transformation in our world.

Disappointments in my life brought despair, cynicism and death. My faith was shaken and vision for people was uninspiring. I believed less and less in a God that would bring transformation and almost left ministry as a vocation. But when I chose to turn to God in intercession and receive promises and words that are from God, I experienced a renewed sense of calling into a world full of despair. The road to death invites us to receive our calling from the world. The road to life invites us to receive our calling from God. Ultimately, only God’s voice will inspire a calling that is compelling and powerful that will believe in God’s transforming power in our world.

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Related Posts:

Intercession and Calling, Part II: Intercession
Intercession and Calling, Part III: The Choice
Intercession and Calling, Part V: Personal Case Study
Intercession and Calling, Part IV: A Biblical Case Study
Resources

Intercession and Calling, Part V: Personal Case Study

Published
by
Eddy E
on November 7, 2007
in Reflections, Soul Talk and Theology
. 0 Comments

(Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV)

PERSONAL CASE STUDY

I have found myself on both sides of the intercession diagram. I have found myself allow disappointment turn to hopelessness to the point of death. And I have found myself turn to intercession and reconnect with God.

In 2003, my ministry was falling apart. There was little fruit to show for our labor, and my partners in ministry were abandoning me. I felt lonely, confused and disappointed by my realities. At that point, I tried turning to God, only to find myself unable to connect with Him.

My disappointment drove me to be hopeless which only served to chip away at whatever life remained in me. One pastor counseled me that I should count getting out of bed in the mornings as victory. My life had come to the point where simply choosing to wake up would constitute some sort of victory. My soul was dying as fast as my ministry.

This death began to inform my calling. I questioned whether I was adequate as a minister and especially as a minister on a college context. I questioned my gifts and my faith. And I re-visioned for my campus ministry context. I had small hopes for my students. I had small hopes for myself. My calling into ministry was full of faithlessness and full of small hopes. I began to believe the lies that this mission field was far too hard.

I traveled a cycle of death that hardened my heart to the vision of God. I felt ashamed and defeated, and I had plenty of excuses for all who were interested. At the end of this cycle, I decided along with other wise friends and advisors to change my ministry context. Though the decision to leave this ministry was wise at that point, it only reinforced my feelings of faithlessness and failure.

But I am grateful that God preserved a small remnant of faith within me that would take a couple years to be nurtured. In the summer of 2005, I found myself again disappointed by the realities of my world. I was disappointed by my leadership and by the lack of joy in ministry context. During that period, I began to study the book of Esther and I was struck by Mordecai’s admonition to his niece:

“For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this” (Esther 4.14).

The Lord spoke to me through this passage, asking me to consider whether I want to see him work or not. Would I shrink back or would I engage with God in ministry? Would I believe that God could bring deliverance to people’s lives through me? Would I allow disappointment to lead me to perish? The decision before me was whether I would trust God to be with me and lead me in the areas of disappointments that had historically defeated me.

My disappointments began to be filtered through intercession. As I interceded for students and for the ministry, I sensed myself becoming closer to God and gaining a clearer picture of God’s work in my life. During those months, my wife and I were discerning whether to transition from ministry. As God formed my calling, he gave me new vision for the ministry, particularly the invitation to go back to the very ministry that once invested in my faithlessness and failure.

Intercession led me to God, and he defined my calling. And part of that calling was to re-engage a broken world. God sent me back into my initial campus context.

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Related Posts:

Intercession and Calling, Part II: Intercession
Intercession and Calling, Part III: The Choice
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Resources

Intercession and Calling, Part II: Intercession

Published
by
Eddy E
on October 20, 2007
in Ministry, Reflections, Soul Talk and Theology
. 1 Comment

(Part I)

THE GIFT OF INTERCESSION

LifeBut rather than turn to hopelessness when confronted by discouragement, we can turn to intercession. By going to God, we gain truth. We gain truth about the situation. We may see spiritual realities and have a much better and informed perspective about the situation at hand and the realities of the world. Out of our time with God, our calling will be informed. We will see how God is calling us into the “hell of people’s lives.”

And when we are with God, God will empower us with wisdom (James 1.5). And he will equip us with what we need to enter into the realities of our world and to confront whatever the situation may be.

I believe we have a choice. We have a choice to respond by interceding and going before God or we can dwell in our hopelessness. Our response to discouragement will inevitably shape our calling and sense of mission.

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Related Posts:

Intercession and Calling, Part III: The Choice
Intercession and Calling, Part VI: Conclusions
Intercession and Calling, Part V: Personal Case Study
Intercession and Calling, Part IV: A Biblical Case Study
Resources

Intercession and Calling, Part I: The way to death

Published
by
Eddy E
on October 17, 2007
in Ministry, Reflections, Soul Talk and Theology
. 5 Comments

For two years, I have been working on a reflection exercise that addresses calling and intercession. I was at a conference in November 2005, where God clarified the work of intercession in my life. I’ve broken up this article in several posts.

