Excess for Simplicity

I haven't been this excited about a good read for quite some time.  7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess is engaging, winsome, and convicting.  The author is Jen Hatmaker, who makes me heartily laugh out loud even when no one is around.  The best way to describe her work with 7 is a wild social experiment accentuated by honest commentary and self-deprecating humor. 

Jen endeavors to give up an area of excess each month in order to clear out the clutter and allow margin to hear from God.  I just finished reading about her first month in which she cut out excess by consuming only seven foods all month: chicken, eggs, bread, sweet potatoes, spinach, avocados, and apples.  Spoiler alert: She lives to tell about it, even to elaborate on the other areas in which she cuts out excess (clothes, possessions, media, waste, spending, and stress).

Crazy?  A little bit.  But Jen's point is a good one.  She cites studies showing that "increased consumerism comes at a steep price.  A rise in prosperity is not making people happier or healthier.  Findings from a survey of life satisfaction in more than 65 countries indicate that income and happiness track well until about $13,000 of annual income per person.  After that, additional income produces only modest increments of self-reported happiness."  Of course happiness, or the lack thereof, is more of a side effect than the goal of the whole project.  What Jen is after is steadfast, obedient, stalwart discipleship.

The goal of our consumption could be the gross wages we accumulate as easily as it might be the social media we mindlessly devour.  The subject of our consumption doesn't matter, but our misdirected longings for fulfillment through possessions, information, or spending do.  They squash our freedom.  Jen emphasizes that "when accumulation is not our bottom line, we are liberated to disperse our time and resources differently."  

She asks the reader some thoughtful questions on the front end to help identify areas of excess:

What in my life, if taken away, would alter my value or identity?

What is the thing outside of God that you put everything else on hold for?

Think about it.  I'll think about it too.  I've been thinking about it already, I guess.  If I'm brave enough, I'll write about my answers next time!  After all, if simplicity was good enough for my Lord, then it's good enough for me. 

"We cannot carry the gospel to the poor and lowly while emulating the practices of the rich and powerful." -Jen Hatmaker, 7

A Legacy of Grace

As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  Philippians 1:21

You can't be at Redemption Hill more than 29 minutes or so without meeting Matt and Betty Bristol.  Somewhat like the wise and gentle mama and papa of our church, they have radiated Jesus' intentionality with the way they welcomed and served since the day I first visited.  

That being said, it is probably true that all of us at Redemption Hill have traveled with Matt and Betty Bristol through these last months of Betty's life as a family.  We have hoped for healing, asked for updates, and enjoyed grace together week in and week out.  In so doing, we have seen each step of the journey marked by gratitude, authenticity, and confidence-

Gratitude at His grace that covers us and another day given.  

Authenticity in attesting to the reality of pain and suffering in our world.

Confidence in God's sovereignty and the power of the Gospel over death.

Matt has generously shared these last few weeks with our church family and made God look so good in the process.  What follows are Matt's last two updates on Betty's impending "promotion to glory," far too beautiful not to share.

Monday, January 23

Getting very close to promotion…

Betty is still here, but it will not be long before she is promoted to glory. She is heavily medicated now but at times can hear and understand. She nodded to our son Matt that she wanted breakfast this morning, not just any breakfast but scrambled eggs. So eggs she received.

At this point she looks just like her brother looked a year and a month ago, mainly sleeping (morphine tends to do that), no longer coughing, much more difficulty breathing. She seems able to hear when we speak, and the hospice nurse says we have entered the final hours. Whether that means 8 or 48, only the Lord knows. But we plan to keep praying, even singing to her, loving her as she slowly but inexorably slips into the loving and eternal arms of our Savior.

Thanks for all your prayers. It will not be long now. She is more than ready. I am the one not ready yet. Tears are starting to flow. Hard to stop them for long. I should be happy, but it is a mixture of emotions.

All around the world, each of you is family, thanks for coming along on this journey of faith and hope.

God bless you! Take each new day as a precious gift from a loving God. If you do not really believe in God or know God in a life changing way, take a moment now and stop what you are doing, and just talk to Him. He is always near and never sleeps. Tell Him you want to know Him in a fresh and real way, and thank Him for the gift of life and energy and love and family and work and everything! Ask Him to forgive you for being away and opposed to Him, or ignoring and disobeying Him, and He will hear and respond. Then read His Word in a new way, asking His Holy Spirit to open your eyes and give you a new understanding. That is Betty’s desire for you on this perhaps her last day before she goes off to be with Jesus. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so simple, yet so profound. One can argue theology all day, but one cannot argue with a changed life. I thank God for giving us all Betty as an example of His grace and love.

Am sorry I let several days go by without posting…it has been somewhat a blur for me. Yesterday the nurse asked me when Betty started on hospice and I could not recall that it has been 2 weeks!

A sweet sister from our church came yesterday and sang for Betty, one of her favorite songs. His eye is on the sparrow. Betty smiled. God smiled.

In His Love,
Matt     

Wednesday, January 25

Betty is with Jesus. Thank you, Lord.

