From the Zebra Bag   Musings from a follower of Jesus, husband , father and pastor

If you have been with us for the last couple of Sundays at New Life you will understand me when I say its all about “the look”! That moment when two sets of eyes lock and the communication is louder and clearer than any words could be. Jesus looked at the rich young ruler ( Mark 10:21) and loved him. Jesus locked eyes with Zaccheus (Luke 19:5) and called him down from the tree.
This morning I read about another of these “looks.” Peter so badly wanted to be a hero for Jesus and on a number of occasions this desire prompted him to open his mouth simply to make room for his foot! Each time Jesus was kind and firm in picking him up and pointing him back in the right direction. On this occasion  Jesus even warns him it is about to happen but our hero is mounted firmly on his white charger! ( Luke 22:31-32) Then before he has time to think almost, the white charger throws him and our hero has denied he even knows Jesus not once, but three times. Then it comes ( Luke 22:61) “the Lord turns and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered…..”  I can never read that verse without getting chills .
Three looks, each magnificent in their eloquence, but each very different. Each with a powerful message of His love, a love that would not be crushed but would not compromise, a love that when we receive, changes our lives beyond recognition, and a love that will restore even the most abject failure and use them as “the rock on which I will build my church” (Matt 16:18).
I think Jesus had to cure Peter of his “hero complex” sincere as it was. To fulfill the amazing purpose Jesus had for him, Peter had to recognize his weakness enough to become simply a tool (and a hand tool at that!!) in the Masters hands.
I know that we can’t see those eyes today, however I don’t know about you but I have felt them more then once. Each time it would be true to say “ Then Jonathan remembered…”. Isn’t it wonderful to know to know however, that Jesus is still willing to use failures, even repeated ones like me, when we remember to surrender

On of the nicest things about having Mondays off is that I can enjoy contemplating all the amazing things that God did over the weekend. Yesterday, as I recalled how much I appreciated our worship service I was challenged by another quote from Jeff Lucas in “Creating a Prodigal Friendly Church.” 

“Does our preaching [or service as a whole] stimulate , irritate, confront and occasionally infuriate? Does it just take up time on Sundays or does it drive us back to our Bibles on Mondays eager – even desperate to slake the wholesome thirst that has been created …….?” [brackets mine]

As I thought about this I remembered trips to Costco! No shopping spree would be complete without visiting at least one of the multiple carts strategically placed to offer you a taste of some delicacy . Their job is not to feed shoppers (although the frequency with which some people visit the carts you wonder!!) Their purpose is to give you a taste that excites you enough to go to the shelf and place some in your cart to enjoy at home .
So how about church …….when did God last give you a “taste” of something that you were excited to take home.  Something you wanted read more and/or learn more about so it would make a difference on Monday?

As I sit down to one of the most stimulating and challenging tasks of the week, sermon preparation, I try to remember our time together on Sunday mornings needs to be about transformation. It must be about “next steps” in the process by which God transforms us into the likeness of Jesus (2 Cor 3:18). I am reminded of a couple of things I read recently about sermons …..

Ajith Fernando the director of Youth for Christ in Sri Lanka is in great demand as a speaker. When on preaching visits to the West he observes that the most frequent response to his messages is “I enjoyed that sermon” he tells that this concerns him as he shares the conviction that “sermons should disturb, convict and motivate to costly obedience. I have wondered whether peoples desired result from sermons is to enjoy themselves rather than be changed into radical disciples who will turn the world upside down.”
Jeff Lucas who carries preaching responsibilities in churches on both sides of the Atlantic (yes he commutes!!) expresses similar concern in his book “Creating a Prodigal Friendly Church.” Examining the impression we might give to a prodigal returning to our church he says “For them (us!) grace simply isn’t so amazing anymore….the sermon has become something Christians endure weekly rather than eagerly anticipate. It rarely evokes the nervousness that one should feel around the ticking time bomb that is Truth”

The privilege of preaching is awesome and one I take very seriously. However I believe that transformation has more to do with our attitude and expectations than how good or bad we perceive the sermon to be. And those attitudes and expectancies will rub off on those who visit our church. Do we expect to hear from God each Sunday morning?  Do we listen for the ticking time bomb that is Truth. Would we rather enjoy what we hear than be disturbed, convicted, or motivated? Have we any desire to be changed into radical disciples? What do you expect from a sermon and is it happening?

