Once in awhile it is good to remind ourselves that there is something we need even more than the next morning bun from La Farine (man, those are good!).  We need spiritual bread: Jesus Christ.  I’m not a faster by nature. I’m an eater.  It took a lot to get me to my first fast, but now I’m hooked.

One of my favorite fasts is the Good Friday fast.  I love being encouraged by every hunger pang to reflect on the sacrifice of Christ.  I love praying and opening my heart in a special way to what the living Christ is doing in my life.  I love sinking my teeth into the first bite of food afterward (helps me think about  resurrection!).

Below is an outline for Good Friday devotions.  These do not require a fast, but if you’d like to add the fast to your day, please see the “how-to” note below.  Either way, we’ll see you at 6:30pm at 1319 Solano Ave. (Church on the Corner) for corporate prayer.

GOOD FRIDAY DEVOTIONAL PLAN (printable version)

Morning: The Roots of Redemption

1. Pray a short prayer dedicating yourself and this day to Christ.  Invite him to lead, guide and speak to you today.
2. Read Hebrews 9
3. How was Christ’s sacrifice like the sacrifices offered by the priests?  How was it different?  What is the goal of the sacrificial system?  Who is it intended to benefit?
4. Pray for the people you will see today.

Noon:  The Promise of Redemption

1. Pray  a short prayer asking God to speak through his word.
2. Read Isaiah 52:13-53:12.  Underline or note any verses that stand out to you.
3. Reflect on why your noted verses are significant.
4. Pray for several people you know who have need.

Evening: The Fulfillment of Redemption

1. Mark 15
2. Join us for prayer

Notes on fasting.  I’ll be doing a fast from solid foods that begins when I wake up and ends after our prayer meeting on Friday night.  In place of breakfast and lunch I’ll read scripture and pray (using the above devotional).  If you choose to fast, make sure to drink lots of liquids.  Keep your head up, don’t complain (Matthew 6:16-18), replace each hunger pang with a prayer and pay attention to Christ’s movement and/or promptings.

I’ve recently had several discussions with SCCers about how we as Christians relate with the peoples and cultures here in the East Bay.  To stimulate even more discussion, I’m recommending Culture-Making by Andy Crouch.  Crouch is great at surveying the land, sizing up options and envisioning a way forward without sliding into some pre-fab, cookie cutter “methodology.”  He’s more interested in teaching people how to think as unique individuals in particular places dealing with their own specific circumstances.

There are basically four postures towards culture, according to Crouch.  We can ‘critique’ it, ‘condemn’ it, ‘consume’ it or ‘create’ it (he’s a man of ‘c’s).  Throughout history, the church has fallen into the trap of advocating one posture to the exclusion of the others.  Crouch argues that different circumstances call for different postures.  Then he helps us discern which postures we should assume and when.  All throughout there is an emphasis on embracing our God given calling to “create culture” with and through the gospel.

“Creating culture” is best done in community, argues Crouch.  Jesus modeled this and nearly every successful cultural good ever produced was incubated in community.  Crouch helpfully describes the various layers of community that commonly result in birthing of new and redemptive cultural goods, movements, trends, etc.

The last section of the book explores the limits of what we as humans can do through our (sometimes grandiose) dreams.   I found it to be almost devotional in tone and was deeply encouraged.  The section on “grace babies” was, by itself, worth the price of admission.

The energy in our community around becoming agents of grace is a beautiful thing.  Unharnessed, it will dissipate.   My hope is that Culture-Makers might help provide a framework for moving forward.

(There’s a free study guide to go along with the book here: Free study guide here.)