Last night she waved off further meds and would not receive further oxygen. She said she was ready to go. Matt IV and I slept next to her bed, and at one point he helped me climb into bed with her, where I was able to hold her and comfort her. My last act was to apply cream to the soles of her feet. I wanted to be standing at her side when she went, but I think she wanted to spare me that.

She is still a bit warm, but hands are cold and there is no question she is gone. Allie says she has read that sometimes the dying consciously wait until loved ones are away before they go. Or perhaps it is God who waits. She suffered so much, and so nobly, so gracefully. Last night she was still receiving guests in her room. Now I am here writing this and she is lying still. I prayed over her with the kids a moment ago. They are strong. Allie will be a great nurse. Matt is a tower of strength. They are a major part of Betty’s legacy. Not all, but special.

I am signing off this blog for now, to help clean and change her clothes and then to call hospice. As near as I can tell, she passed into the arms of Jesus at about 6:30am EST.

Thank you Lord for her life and witness, for her sweet spirit, for her strength, for her amazing strength and her amazing faith in you, her amazing God, our amazing God. She suffered well, just a glimpse into your own suffering. She will live with You forever. Amen!

Writing through tears of joy and sorrow.

Matt

No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me.

Away In A Manager

Much earlier this month, I got to meet and hold a baby less than 24 hours old. It was terrifying. He seemed so small and fragile. His loudest cry barely turned a head because his lungs weren’t yet big enough to wail. He was beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but mostly soft and tiny and helpless.

I was incredibly content to look at him. Who knew what would happen if I held him? Suddenly everything in the room and on my person resembled a potentially harmful weapon that could wound this little life in a split second.

This little boy was the son of my coworker Stacy. His name is Zachary and his arrival was much anticipated. Zachary was their first, and Stacy did everything she could to nurture his growth while he slowly developed within her.

She and her husband made every preparation for his entry into the world- touring the hospital, attending childbirth classes, decorating the nursery, looking up baby food recipes, getting his car seat approved, buying onesies, baby blankets, socks and hats. This little man didn’t know how good he had it when he took his first breath out of the womb.

In the midst of Advent season, God had me meet a little boy to help me meditate on the baby boy of the Christmas story. Marveling at little Zachary (and the Christmas card picture still propped up on my kitchen table), I still can’t believe Jesus donned the flesh of a helpless infant. Moreover, he didn’t have the relatively plush life that Zachary does, but rather endured real poverty, rejection, and homelessness as a newborn while embodying joy, hope, love, and peace in their purest forms.

The story of the child in a manager and his life on earth is the ultimate story of humility, for the God of heaven and earth condescended Himself into the form of an infant. The longer I think of the Christ child, the more clearly I see my own pride and sense of entitlement in contrast. Thus, during this Christmas season, I’ve asked Jesus to teach me His humility and am trusting He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself... Philippians 2:5-8

Book Review: The Gift of Being Yourself

Acknowledging from the start that it may seem paradoxical to write a “book promoting self-discovery to people who are seeking to follow a self-sacrificing Christ," David Benner insists that knowing self and knowing God are intimately intertwined.  By knowing our vulnerabilities, our gifts, our pitfalls, and our own personalities, we can better know the God who made us and meet Him as He actively delivers us.   

In The Gift of Being Yourself, Benner doesn’t gloss over the importance of disciplining ourselves to sit at God’s feet so that we might really know Him, not just know about Him.  He encourages readers to meditate on the life of Jesus as described in the Gospels as one way to give shape, color, and flesh to the God we long to know.  He also spurs the reader on to meet God in the events of daily life by taking time to reflect with God on the happenings and subsequent reactions and emotions of the day.

Knowing oneself is clearly described as knowing ourselves in relation to God and also knowing ourselves as we are and as God intends us to be.  Benner affirms that we can’t really know ourselves without knowing simple truths about the way God made us: we are sinners who are deeply loved and we are works in progress with marvelous potential.  As such, we must dig deep to discover the self that is really present, that is the self that we would prefer to ignore.  To truly know oneself, the false selves so quietly crafted must be unmasked, accepted, and then sacrificed to God for transformation.  In this way, Benner hones in on developing an integrity and authenticity to the self that does not naturally exist.  Our natural inclination is to hide and pretend, but to truly experience the “gift of being yourself,” one must first come to terms with the real self that we might not even know until we trod deeper into the journey of self-discovery. This is the redemptive restoration process of the Christian life.

Thoroughly describing both the current situation and the journey ahead, Benner continues by offering practical ideas for how to identify the false self and grow into the true self that is uniquely made and distinctively called by God.  It is evident throughout the book that both the process and outcome of truly knowing self are grounded in the Lord and intended for His glory and our deep joy. 

Benner’s case that the journey of self-discovery and knowing God are co-dependent and inseparable is a believable one.  He supports his arguments with compelling biblical texts along with keen observations of the human psyche and development. I found the premise refreshing, especially as our sinful identity is increasingly emphasized while our dual identity as God’s image bearers is (albeit fractured images) is more and more so ignored.  We are indeed “God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (Ephesians 2:10).  Benner captures both identities quite well in this work and inspired me to know my true self in Christ.  