The world of blogging has opened up a whole new range od insights into the lives of tothersand I was thinking recently there a number of people whose blogs I would love to have read!
St Augustine 
I am fascinated by this man who once prayed “Lord make me pure but not yet!”
Brothet Lawrence ,
His little book “The Practicie of the Presence of God” is one of the most challenging things you will ever read. He set out to do the simplest task directly for God. He makes no secret that this  was not easy and I would love to have heard his musings on the subject
John Stott 
He is one of the godliest men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. He manages to distill complex theology into the most profoundly simple thoughts. (I know there are various blog type sites that use his material but I would like to hear from him!)
Oswald Chambers …..I think!
The relentless challenge he brings in his devotional “My Utmost for His Highest”  might be a little scary fresh each morning. However there are few books that have been more effective in my life than this one.
And of course there are others…..but how about you whose blog would you like to read and why?

When I sat down for my devotion this morning I have to confess I was frustrated with God! I have been asking Him for some time now what exactly he wanted to teach us  when we finished the Messed Up Worldseries. I pointed out to Him that the series finished this week (as if He did not know!). I wondered if He had noticed that I had been fumbling around with a number of ideas but as yet had no clarity. I reassured Him (good of me huh!) that I did know He always came through and I was not expecting this time to be any different. However right then I was a little stressed about the timing…….. I know I have preached so many times that God’s timing is not our timing but I still find it a struggle to live in that truth sometimes. Then God gave me a picture that really helped. I saw life as a progressive jigsaw.
…….. Now if you do jigsaws you know there are times when you find lots of pieces that go “somewhere around here” but you can’t see exactly where. Then suddenly you get one key piece and all those “somewheres” become “right heres.” The important thing is to be patient while waiting for the key. ………… and then God graciously gave me one such key.
I am excited that our next series will be entitled “Hope Floats”. (Yes it is a movie, I have seen it and enjoyed it but I can’t remember if it fits the message!) The theme of the series will be God’s promise that we can live in hope (Romans 15:4). However often that hope is like a balloon held under the surface of our lives by a net of our humanness! We will see how Jesus releases that hope in the lives of people He meets in the gospels. And we will discover how He can do the same for us beginning on August 24th with “Hope for the Confused,” a look at Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus!

So if you are feeling like you have a bunch of pieces but can’t quite make a picture pray consistently, hang on tight, and remember He is always on time and always faithful!

f you were in church on Sunday you will know that the trip to collect TYG from camp out did itself this year. We arrived to all the excitement of the final meeting and it is amazing to be packed in the same room as hundreds of young people a large number of whom you can feel have encountered Jesus in new ways during the week and will never be the same. To celebrate with them as they learned that they had given more than $6000 to missions and then the tradition is that they leave the chapel and go down to the side of the lake that is the center of the campground where there is a large bell. The whole camp celebrates once again as each person who has made a personal commitment to Christ during the week rings the bell to mark their decision……all that was amazing but this year was made extra special because, as we walked down towards the lake, two of our young people asked if Josh and I would baptize them there and then! What a privilege it was to baptize Lauren and Mikey with a large group of their fellow campers cheering them on!

The service I atented at New Spring was a baptim service and that was so cool to see 30+ people make that committment to christ. Mark Batterson and Steven Furtick have both featutred baptisms at their church inn recent blogs. Go and vist the blogs and get excited . I dream that God will be making baptims a frequent celebration inat NLCF will you pray with me and pray for your friends that this will beciome a reality………….and I promise we will post the footage of our lake baptisms as soon as possible

We often assume that our non-Christian friends don’t want to hear about our faith. Well I was reading Discipleship Journal yesterday when I came upon some interesting statistics that indicate that perhaps we are wrong in that thought! Lifeway have done some research amongst people who do not go to church aged 30 and above and they discovered:
75% would be willing to listen to someone talk about his or her Christian beliefs
78% would enjoy an honest conversation with a friend about religious and spiritual beliefs even if they disagreed with the friend
ONLY 28% think that the Christians they know talk to them too much about their beliefs
That means three out of four people we know who are not Christians would have no objection to talking to us about our faith. So here’s a challenge: pick a day and try to recall all the people you know with whom you have spent some time.  How many of them have you at one time or another talked with about your faith? Of those with whom you have not yet shared, how many have you assumed were not interested?  Perhaps we need to think again!

