Would we write the Psalms?

Would we? Could we?

Maybe the 23rd Psalm, as it is so nice and acceptable. But what about the ones that are so brutally honest, that express doubts and fears? Would we or could we write those? What would happen if we did? Would our position in the church or amongst Christian friends be diminished? Would people be concerned that we are having a crisis of faith and need to be put on the prayer chain?

We may proclaim that honesty is something we value as Christians but what happens when someone is really honest? How do we view the friend who tells us of their despair or the one who tells us of their struggle with sin? Do we applaud their honesty and embrace them or take a step back?

What would happen if your pastor preached a sermon that expressed the doubts, fears, and despair that David voiced so many times in the Psalms? Could he only preach it if it was wrapped up all nice and he indicated that he was near to feeling those things but summoned his strength and pulled himself out of it?

The psalmist David had a good relationship with God. 1Samuel 13:14 said David was a man after God’s heart. Could that be because of David’s reality with God and others? He sought after God, recognizing his imperfection and wasn’t afraid to admit what was going on in his life to God or others. Perhaps that honesty enabled him to move beyond those feelings rather than stuffing them deep down and acting like everything is okay.

Many of us crave transparency. We want to be known as we really are and are sick of the plastic, protective front. But what is the price – that is what we wonder. I heard a statement on the radio the other day that fits with this: the church needs to be a place where shame meets grace.

May it be so. May each of us lay aside our superior, judgmental attitudes and embrace the honest while gently helping them toward the healing they need. We hold God’s standards with a firm hand, realizing that we are also weak, not hiding our own past or present struggles, being vessels of the grace of God.

It’s coming.

Philip

By Chance

On my son’s blog, he raised the thought that sometimes we question why God didn’t do something when the true question should be why we didn’t do something. I came across this in my reading today and I thought it went well with Phil’s thoughts.

How many are the sufferers who have fallen amongst misfortunes along the wayside of life! “By chance” we come that way; chance, accident, Providence, has thrown them in our way; we see them from a distance, like the Priest, or we come upon them suddenly, like the Levite; our business, our pleasure, is interrupted by the sight, is troubled by the delay; what are our feelings, what our actions towards them? “Who is thy neighbor?” It is the sufferer, wherever, whoever, whatsoever he be. Wherever thou hearest the cry of distress, wherever thou seest any one brought across thy path by the chances and changes of life (that is, by the Providence of God), whom it is in thy power to help,–he, stranger or enemy though he be,–he is thy neighbor.

Arthur Penrhyn Stanley.

From Daily Strength for Daily Needs
- Mary Tileston

Philip

Get Up and Run

There was a picture in yesterday’s newspaper of the woman who won the woman's division of the Pikes Peak Marathon. She fell three times on the way down. What mattered wasn’t that she fell but that she got back up. And she not only finished the race but won. She had cuts and bruises on her shoulders, back, arms and legs. She had lived in her car all summer while training for the marathon. She kept going after the three falls because she decided this would be a "no fear" race.

We are going to fall. That is reality. 1 John 1:8-9 says: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The presumption is that we are going to sin. It's not an excuse and we shouldn't abuse grace but that's the truth. Get up, confess your sin (again), let him wipe you off and cleanse you and then go on with no fear or condemnation. Finish the race.

It also helps to have some friends running alongside and standing along the path to cheer you on.

Philip

Samson Society

www.samsonsociety.com

I came across this group several weeks ago. I am intrigued by it. Here is a description of the society:

The Samson Society is a fellowship of Christian men who are serious about authenticity, community, humility and recovery - serious, but not grave. Samson guys are traveling-companions on a great spiritual adventure, not grim pilgrims on a death march to personal holiness. We challenge each other daily to believe the incredible news that God actually knows us, loves us, and has restored us to himself. As we follow Christ together, we find our lives progressively interrupted by righteousness, peace and joy.

We are not a church. We are simply one extension of the church universal.

We are not an "accountability group." Instead of living our lives separately and reporting (or lying) about our progress, we try to live our lives together.

We are not a "men's group." Okay, so there are no women, but that doesn't make us a men's group, does it? Please. Most of us have had it up to here with men's groups.

We are not a 12-step group. Sure, most of us have been trapped in some kind of compulsive activity, but our addictions do not define us, and we do not segregate our membership by behavior.

We are not perfect. Not even close. We are broken individuals, but in our fractured fellowship we find a foretaste of God's approaching re-creation.

For more information about the society, listen to the message I, Samson.

I read the book by one of the founders called Samson and the Pirate Monks. It deepened my hunger to walk like this with other men.

I want to see a chapter formed here in Denver. Anybody with me?

Philip