Where is Your Calcutta?

On Saturday afternoon a young lady boarded a metro car at New Carrolton bound for the National Mall. She was not alone as she traveled, however she had a different vision of what that day would bring. Her party arrived in DC and met together with an estimated 3000 other like-minded people who were all there for one purpose. Each of these individuals had ‘abducted’ themselves as an act of support in the fight to free the child soldiers being held by Joseph Kony in Northern Uganda. The demonstration was organized by the Invisible Children group (www.invisiblechildren.com).

The plan was simple – 100 cities across the US, and more in Australia, New Zealand, and Europe had gatherings similar to this one in DC where the participants had abducted themselves and were willing to wait at that location until a media mogul, politician or some other celebrity would ‘rescue’ them by showing up with some sort of media outlet and addressing the assembled gatherings.

Our young lady friend, joined by the rest of the DC abductees waited for rescue and after only a few short hours wait the DC camp was rescued by a local politician. Somewhere around 4pm on Saturday afternoon a senator arrived to release the group and allow these abductees to return home. For many people there, this was the end of the event known as ‘The Rescue’. Not so though for our young adventurer. As most people were headed home, our young adventurer (Lindsay Aiello) boarded a bus with a bunch of other ‘Rescue Riders’ and they headed to a nearby city to support those who had not been rescued there. This turned out to be Philadelphia. Once Philly was rescued the Riders were off again. As I write this, on Wednesday evening, Lindsay has been abducted for nearly 5 days – and she is now in the last remaining city to be rescued, Chicago Illinois.

Why did Lindsay drop everything in her life to fight for a cause that for many is completely unheard of? Why would someone give up themselves to fight for a cause that they cannot see? As I have been thinking about and praying for Lindsay this week I was reminded of another adventurous young lady. Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu felt called to ministry as a teenager. She did her ministerial training in Ireland and in India. Her story goes that she approached one of her superiors and said, “I have three pennies and a dream from God to build an orphanage.” Their response was simple, and probably what many of us would have said, “You can’t build an orphanage with three pennies. With three pennies you can’t do anything.” Agnes smiled and said, “I know. But with God and three pennies I can do anything.”

Agnes spent the next 50 years working amongst the world’s poorest people in the city of Calcutta, India. The little lady we know as Mother Theresa had not just built one orphanage, but had built a legacy of orphanages and outreach to the poor. Toward the end of her life she was asked by admirers how they could make a difference with their lives. Her response was simple, yet brilliant. She would always reply, “Find your own Calcutta”.

In the lead up to this weekend and her adventure as a Rescue Rider, Lindsay found her own Calcutta. She has found something that she is so passionate about that she is willing to set her life on hold to achieve a goal that many think is impossible. She has found her Calcutta. Lindsay’s passion should inspire us. Agnes’ passion should inspire us. Mother Theresa’s words should haunt us – “Find your own Calcutta.”

In Matthew 25:31 Jesus tells a story about two groups of people – the story is known as the Sheep and the Goats. Take a moment to read this story where the King is assigning people to his right or his left hand side. As the story progresses we see that these two groups are different – however the two groups are not clear as to what the difference is. On the King’s right hand side are those who saw Him in need and gave generously, those who saw Him hungry and provided food, those who saw Him without clothing and covered Him. Those on the left however are described as those who are cursed. Why were they cursed? What was the difference between these two groups? It simple – the difference was what they did and did not do.

Which group are you in? Has God shown you what your Calcutta is? Is your Calcutta the city that you live in right now? Are you on the King’s right or His left? Are you found among the righteous or the cursed? The way to know the answer is simple – what are you DOING? Not what are you thinking about, or what are you studying, or what had you hoped to do, but what are you DOING?

Are you reaching your Calcutta? The time has come for us to be a people who DO.

Waiting For My Kids

My beautiful wife and two gorgeous daughters went to see her mum (their grandmum)for a couple of weeks over Easter. It sounded like a good idea when we booked the tickets back in November, but it wasn't long into the trip that I realized that I do not like being away from my family for that long. I missed them terribly.

Last Sunday they arrived home. I was excited to see them all again. As I waited at the arrivals area in the airport I paced nervously hoping for that first glimpse of my three girls. I check the various vantage points from our waiting area behind the thin black strap that was the demarcation line for those arriving and those waiting. I figured out the exact spot where I could look down the hallway and see the first glimpse of my family as soon as the double doors at the end would open.

It seemed like forever, but the doors opened one more time and there they were - looking as precious as ever. My wife and I saw each other first and I could see her telling the girls 'Look, there is daddy!'.

What happened next was priceless.

My oldest daughter, Cara, saw me first. Her response was beautiful. She dropped her little pull along bag right where she was and took off running right for me. She was only stopped in her tracks by her mother calling her back to bring her bag. Cara scooped up the handle of the bag and took off running again. She ignored the 'security' barrier, such as it was, and dropped the bag again as she ducked under the tape and hugged me as tightly as a 4 year old can.