…

INTRODUCTION

The discipline of intercessory (I recognize there are many definitions for “intercession.” This paper will in no way capture all of what that means) prayer moves us to recognize who we are before God and who God is in all of his glory. I recognize there are many excellent books and resources on intercessory prayer. And many of those have deepened my prayer life. In this paper, I seek to draft a model for intercessory prayer that strengthens our calling in ministry. As I have grown deeper in my prayer life, I have recognized how prayer has shaped me to know God, and how the lack of prayer has power to lead me farther from God.

Too often, prayer can be relegated as an afterthought. It may be the thing we do to start or end a meeting. It is the time where we take prayer requests during a Bible Study. And it is the thing we might do when we start our day. But in the life of my ministry, I have discovered prayer to be the discipline that has led me to know God and know his purposes, especially in light of difficult and trying situations.

This model for intercession has paved the way for me to recognize the importance of prayer in my personal and ministry life.


THE WAY TO DEATH

The Way to DeathBeing in ministry, I am often confronted by the realities of sin and its impact on people. There are injustices that are committed against people that break my heart. To see people assaulted by the sin that exists in our fallen world makes me wonder if God is powerful enough to confront those principalities and deliver people from such darkness. Other times, we see people choosing into disobedience and dealing with the consequences of choosing against God.

Our world is fallen and it is impossible to escape the corrupting effects of the world around us. Any reflection or examination of these realities leads me to discouragement. I am easily discouraged when I recognize the world for what it is. One pastor commented that ministry is “the call into the hell of people’s lives.”

But it’s what we do with the discouragement that shapes our next steps. Discouragement can easily lead to hopelessness. To feel defeated in ministry and be discouraged by the realities of our world can lead to be hopeless. Hopelessness is a powerful force that can strip away any thoughts or faith in God. Hopelessness strips God from bringing change when everything else looks dead.

And hopelessness will lead to spiritual death. That death will make me numb to the realities and saving powers of God. My eyes will stop seeing the work of God and my mind will start believing that either God has abandoned me or that he is not at work in my life or in my ministry.

Spiritual death, as bad as it is in of itself, will eventually also inform my calling. Rather than lead with vision, I will lead with cynicism.

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Related Posts:

Intercession and Calling, Part II: Intercession
Intercession and Calling, Part III: The Choice
Intercession and Calling, Part VI: Conclusions
Intercession and Calling, Part V: Personal Case Study
Intercession and Calling, Part IV: A Biblical Case Study

Ezra 1.1-2: Who does God use?

Published
by
Eddy E
on July 8, 2007
in Soul Talk
. 0 Comments

Cyrus

1 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he sent a herald throughout all his kingdom, and also in a written edict declared: “Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah…”

For the past few days, I have been meditating on this opening verse of the book of Ezra. This book in the Old Testament of the Bible, records how God’s people rebuilt the temple when they were released from captivity in Babylon.

When the book opens, we learn that God works through the king of Persia (who is not a Jew) to declare that a house be built for the God of the Hebrews. Cyrus may not have been a believer in a monotheistic religion, but he believed that the God of the Jews had some sort of authority that has gifted the king with the territories in the known world.

God chose to operate in the temporal powers without regard to faith or ethnicity. We do not know much about the faith of Cyrus, but what we do know is that he had some sort of respect for the Jewish God.

While God does not discriminate who would carry out his will, we do. At least, I do. As Christians, we do not have the market on being used by God. God will work through whomever he chooses. He will work through great, powerful leaders like Cyrus, but also through a poor wise man (Ecclesiastes 9.15). God will work despite someone’s class, ethnicity, moral character and faith.

Then what is the purpose of faith? As Christians, will our ministry be better than the non-believers who are accomplishing God’s word?

My sense is that as believers, we become more in-tune with the work of God in our life and in the world. As a Christian, I may not have the market of being the sole person in an unreached community to be used by God, but I will recognize and enjoy the work of God more than someone who does not believe. I will find satisfaction in being used by God in the lives of others. I will recognize deeper meaning, beyond the ‘parables’. Faith gives me more satisfaction in God.

As a Christian, this passage challenges me on several fronts:

  1. I have to have humility. Who are the Cyrus’s in my world? What are the ways that God is at work among those (perhaps those in power) who I do not associate with Christian faith?
  2. Inspired by unbelievers. Cyrus inspires the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem and build a temple to God. Unbelievers can be very inspiring. Many people who do not have faith, want to see their world transformed. Their passion for transformation inspires me to want that for myself.
  3. Develop an ear for discernment. I need to be better at hearing from God. If it is in fact true that God speaks to all people, then I need to have a better discernment as to when God is speaking. There are many who err on the side to believe that just because someone is a Christian, then God is always speaking to them or through them.