Around 100 pages, this is a simple yet centering read; especially relevant as we quickly arrive at the time of year in which we reflect on who we are and who we are becoming.  Get it!

The REAL Self-Realization

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you..." Matthew 4:19

The psychology field has a lot to say about self-realization.  It's our ultimate need, says Maslow, the thing after which we strive.

So do many Christians.  It’s a selfish pursuit, say some.  Just one more piece of evidence that collectively and individually, we’re slipping into a state of absolute consumption with self.

While self-realization is an obvious result of a blatantly individualistic culture, I don’t think self-realization and faith are diametrically opposed.  As with many ambitions, the way self-realization is understood and pursued as god in our society is skewed.  The intense focus on finding what makes you happy and discovering who you want to be can be sickening, but the hope of self discovery is not a devilish concept in and of itself. 

I contend that today’s pursuit to realize one’s individual identity, strengths and potential is primarily a distortion of the sanctification process.  We all agree and sense that we are not yet what we were created to be, and so we long to find that person, our true self, that God designed in His own image.  Without a clear understanding of the Gospel, this process is like a pre-teen without a license taking the wheel.  We aren’t supposed to be in the driver’s seat and we don’t really know where we are going or why.  We just want to move, progress, transform, grow, but we don't know where, how, or why.

Without the salvation story, we miss out on the crux of our story, i.e. we are being developed by a Sovereign God into men and women who reflect His character, creativity and beauty.  This is intended to give God His deserved admiration and devotion, not primarily to make us happy.

Although many have ignored the operator and the forgotten goal of these self-realization efforts, it is a valuable process.  In the gospels, we see Jesus reeling in His first disciples by promising to make them into something that they would be but were not yet.

Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men.

John Calvin said “without knowledge of self, there is no knowledge of God.”  His proposition is somewhat audacious.  Shouldn’t God be so set apart from us that knowing ourselves would lead us away from His perfection?  By this statement, are we claiming to be like God?  No, experience proves it true: Knowing ourselves, the created, leads us to knowledge of the Creator.  Indeed, a severe reckoning with our self helps us glean something of God’s character.  The sin within repulses us because somehow we have an idea of what perfection is and how we fall short.  We are thus drawn to that perfection.  The semblances of purity we find in our self then reflects God in us and reminds us of Him. 

Scripture shows us that pursuing knowledge of self and knowledge of God are two intertwined adventures meant to be embarked upon within the same journey.  Jesus promises to “make” the disciples should they “come, follow.”  Following leads to knowing and with every step, we know more of ourselves and more of the King we serve.  Jesus is in the business of making, and there is much joy in participating in that process with Him as discover our true selves.

Lessons from Autumn

Something happens in me every autumn- something beautiful and refreshing.  The colors, the relief from heat, and the feeling of a fresh new start all collide to create a sense of awakening.  Years of the rhythm of the school year have created an unmistakable association with this season- the old is gone, the new is come! 

Ironic though that it's the death of foliage that heralds this awakening.  It's not new birth, it's death.  Those striking colors all result from the degeneration of trees and bushes as they prepare for winter hibernation.  Day after day, leaves change color and drop to the ground to be trampled and slowly disentegrate. 

It may sound odd, but God uses trees to teach me.  I'm not an animist, but for four years now, I can pinpoint specific lessons God had for me by drawing my attention to nature, and specifically to trees.  This season is no different.
The Christian life could not be possible without death.  Jesus' sacrificial death and powerful resurrection are the avenue by which we gratefully inherit eternal and abundant life.  God does not waste death; He uses it. 
Likewise, He calls us to death.  We see this most clearly in Matthew 10:38,

"Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

The life God designed for us is found through death- both Jesus' and our own death to the god of self.  Death is not only meaningful and purposeful for the Christian, it is beautiful as God so lovingly reminds us at this time of year.

The Levity Effect

Life has been getting really serious lately.  Jeromy is looking for a job, my employer just went through a round of lay-offs, and a double dip recession is officially upon us.  Socially, I've been spending lots of time with acquaintances and friends alike talking about serious subjects: anxiety, depression, insecurity, and loneliness.  It's not all necessarily bad serious though.  Friends are also having babies, getting married, and landing jobs.

It could be the dark mornings and cold evenings, but whatever the reason, everything and everyone seems so SERIOUS lately. 

So I enjoyed spending the first two hours of my Monday morning in the "corporate world" on this project:

Fondly entitled "P-Section Pumpkin," this entry in our office's annual pumpkin carving contest heralded some much-needed laughter (and won!).  It also led me to look for more opportunities to employ the Levity Effect, as my coworkers call it, at work and home.  In sum, LIGHTEN UP!

So here's to taking ourselves a little less seriously, whether it be by creating borderline graphic pumpkin displays or laughing at the minor freak-out you had yesterday.  God has a sense of humor, so why shouldn't we?

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22