My younger daughter having seen, and heard, her sister equally ran with all of her might and ignored all protocols of remaining behind the barrier and did everything she could to get to her daddy. I scooped them both up and was almost strangled by their loving embraces and smother with their kisses. It was a beautiful feeling.

This week in our church we started a new series on worship. Worship means to 'come towards to kiss' and is the thing that we are designed to do. As I thought about worship I replayed in my mind my experience at the airport and wondered if every Sunday morning is like that for God.

I imagined God coming to our church service early, pacing back and forward trying to get the best place where He can see us as soon as we walk into the building. I imagined the Father standing patiently waiting only for the doors to open and for us to come into His presence in worship. I wondered what our response would be. Would we be like my Cara and drop our baggage and start running towards the Father. When we come into worship on Sunday mornings are we more focused on the baggage we brought with us or are do we drop everything when we see His face and run with all of our might to our Daddy. Do we jump into His arms and throw our arms around His neck and tell him over and over again that we love Him?

Or is our approach to worship something else? Do we carry our baggage, and slow ourselves down? Do we walk into God's presence or do we run with total abandon? Do we jump into God's arms or do we hold back, quiet and reserved? I hope that this Sunday when we come into worship we hold nothing back. From the very first chord I hope that we run with full force, leaving all of our baggage behind and throw ourselves onto the King of Kings.

Wouldn't that be neat?

Where Does Your Worship Go?

We are currently in a 3 week mini-series on Sunday mornings looking at the subject of being ‘Wired for Worship’. I don’t know if you have ever thought about that statement, but essentially we were created in the image of God, and our God is a God who loves worship. There is worship going on in heaven at every moment – not that there is really time as we understand it in heaven (but that is the subject of another article some time).

We were created to worship. Our chief aim in life was to worship God. However there is an interesting dynamic that occurred in the Garden of Eden during those few moments that we know as ‘The Fall’. God had instructed Adam and Eve that they could enjoy fruit from any tree in the except for one. We all know the story, there is a serpent who questions what God told them and leads them to that very tree and encourages them to eat from it. The serpent in this story is none other than the former lead worshiper from the ranks of the heavenly host – Lucifer himself.

His story is an interesting one.

Lucifer was the archangel in charge of leading the praise and worship of God the Father in heaven. As he was directing the heavenly host he began to desire some of the adoration they were lavishing on God for himself. He wanted to be worshiped instead of leading the angels to worship God. In Isaiah 14 we read about how Lucifer started to desire the worship that was only meant for God. He culminates this longing with this statement in Is 14:14, “I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." This angelic being was then hurled from heaven, along with 1/3 of the angelic host who followed him. We now know this character as Satan or the Devil.

Isn’t it interesting that the one thing that we were created to do – worship – is the very thing that God’s number one enemy tries to use to drive a wedge between us and our Savior? When we put things in the place where only God should be then we afford those things our worship, and we rob God of what is rightfully His. The Devil laughs because if we are not for God then we are against God, according to Matthew 12:30. So if we were created to worship, and we worship things other than God then where does that worship ultimately end up? When you worship your career, where does your praise end up? When you worship your money, where does your praise end up? When you worship anything that is not God who ultimately receives your adoration? Who are you really worshiping?

Kinda scary to think about really, isn’t it?

Living in 'Safe Mode'

In this age of technology I am sure you have been sitting at your computer when suddenly the screen goes black, there is a cacophony of whirring and beeping from the machine and you then get this message telling you your system has recovered from a ‘fatal error’ and will be restarted in ‘Safe Mode’. Once the restart has occurred your computer is the same yet oddly different. All of your icons seem to be twice the size they once were, your machine seems to run slower than normal, all the information is there, but it just isn’t firing on all cylinders. You are in ‘Safe Mode’. Josef Mensah described ‘Safe Mode’ like this, “it's just so big and like... bulky. It's like having airbags on your computer imploded 24/7”.

I was thinking about this during the week and wondered if it were possible for us to live our lives in ‘Safe Mode’. Is it possible to be able to do all the same functions as we normally do but only a little more slowly, with a little less effectiveness. Is it possible to live life with airbags deployed 24/7? Are you living that life right now? Have you spent the past number of years trying to get into ‘Safe Mode’? It is interesting to think that so much of our society tries to “help” stay safe with so many devices designed to make our lives easier. Yet I wonder if all of these life enhancing gadgets are actually reducing our lives to little more than existence in vegetative states of passionless computer/television/game viewing.

Have we lost our desire to do the impossible?

Pastor Ray spoke about God being able to do the impossible but it struck me that even though God is capable, unless we are actually willing to allow Him to do the impossible – and to do it in His way – then we will never see it.

Recently Dione wrote in the AMPED blog page that the youth were restless and felt like their Christian life was too easy. They wanted a challenge. They were living in ‘Safe Mode’. Matthew 5:10 says “Blessed are those who are persecuted.” Matthew 10:23 says “When you are persecuted…”. John 15:20 says, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also..” According to Jesus there is no ‘Safe Mode’ for His followers - there is a life of persecution.

But who really wants that?