(And for some of us, Cyrus should challenge how we use our resources—a man who has access to so much wealth and territory, but has chosen to release it for the glory of God.)

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Where sin dwells…

Published
by
Eddy E
on June 6, 2007
in Daughter Love, Reflections, Soul Talk and Theology
. 0 Comments

I will be the first person to acknowledge how fantastic my daughter is. I love her. I care for her, and in my opinion, she’s the cutest and the smartest 21 month old I have ever known. And over the course of the 21 months (30 months if you include the pregnancy), there is so much I have learned about life, about myself and about God because of her.

In the past week, I have begun to learn about sin. There are many parents out there who think their kids are the most innocent beings—and yes, children do have a sense of innocence about them (especially the younger they are)—but my little girl is teaching me about the human heart condition (more than I’d like). Continue reading ‘Where sin dwells…’

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Psalm 1.3: True Prosperity

Published
by
Eddy E
on February 28, 2007
in Soul Talk
. 1 Comment

3 [The righteous] are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.

During a short exercise of meditating on God’s word that my colleague, Ruth, was teaching to our students, I was struck by verse 3 of Psalm 1. This Psalm is probably in the top five of my favorite scripture passages, so I am familiar with it. On Monday night, God highlighted a few things out of this passage that spoke directly to my soul. The word ‘prosper’ especially caught my attention.

There are many ways to define the word prosper–most of it has to do with some sort of financial gain. For example, if you were to visit prosper.com, you would find an innovative website that connects lenders and borrowers. I’m sure some people would have no problem linking financial prosperity to Christian maturity. That’s not how I read scripture or this passage. However, using the picture of financial prosperity as a sort of metaphor for our intimacy with God may be the intent of the author. Continue reading ‘Psalm 1.3: True Prosperity’

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1 Samuel 6.13-14: When God comes

Published
by
Eddy E
on January 18, 2007
in Soul Talk
. 1 Comment

13 Now the people of Bethshemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. When they looked up and saw the ark, they went with rejoicing to meet it. 14 The cart came into the field of Joshua of Bethshemesh, and stopped there. A large stone was there; so they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.”

I don’t know much about Joshua of Bethshemesh. I did a Google search on him and found nothing apart from the Biblical text (though after publishing this post, perhaps this post will come up). The Philistines captured the Ark of the Lord in a decisive battle, but this was more of a curse than a blessing, as thousands of Philistines were killed by the “heavy hand of the Lord.” So they sent the ark away, and figure if it’s really divine, it will go where it needs to go. Well, the Ark is divine and it ends back in Israel on Joshua’s property.

There is no other mention of this Joshua apart from this passage. We don’t know his obedience or faithfulness level. We don’t know about his family. We know something about his name and his town. Perhaps he was named after the great Joshua, Moses’s lieutenant who led the Israelites into the Promise Land, or his parents named him because they believe that “God saves” which is a translation of Joshua. His town is Bethshemesh–which means the town of the sun. It was a northern border town in Judah, a couple miles from Philistine.

What an honor on the one hand, and on the other hand, it could have been somewhat troubling to have the Ark of the Lord–the presence of God–dwell on your property. I am sure they know the stories of God striking down anyone who does not handle the ark with proper care. Joshua’s field has all of a sudden become a sacred place of worship. He can’t do anything about moving it, unless he was fine risking his life to do so. On the other hand, Joshua could have been overjoyed to be the person who gets to host God upon the Ark’s return to Israel.

The text tells us that the people rejoice and offer sacrifices when they see the Ark. 1 Samuel 4 and 5 records how the Ark was captured by the Philistines. The story emphasizes how this enemy of God’s people captured the Ark of God. I am sure there was a hero responsible for taking away the most important and worthy thing in all of Israel. Yet in chapter 6, we read that the return of the Ark was not due to some military battle or some hero–God orchestrates the return of the Ark. God leads the Ark back and parks it in Josh’s backyard.

No one can take credit for the return of the Ark but God. And the text doesn’t tell us why Joshua was picked. That’s not the point of the text. The point is not to figure out why Bethshemesh or why Joshua. The point is that God orchestrates the greatest victory Israel has won. You can imagine there were priests and military generals strategizing on re-capturing the Ark, only to see that God orchestrated the return of God’s presence.

The beautiful truth that the story of God stresses throughout the scriptures and throughout history is that God orchestrates God’s presence. I need to remember that. The heroes of the faith are those who respond to God’s presence, not the ones who think they are the reason for God’s presence. There are plenty of people who fall in the latter category. Their charisma and apparent blessing draws me to want that, for they must be the hero who knows how to usher God’s presence. What I need in myself and what we need more of, are people who recognize that it is God who does the God thing. And when he does (and it can be more often than not I’m realizing), would he find me rejoicing?

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