Blindspots

After having a great talk about theological errors (arminianism, infant baptism, and the like), I had a realization. I wish that I could see my own errors as clearly as I can see those of other people. It’s so easy to point out where others fall short, but when it comes to my own beliefs and behaviors I tend to put up blinders. “Of course I’m right, why wouldn’t I be?” is a common mindset for me. Even when I am looking for error in my life, it’s hard to see it. Lord, may I read scripture in light of Your Holy Spirit’s guiding and not in order to build up the assumptions I so easily make. Open my eyes to the areas I fall short of Your truth and Your glory, not just the areas where other people do the same.

Priorities

Sunday’s sermon made me cry. I finally get the whole concept of crying tears of joy. Let me give you the context. After hanging out with friends Saturday night, I had to make a cheesecake for our prayer meeting Sunday afternoon. It was 1:00am when I started, so using our handy-dandy hand mixer was out of the question, since it could awake everyone in the house. The trouble was that there were little lumps of cream cheese in my batter. That may not seem like a big deal, but at 2:30am it was. I was so worried that it would turn out horribly. I call it a Martha moment. Finally, I calmed down, realizing that people made cheesecakes before the invention of the electric mixer and that the state of the universe didn’t depend on my cheesecake being perfect. Fast forward to Sunday’s sermon.

It was all about cross-cultural ministry and the idea of all different kinds of people becoming one in Christ. At the end, my pastor called up one of my youth group teens who was born in Sierra Leone. It’s funny that I call him MY youth group teen, considering the fact that so many people have put so much time and energy into building a relationship with him and his sister (one sows, another waters, but God gives the increase). After talking about how my youth group teen became a part of CrossWinds, Pastor Dave asked him if he was going to be baptized at our baptism service at the end of the month. He said yes…and that’s when the tears came. Forget the priority of keeping emotional control in public, forget the priority of making a beautiful cheesecake so that everyone can see that I’m a great cook, forget being afraid of sharing Jesus with people because they might not like me, forget everything else. This was a Mary moment. This was a moment of sitting at the feet of Jesus in awe of what He has done in the life of a kid that I care about. This was a moment that makes carting kids back and forth week after week infinitely and eternally worth it. To God be the glory.

Love: a Refreshing Definition

In John Piper’s book, “Let the Nations Be Glad,” he says that love is helping people toward God. That, my friends, is beautiful (because it’s true). You can be accepting and nice to everyone without an ounce of love in the equation. The way to show a person that you care is by showing them one true and living God. There are plenty of gods out there, even among people claiming to follow Jesus. Helping people toward Him may look different in various situations, but it always points to the Savior, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

P.S. I highly recommend “Let the Nations Be Glad.” It helps put the focus on where it should be in missions both at home and around the world: God’s glory.