“The Law” is huge in the history of Jesus’ people.  Few words were ever given with such fanfare (fire, storms, stone tablets, big bearded guy in robe) and few words have ever been cherished as the words of the law have been (”When your words came, I ate them,” writes one prophet).  Such love makes the Apostle Paul’s cautionary words about the law very striking.  It turns out that people have a tendency to use the law to accomplish things it was never intended to do (i.e. making people right with God and changing their behavior).  Some mistakes don’t matter but this one has disastrous consequences, even to the point of distancing people from Jesus.  “Hence, whoever knows well this art of distinguishing between Law and Gospel, him place at the head and call him a doctor of Holy Scripture,” says Martin Luther.  Let’s take a minute and distinguish what the law is for:

The three uses of the law*
Fence.  The law is an external restraint against evil, which would otherwise run rampant in our world.  Romans 13:1-7
Mirror.  The law shows us what we really look like by pointing out exactly how we fall short of God’s plan for our lives.  This isn’t to beat us up, it is to break us and make us ready to receive God’s grace. Romans 7:7
Railroad.  The law shows us where we are going (we’re turning into people who don’t covet, for example) but it contains no power to get us there.  Romans 13:10

Notice what is missing.  You can’t restore a person’s relationship to God through the law.  Grace alone works for that.  You also can’t change yourself by using the law as a billy club .  Turns out, you need grace for that too.  To put it another way, if you are trying to win God’s favor by living out the law you are not a Doctor of Holy Scripture yet.  If you are trying to change yourself by going to the woodshed for a good law flogging, you are not a Doctor of Holy Scripture yet.  But if you have begun to focus your energy instead on soaking in your new identity in Christ and if you have begun to submit yourself to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, well, now you are on your way.  The law is good, because it got your attention, but grace will take it from here.

*This threefold description dates back to the 1500’s and can be found both in the Lutheran Formula of Concord and Calvin’s Institutes.  If you want to define the uses with bigger words, here they are: “civil,” “pedagogical” and “didactic.”

A good book outlining the major beliefs, practices and processes of the Christian faith can be immensely helpful.  I still remember reading C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity while sitting by a remote Northern California river, lapping up Lewis’s exceptional insights as they  streamed into my soul.  The section on “pride” particularly struck me, so much so that the image of the opened page sitting in my hands, surrounded by the trees and water, is still vivid in my mind.  These moments of early discovery can be precious and life-changing.  But which of the myriad books on offer is best suited to our particular journey (in addition to reading the scriptures themselves)?  What follows is a partial list of the options available.  We’d love to hear your comments on these (and any that are missing) as well.

Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis.  Mere Christianity is the grand-daddy of the modern introductions to Christianity and still ranks highest on Amazon sales.  Lewis provides both a comprehensive outline of the core of Christianity (part 2) and interacts with the contemporary issues of the day (part 1).  Throughout, he addresses issue of the head and the heart, bringing the faith to bear on all aspects of what it means to be human.  His penetration into the contemporary issues of his day was so deep and far-sighted that his philosophical insights still apply (note that some find this depth of penetration overly strenuous and are bogged down by it).  Of course, many modern thinkers and writers with whom Lewis would relish interacting weren’t around in his day and so he is unable to make his defense to their criticisms.  But this shouldn’t keep anyone from enjoying the most read, most comprehensive introduction to Christianity.  The book is great for anyone interested in grappling with deep things. 1952

Basic Christianity, by John R.W. Stott.  Stott is one of the clearest writers I have encountered.  In this work, he has packed all the essentials into an unbelievably short volume.  It is comprehensive and concise. First written in 1958 and then revised in 1971, this is an ageless presentation of the Christian faith.  The drawback to this approach, however, is that Stott does not find scope here to interact with the contemporary trends of his day (nor ours).  Still, at some point early in your walk with Jesus, you should read this book. 1958, 1971

More than a Carpenter, by Josh McDowell.  McDowell’s book is also focused on the person of Jesus Christ but brings in a broader range of topics than Green’s.  Some of the most famous passages in this book are on the origins and truth of scripture.  It is a simply written book, which is both good and bad.  Millions have found it helpful (10 million in print, they say) but at least some of those have found the arguments to be too simplistic.  It is, after all, only 128 pages long. 1987

Who is this Jesus? by Michael Green.  Green’s scope is more narrow than the others on this list as he focuses  entirely on the person of Jesus Christ.  It is a beautifully argued piece that builds to a crescendo as the various details of the portrait of Jesus come together.  I have often recommended this book to those coming from a Jewish background.  If there is any drawback, it is that it is not as comprehensive as the other works (it is the shortest at 107 pages). 1990