I can’t remember any time in my life when I have been conscious of dreaming I don’t mean I never had dreams but I have no memory of having them consistently ……..that is until very recently . Now I don’t mean genuflecting asteroids , wine cellars or donut shops with aviaries attached ( ok think about it)* Mine have been your average garden variety weird …..but it has got me thinking.
When the leadership  took a half day to focus on God we heard a message from the One Prayer series entitled Make us Dreamers. So much of what God has been saying to us has encouraged us to dream of what God wants here is Pacifica, to be willing to be audacious dangerous etc. But here’s my question how do I know its God’s dream and not mine. How do I avoid coming up with my version of someone else’s great dream (especially one that God brought into reality).
I think the answer,  or at least part of it, is contained in the following
•    Pray a lot
•    Watch what is happening a round you (Pay attention!)
•    ……Pray a lot
•    Read the bible carefully and regularly asking God to show you relevant things
•    And……… pray a lot
•    Share anything you observe, read or hear with others
and then I believe God will reveal patterns and similar ideas. People will confirm things that o others have thought or seen. Then, as the dream takes shape the conviction grows that it has been revealed to us by God and is not just someone’s good idea.
BUT this will not take place unless we join the prayer and conversation, unless God’s plan for our church is important enough for us to dream about ……..
So what sort of a church do you dream of and more importantly what do you think God dreams for our church?

* If you are still confused then Genesis 39-41 might help !

There are some words that just should not exist don’t you think?  One of those that keeps appearing before me is the word “unlearning” The first time I was conscious of noticing it was when I read The Unlearning Church for a class at seminary. More recently it appeared in Mark Batterson’s book “In a pit with a lion on a snowy day” and then to cap it all Oswald Chambers devotional this morning……

It is not true to say that God wants to teach us something in our trials. Through every cloud He brings our way, He wants us to unlearn something. His purpose in using the cloud is to simplify our beliefs until our relationship with Him is exactly like that of a child— a relationship simply between God and our own souls, and where other people are but shadows. Until other people become shadows to us, clouds and darkness will be ours every once in a while. Is our relationship with God becoming more simple than it has ever been?

Learning, it seems, should be a positive thing. the way we become equipped to kayak down the complex waterways of life! Learning what to do and what not to do should both help us grow. Progress requires us to learn new things like how to use electronic media but does not require us to unlearn other forms of communication
However tragically this is often not so in our spiritual, moral and ethical lives.. Some learned there is no absolute truth, others that repetitive tragedies rule out the possibility of a loving God. Consequently it would seem are to be effective Christians we must become advocates of the unlearning we have done as well as the learning If we are to give a reason for the hope that is within us (1 Peter 3:15) we must share the importance of unlearning these things and their implications.
Oswald Chambers however stretches us personally, (well me at least!) still further. He challenges us to take seriously the biblical mandate to come to Jesus as a a little child ( Mark 10:15) and seek to reduce the complexity of our relationship with Him.
So what has God prompted you to unlearn recently and what might He be asking you to unlearn right now?

As I was preparing for last Sunday’s sermon looking at Joseph’s encounter with Potiphar’s wife I came across this striking observation from one of the most creative blog writers I have yet to discover. I was unable to use it in the sermon but I did not want you to miss it.
He compares the explanation that Joseph gives for his refusal to accompany his boss’ wife to bed with the encounter between Adam and Eve and the serpent in the garden.

Here is an excerpt of what Joseph said to Potiphar’s wife when she came on to him. He essentially lays out                 a case based on how much trust Potiphar has put in him:

“everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has               withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing          and sin against God?”

I never realized that this, this is what Adam should have said to the serpent in the garden of Eden. This is                     the speech he should have given. These are almost the exact words, except perhaps we should switch out                 “house” for the word “garden” and “wife” for the word “fruit”:

“everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this garden than I am. My master                     has withheld nothing from me except this fruit, because this is his fruit. How then could I do such a wicked                 thing and sin against God?”

But Adam didn’t say that. Joseph did…………

Anyone ever seen that parallel before?
By the way if you are in the mood for a good laugh read this guy’s other blog entitled “Stuff Christians Like” it is painfully accuratley observed and hilarious!