There’s a bizarre story in the OT book of Joshua.  As his nation prepares to engage with their enemies, Joshua is surprised by a late-night visitor.  Unsure who this is, Joshua inquires, “Are you for us or for our enemies.”  The answer blows up the question.

P.S. If you have questions related to race and reconciliation, please feel free to put them in the comments section below. We’ll try to answer your questions during our conversation together this weekend.

Earlier this week I was part of a church leaders conference that was addressing the challenges of living and doing church in a multi-cultural community.  There was one speaker who really got animated/angry during the conference.
He’s an African American pastor with decades of experience.  But when he was talking about his own journey in trying to serve in a multi-cultural setting, he said, “What makes me angry is that you [majority white Christians] don’t ever ask us!”  He went on to point out that it’s all too easy for majority whites to talk with each other about the challenges, the problems, the history, and even the solutions.  But that too often those conversations are devoid of the voices that most need to be heard: namely those who are in the minority.  You could hear a pin drop in the room.

You see, it’s impossible to build healthy, loving relationships with others if we aren’t willing to have extended conversation WITH them.

This got me thinking about a lot of similar situations.  And I realized that it IS too easy to think and talk about problems and solutions while avoiding the hard work of having conversations with the people involved.  This isn’t limited to racially charged problems.  It could be in a family/marriage situation, a work-place conflict, or a neighborhood problem.  Sometimes the hardest person to have the conversation with is the person who we MOST need to have that conversation with.  It’s almost as though that other person is pleading, “Why won’t you ask ME?”

So let me ask you (and me): In the difficult situations you face this week, is there someone that you’ve avoided talking to because it’s hard?  And is that really the place you need to start the conversation?

-Pastor Mark

I saw an article directed at church leaders with the title of “Surviving the Easter hangover.”  No, it’s not from drinking too much communion wine.
It’s actually about the psychological impact of having everybody attend on one grand Sunday, and then many of them disappearing in unison the next week.  If a pastor’s self-worth and identity are connected with the “results” of how many people attend, then yes, the Easter season is a rollercoaster ride.

But enough about me.  What about YOUR Easter hangover.  I’m referring to the residual impact of the resurrection.  Once Resurrection Sunday is over, does the fact that Jesus came back from the dead have any bearing on your Monday morning, or your Wednesday afternoon, or your Friday evening?  If we really understand what happened, it certainly can have an impact.

Last Sunday we talked about the freedom from fear that the resurrection offers us.  We’re talking about core fears, like the fear of the unknown, the fear of powerlessness, and the fear of not measuring up.  Let me encourage you to take a moment today and think about your life. Are those fears lurking in the shadows? Or even chasing you down during the day?  If so, then you’re not experiencing the residual impact of the resurrection.  But you COULD be. (If you missed last weekend at Seneca Creek, check out the podcast here.)

I love the quote from Lesslie Newbigin, the famous English missionary and theologian.

“I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.”

In other words, the resurrection impacts everything about our life.

And you’re invited to join us this weekend as we continue with our Easter series with “Freedom From Your Past.”  Because the impact of the resurrection affects even that part of our life.

-Pastor Mark

This is the season of Lent (which technically ends today). But why do we do it? Are we unconsciously trying to impress God?
Why do we deprive ourselves of certain luxuries, or creature comforts, or niceties, or even necessities?  In my conversations with others, I often discover that beneath our spiritual practices is the belief that somehow we can capture God’s attention, earn his favor, and possibly even alter his mind and actions on our behalf.

I don’t think that works.  I don’t believe that God is impressed with our spiritual practices, even if they are accomplished at great cost to us.  In fact, I don’t think anything we can possibly do will impress God.  Or surprise him.

But that’s not the purpose of those spiritual practices anyway.  They’re not for God’s sake, they’re for ours.

• We pray because we need to stay in two-way conversation with our heavenly Father.
• We give because we need to push back against self-serving greed and become generous.
• We fast because we need to learn that there is a better master for our lives than simply our physical appetites.
• We serve because we need to be reminded that our life is not about us, but about something greater, namely the work of God in and through us.

I could go on, but you get the point. During this season of Lent, I pray that your efforts at spiritual practice would bear fruit in your life.  Not because you manipulated God into doing something for you, but rather because you stepped into the stream of what God is longing to do IN you through the power of his Holy Spirit.

And whether or not you chose to implement some spiritual practice during Lent, let me add this: These practices are not just for a season.  They’re for life.  Because they’re the way we actually continue to grow into the men and women we were created to be. So take heart, spiritual practices are for life.  And while God may not be impressed by them, he will be delighted.

-Pastor Mark

P.S. I hope you can join us on Resurrection Sunday! We’ll have four identical gatherings, at 8:00, 9:15, 10:30, and 11:45.