What’s So Great About Christianity, by Dinesh D’Souza.  I almost didn’t include this book as it is more about defending Christianity than introducing it.  Nevertheless, woven throughout the argument is a comprehensive picture of the Christian faith.  For those who like to roll up their sleeves and tussle over the hot-button issues that arise where faith and culture intersect, this is the book.  D’Souza is so refreshingly forthright that it is disarming.  Not all Christians will agree with his conclusions (for example, his perspective on evolution), but the book is certainly worth the read and, very fortifying.   2007

The Reason for God, by Tim Keller.  Of all the books on the list, this one comes closest to being an updated version of C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity and I have a feeling I’ll be recommending to people I’d otherwise be sending to Lewis.  Keller addresses current thought trends in a masterful first part and then presents a comprehensive vision of the faith in the second.  Like Lewis, and absolutely essential to our contemporary context, he considers the rational, emotional and relational implications of both doubt and belief.  In several places, I found it to be truly soul-nourishing, even for someone who already spends a lot of time thinking about these kinds of things.  I recently recommended this book to a friend.  He is a fairly committed atheist, has a PhD in literature and is one of the more skeptical people I know.  He loves it.    2008

Every time I go to the dentist the hygienist yells at me for not flossing.  I can’t say anything because she usually has three hands in my mouth along with an assortment of utensils.  All I can do is stare up at her and try to indicate with my eyes that I’m truly sorry and I truly want to do better and I truly have every intention of flossing daily.  Of course I can’t communicate all that with my eyes and so, feeling unheard, she continues to harangue.

Scripture memory is like the flossing of the spiritual life in many people’s eyes.  It is obviously good for you but it feels, well, almost too good.  Flossers and scripture memorizors, they have no rebellion left in them.  They have totally succumbed to goodness in an irritating, Mormon-teenager-on-mission sort of way.  We don’t want to floss and memorize scripture out of fear that we might lose the last idiosyncratic shreds of our individuality.

Last night, I did something I haven’t done in months.  I flossed.  I don’t even know why I did it.  Probably just a glitch in the time/space continuum and I’ll be back to normal soon.  Scripture memory, on the other hand, has been needling its way into my life on and off over the past two years and, in the interest of promoting healthy spirituality (if not healthy teeth), here’s my journey with it.

It started with a group of friends who decided to memorize 100 passages together.  I could never have done it without them.  I needed the fear of being the only one who hadn’t memorized the verse at out monthly meeting to motivate me to get with it.  I think we all needed it.  Soon, however, something started to happen in all of us.  We began to notice that the scriptures, once memorized, were doing something to our souls, something really good.  God would lead us into an area of growth through a particular verse, he would encourage us in a dark time with another, he’d crystallize vision and spawn deeper enthusiasm with yet another.  Suddenly, when our group wasn’t meeting, I began to be aware that something was missing in my life, like a the kind of hunger one feels after a missed meal.  On certain days, a pertinent verse would come to mind and I’d go back and make sure I could still remember it.  It would become the mantra for that day, feeding my soul in the cracks between activities.  Eventually, I figured out a way to get the verses on my blackberry so that they would be always handy.  Now, when I think about memorizing scripture, I don’t feel like some irritating do-gooder, I feel like a guy whose often parched soul has discovered an endless well of heavenly drink.  It is not about memorizing scripture anymore.  It is about communing with my maker.

So, I don’t really care if you floss.  “Go ahead and rot your mouth with gum disease,” says the hygeinist.   But, I can say that memorizing scripture has changed my life.

