Jesus – Page 51 – words from wick

an illustration…

Posted on July 31, 2017 by Wick

churchhistory (asked to write a short essay on why one might study “Church history”)

Imagine you discover a new Kingdom, and the King invites you in to spend some time together. In your conversation you learn about His heart, and the amazing power He has over an infinite number of things, and continue to be drawn in. You decide there could be nothing quite better than serving Him and enjoying being a part of His Kingdom forever. As you become a citizen, you receive a book that has all the ways of this new land written within, but some of them seem beyond reach, and others seem beautiful woven into stories that should be dwelt on, and talked about with others. The King also seemed to hint that this book is growing, and you’re now a part of the grand story.

Excited about this new opportunity you head into the local village. You can’t wait to learn more about the ways of life in this new land and meet the people who’ve lived here a long time already. You know already – your life will never be the same.

On your way toward the town square, you get pulled aside by a small group of people. In this group, everyone seems to be holding their Kingdom book tightly across their chest, as if proving their love for it visually. Their leader explains he wanted to connect with you while you were still pure. Before you were “influenced” by wrong thoughts or practices. They invite you to their community, where you’ll have your own room to study the pages of the Kingdom book in private.

Over time and conversation, your frustration with this small community grows. They won’t tell you anything about others, how they arrived, or what life so far has been like. They say it would make you impure. There are some questions you have about one story in particular that doesn’t seem to make sense, but they won’t let you ask others about it – because here only private study is allowed. This small group of people also seems to have issues that could be resolved by going into the village and talking with others, but they don’t seem interested. You’re not sure this is the Kingdom you were so excited to be a part of.

One morning you wake, and find a note left by the King himself next to a book on the chair in your room. He has written, “This may help.” As you flip through the pages, you find story after story of how others have arrived here, and it begins to remind you of your own journey here. The ways others discovered this amazing King make you smile as you remember when you first met him. Some of them wondered about the same mysterious story as you, and here are the thoughts of several who have spent time dwelling on it. Their insights make your heart beat faster, and you breathe deeply as you continue to turn pages. All of a sudden, you realize a story from this book is exactly the insight this small community could use to solve a current problem. Excitedly, you run to the leaders to share with them what you’ve found. Gasping, they try to take this new book from you. They explain that the people who wrote and lived those stories did not agree with them 100%, and if you did not hand it over immediately, you would not be able to stay.

As you walked away with both books tucked under your arms, you took a long slow breath of fresh air. The village stretched out in front of you, and you were filled with a new hope for life together with these Kingdom people.

Different Moments, Different Scriptures, Different Thoughts, Uncategorized

safety

Posted on July 13, 2017July 13, 2017 by Wick

A few weeks ago, my wife sent me a picture our daughter had drawn. A stick figure that seems wrapped in a straight jacket, that my wife (because she rocks, naturally) asked our daughter to tell her more about. daddycross

Let me pause for a moment to remind the reader: We’ve had our daughter home from the DR Congo for a bit over a year now. She’s learned a lot, and grown in so many ways. One of the sources of her growth has been involvement in church activities and lessons. A focus of our children’s’ ministry here at Moundford Free Methodist Church last year was to teach the kids about faithful followers of Jesus. People who suffered for the cause of spreading the good news of the Love of Jesus – even when there were sometimes large prices to pay.

So when our daughter explained the picture to mommy, she shared “It’s daddy, and the mean people tied him up.” My wife asked why, and she said “Because he was telling people about Jesus.”

It may have just been a silly moment of imagination. But it may have actually been something in the back of her mind/heart for months now – wondering if and when daddy might actually be taken away or hurt because of how he spends his time telling others about the Love of Jesus. We’ve assured her, thankfully, daddy doesn’t have to worry about this. My job is safe (although maybe it should seem more threatening to the powers that be at times?) to do.

It made me incredibly thankful, when I allowed it to settle. Hanging from my door lately is a leather cross made by Coptic Christians in Egypt, given to me by a friend back in college. It reminds me each day as I walk into my office – how thankful I can be to have a place where my life and work is not threatened each day simply because of Jesus. It causes me to pause and pray for those for whom “safety” means something so far away and unknown.

I’m thankful my daughter (now) doesn’t have to worry about daddy being hurt or killed by “the mean people” who don’t know about the Love of God. But there are children globally who aren’t free from that worry. May we lift up our brothers and sisters in prayer even now, and live lives that strive to not take for granted the freedom we have to proclaim the love & peace of Jesus in the unique ways we’re given…

Different Thoughts, Uncategorized

inter-generational…

Posted on June 27, 2017 by Wick

In so many areas of life/culture, groups of people are divided and set against each other. By race, understandings, generations, cultures, experiences, etc. The Church is always to be the place that no matter what your defining characteristics – we are ONE in Christ. No matter what definitions the world gives you, the foundational characteristic of “Beloved by God, in need of His Grace” is enough to build on for the Kingdom.

Even in the midst of this, there are understandings that improve our ability to serve and work and celebrate life together as one body. Overloading our accounts and pockets with grace, love, humility, and inviting the Holy Spirit to enable us to live/love like Christ are great places to start.

For years now, our culture seems to LOVE age-specific ministries. It’s great developmentally to focus on Jesus and life experiences in ways that are appropriate and easily assimilated into knowledge & life. The problem is when we make these the primary focus of doing church well. We have great kids’ programs for earning important badges. Next, we have a youth group experience with mountain tops and focusing this highly emotional season of life on Jesus. Next, we have students who enjoyed youth group so much – they want a similar experience with their peers as “College Age Ministry”. When that goes well, it seems successful and natural to provide a “Young Adult Ministry”. At some nebulous point after significant life events like owning a home, moving, getting married, etc…a person might simply quietly acquiesce into a “Regular Adult Class”, but not without first attempting a “(age range) Group”.

Like I said – some of this desire is good, and should be harnessed toward life transformation. But some of this simply provides a false experience of a Biblically diverse community made from several generations contributing to life together in the name of Jesus. Church is meant to be inter-generational, not just multi-generational. It’s not enough to say, “Wow, our church has a lot of (desirable age group here)!” Is that group integrated & connected with the other generations, self-identifying as a contributing and valued part of the whole?

Thankfully, many have been realizing this – and some never forgot it. The warning I’ve heard in their writings have been – don’t assume the Love of Jesus will simply wash away the varied (and beautifully important) differences each generation brings to the table. So in closing, I’ll include a chart here that I created after reading some articles/books on the topic. I found it an interesting study, as an artist might appreciate the palate of colors available before beginning a new painting technique… (although I’m more of the artists’ admirer, as Jesus holds the brush) ( (Side note: The authors often indicated that any discussion on generational descriptions is an exercise in Fiction. Of course, we cannot say that all (generation) are like this. But as they’ve studied, certain characteristics seemed common, and worth noting.)

Chart1 Chart2