Surely if we just keep our thoughts and our beliefs to ourselves then we will stay off the world’s radar and have a quiet life. We really do not need to have all that controversy anyway do we? Wouldn’t it be better if we just had a few of those people who seem to enjoy being persecuted to take enough for the rest of us? Let’s just stay out of trouble and live our own lives, not interfering with anyone else and definitely not upsetting anyone.

If you honestly look at your life and the previous paragraph defines your goals in life then I would submit that you are living in ‘Safe Mode’. I find myself all too often drifting to this place where the persecution, the knowledge that people are talking about you (and usually not in a positive light), the hurt that comes from people becomes too much and I pull back the reigns and shut down and let the airbags deploy around me. I retreat into ‘Safe Mode’.

As comfortable a place as that can be, and as painful a place that persecution can be, I chose the latter. I chose today to restart and deselect ‘Safe Mode’ and to operate full on as God created and intended for me to live. There will be risk involved and there will be persecution and there will be pain, but the knowledge that God has created me and called me to serve with everything He has given me is motivation to endure whatever should come my way.

So what about you? Are you living in ‘Safe Mode’? Have you stepped back from the things that God has called you to because if hurt or pain caused by others, even those within the church? Have you shut down your creativity and your risk-taking ability to play it safe and make sure that you do not upset anyone with your relationship with Jesus? Have you changed your lifestyle such that church has become for you a Sunday morning only affair where you pop in and out without passion or zeal for the body you meet with? Are you so battered and bruised from the words of others that you find yourself forced to make leadership decisions and yet you only elect for the safe option, the one that will not upset anybody, but often the one that deep in your heart you know will be least effective? Does this very article upset you? Are you living in ‘Safe Mode’?

I believe it is time to break free from the chains that have bound us down. It is time to step out in faith and do the things that we believe God has called us to do – even when it looks risky. How many times have you read a story of some believer who made some crazy decision, stepped out in some impossible direction only to have the Lord fill in all the details and carry them to a tremendous victory? Do you wonder like me why that doesn’t happen to you? Do you then realize that you would never take the chance – so God would never have the opportunity to be God. I believe that God is setting before us a season of opportunity that will require us to step out of ‘Safe Mode’ and to take a risk, to lean on Him and not to trust in our own understanding. I believe that there are tremendous opportunities that God has in store for us, but like we saw in the video clip last Sunday – we need to take a step of faith into what appears to be a bottomless abyss. It is time to restart our systems and to de-select the ‘Safe Mode’ option.

Are you with me?

Wholly Weak

Have you thought about this weekend? I am sure you have, but have you just sat down for a few moments of quiet contemplation and really considered what this weekend is all about? I have found myself caught in the tension of spending all my free time in preparation for this weekend and yet have not really sat down and spent enough time in contemplation of this weekend. This weekend we will run through a number of emotions as we spend Thursday remembering the Passover and the final meal that Jesus had with his disciples before he was arrested. On Friday we will, in some way, relive the sacrifice that He made when He submitted Himself to the authorities and allowed them to beat His body and ultimately, after an unfair trial, crucify Him on the cross. On Saturday, we have a chance to come together like the early disciples and to remember the things that God has done and how He said that on the third day He would rise again. Finally on Sunday morning we have the tremendous opportunity to worship together and to celebrate the truth that Jesus, who was dead, now lives.

How do you get your head around that? How do you not explode when you think that the creator of the universe, the God of heaven and earth, the God who spoke and light became, sent His most prized possession, His only Son, His boy, to come to the traitor race who had rejected Him and turned their backs on Him? How can do anything this week but fall flat on our faces in adoration and praise because we were once dead but Jesus, through His sacrifice, came to bring us life? This week is known as ‘Holy Week’ but I think that we should think of it as ‘Wholly Weak’ because that is what we are.

We are completely unable to rescue ourselves. We are completely unable to get ourselves out of the difficulties we find ourselves in. we are completely helpless.

We are WHOLLY WEAK and we need to accept that – quickly. I have found myself this week planning things for this weekend and not even going to the Lord in prayer with them – who do I think I am? When did I begin to think that I had a good idea? Even Jesus when He was on earth only said and did the things that He saw the father say and do. I wonder if He talked all the time – or if God the Father had moments when He was silent. I am sure that Jesus did not fill in the silences with His own words. I believe that He waited until further instructions. In my weakness though I know there are times when I fill in the blanks with what may be very good ideas or thoughts, but they are not always what God the Father is saying. I need to not be afraid of my weakness and not look upon my weakness as, well, a weakness.

Our culture has dictated that only the strong survive – it is the Darwin way! But yet it is not the Christian way. We are reminded in Matthew 5 that it is the poor, the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers who are blessed. Society dictates that the weak will not survive, only the strong will. God’s kingdom is not governed by our societies dictates though. Isaiah 40:29 says, ‘He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.’ Romans 8:26 says, ‘In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.’ 1 Corinthians 1:27 reminds us that, ‘God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.’ God said in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

We need to embrace our weakness and in fact we need to set aside our own strength, our own abilities, our own talents and gifting and take on only what the Father asks us to do. We need to become WHOLLY WEAK during this Holy Week.