Some Resources
List of 100 verses to memorize
Revised list in excel spreadsheet
Printable flashcards (side 1) (side 2)
Link to free gflash software for iphone and blackberry flashcards (you’ll need excel spreadsheet too)
Link to free Genius flashcard software for mac and download of 100 verses file (just post a comment and I’ll send it to you)

Everyone is on a mission.  Jesus wants us to join his.  Before coming to Jesus, my mission was “me” (to be honest, for a long time afterwords too!).  Comfort, money, status, coolness, freedom from hassles, acceptance, you name it, we go after it…  even those of us who claim to be and truly are followers of Jesus.  At some point, however, Jesus sends a little message.  He might send it through a crisis or a sudden sense of purposelessness, a sermon or a friend.  Like the phone in our pocket we feel it vibrating in our soul.  “Join me” it says, “Love, Jesus.”  Not hitting “reply” to this message can be devastating because huge portions of the blessing of the Christian life  cannot be experienced until we get on mission.

Jesus mission is simple (make disciples), but the outworking of it is infinitely varied.  As many  as there are human beings, there are ways to carry out Jesus’ mission.  God delights in taking our unique personality, experiences, gifts, passions, social context, etc. and melding us into his mission agency, the body of Christ, the church.  But figuring out how we fit in is the easy part.  The more critical step is the decision to get on mission in the first place.

I recently passed ten years in full-time ministry and still find “mission creep” (the tendency to get off mission) to be a daily enticement.  During a celebratory personal retreat last month God focused my attention on a word that continues to minister to me: stewardship.  It is super biblical and it carries a host of associations that empower a person to stay on mission.  Here’s how the thinking goes.  Everything that is “me” belongs to Jesus.  I’m just a steward, which means I’m taking care of something (me) that belongs to someone else (Jesus).  My job is to answer the question, “what would Jesus have me do with me (warts and all)?”  Answering that question keeps me on Jesus’ mission.

So, are you on mission today?  Do you own “you” or are you a steward of “you?” What does Jesus want you to do with this resource he’s entrusted to you?

Following Christ is more about the heart than I have often realized.  I’m not talking about the physical organ pumping in the chest, I’m talking about the spiritual “organ” described in the Bible as our will, the receiver of our thoughts, emotions, physical impulses and the part of us that leads us.  When God chose someone to be king over his precious and beloved people, his first criteria was a good heart.  As the Proverbist says, “All man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.”  I notice that when my heart is well cared for, the circumstances of my life, whether good or bad, are less likely to steal away my devotion to Christ.  I make better decisions.  I enjoy life more.  I laugh more and cry more.  The people around me are more blessed.  I believe God is honored.  I’ve come to agree with another Proverb, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”

Guarding my heart has become one of my life’s greatest and most challenging callings.  I take comfort in the fact that King David found this challenging work too, as evidenced in the Psalms.  A stray bitterness, an unspoken fear, a cunning yearning unsuspectingly creeps into a heart already predisposed to embrace such things (Jer. 17:9!). I have to use every tool God has given for this important work: scripture, reason, community and prayer.  I work at it but God has the final say.  There is a lot of waiting.  Some days don’t end with resolution.  I’m not the super hero “Heart Man.”  I count it a victory if I notice that something is wrong and just take that to him: “Lord, show me what it is.”  The writer of the Proverbs says, “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.”  He is keenly interested in helping me guard my heart.  It is not an easy process but it is always worth it.

Some of my best memories are of times when my heart was in the right place.  I walked with an easy confidence in the Lord, I made some good decisions, I was truly loving towards the person in front of me.  The longer I follow Christ, the more often I find myself in that sweet place.  I’m learning that I’d rather be there than almost anywhere else.

For more thoughts on the process of guarding the heart, explore these links: scripture, prayer and community.

Every person has a part to play in God’s great and loving pursuit of humankind. To bring this about, the Bible says Christ gave “gifts” to each one of us so that we might fulfill the ministry to which we’ve been called. What are those gifts? Which ones do you have? The new Spiritual Gifts Inventory called “FIT,” by Joel Wright, seeks to help you answer these questions.

FIT Inventory

In defining the purpose of Opiso we acknowledge a tension that exists in the spiritual growth process: “Rock solid truths are in the Scriptures, but people need time, space and a process to integrate them into their lives.”  A seeker/new believer recently shared with me how someone had trespassed the “need time, space and a process” part of the equation and had forced him in a direction in which he was not ready to go (yet?). He had a great metaphor for this; he felt like he was being spiritually tailgated.

We all know what it feels like to be tailgated. You are not in a particular hurry, you’re minding your own business, enjoying the process of going from one place to the next when, all the sudden, someone is on your tail and driving hard. You can see him right there in the rear view mirror. You can see the bugs on his windshield, even the plaque on the teeth of his grimacing smile. Now your drive has completely changed. What was a joyful journey of discovery has suddenly become a tense and defensive competition.

The same thing happens in the spiritual realm. People need space, time and a process to develop their beliefs. In the end, the beliefs we discuss have to become theirs for there to be anything of substance taking place. Hearing about what someone else believes is an important part of the process but it is not the end goal. When people substitute other’s beliefs for theirs without personalizing them, the result is a fragile faith and inevitable problems down the road.

If you feel like someone is tailgating, a simple phrase will suffice. “Hey, I’m really enjoying our discussion but I’m not ready to tackle that issue yet. Can we come back to it another time?” If you are tailgating, back off! Remember how long it has taken you to put together the pieces of your belief system (and how far you still have to go!).

Some tailgater will object, “shouldn’t we just boldly declare what we believe?” Absolutely. There are moments when “the thing” needs to be said. In my latest conversation with this particular friend, we tackled one of the toughest issues around. I didn’t hold back. But in God’s orchestration, the timing was right. Helping each other find and follow Jesus requires that we remain sensitive to the space, time and process that each person needs.

I recently made friends with a Christian in a distant country (aren’t e-mail and Skype terrific?!), and in the course of our friendship she asked for prayer for some members of her extended family, because they were in the midst of a family crisis. So I began a period of earnest prayer for her and for them, and we were both rather amazed, after a few months, to see the Lord answer these prayers most expansively. The Holy Spirit moved more broadly in her family than anyone had expected, and in fact His work among them is still ongoing and rich.

Her family members were of course most grateful for the Lord’s salvation as He called them to Himself, and as He showed Himself in power among them. But they were also grateful that a Christian brother in a distant land– a man they had never even met, and who had no other connection with them– had been praying faithfully for them. Their gratitude expressed itself in a most natural way: they began praying for me, and for my own church. Isn’t this marvelous?

They were aware that there was no way they could repay the Lord Jesus for His grace revealed in and among them, and they were also aware that they couldn’t (and possibly even shouldn’t) try to repay me in any tangible way. But their gratitude had to be expressed, and so they expressed it in a way that they had come to learn was real and was effective: they lifted up my church before the throne of grace, in prayer for us. And, by the design of the Holy Spirit in building His Church, this was now an instance of the Body of Christ causing ‘the growth of the Body for the building up of itself in love’ (Eph. 4:16).

Have you ever thought about prayer as an expression of love? Have you thought of intercessory prayer for friends and family who are distant as a means of asking the Lord to watch over them and shield them with His love, because you yourself are prevented from doing so because of geography or other complications? If you are prone to episodes of unrequited love (or even just ‘unrequited like’), have you considered that one way to show your love for that person who is at an emotional distance is to pray for them, for their well-being, and for the Lord’s blessing upon them? And in fact, if it is indeed love that you have for this person, there is absolutely no better way to love them truly and biblically than to pray for them. (For those reading this who are perhaps curious, yes, I do have a lot of experience in this!– more’s the pity.)

Prayer is an absolutely marvelous way to express your love, because you are seeking the Lord’s best for that person. As you grow in your own prayer-life and in your understanding of intercessory prayer, in fact you will find yourself increasingly praying not just for temporal things for them but eternal things. As a result, because our God is alive and answers prayer, you will be a factor in changing Eternity. Wow!!

One of my closest friends has said that he attributes the spiritual health of his three children to the fact that, as I was significantly involved in their upbringing when they were young, I was praying for them frequently and fervently. They are now all adults (the youngest turned 21 just days ago), and they are marvelous, marvelous human beings, with real and deepening relationships with the Lord and with His people.

Is there someone for whom you care but are prevented from showing them love? Pray for them, and allow yourself to be a channel of true love for them.