You’re Not a Waste!

Posted by Jim Thornber on September 9, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

God never wastes time or people. You may feel that you’re sitting on the sidelines, waiting for life to begin. You’re wondering what significant contribution you’ll make to your family, church, community, and the Kingdom of God. You may even look back over your life and question God about tragedies and disappointments, heartaches and failures. Or, you may recall some of the significant changes that have taken place over the years, yet still wonder where it leads. But as I said, God never wastes time or people.

Every experience, every place, every encounter and every assignment you’ve had are stepping-stones to the next place God wants to take you. Where you are now is preparation for where you are going next. And about the time you’ve grown accustomed to your life and feel comfortable with your position, something happens that stretches your faith and character, and you feel like you are starting over. That’s okay. It sounds normal to me. I want to encourage you to get used to taking off your comfortable clothes, because God loves us all too much to leave us as we are. He is always and forever calling us to a higher form of living—one that is eternally conformed to the image and character of Jesus of Nazareth.

Furthermore, I want to remind you that your gifts, talents and acquired skills are never learned, exercised or enhanced in a vacuum. Everything you do well is a result of somebody’s influence in your life. Even the best singers, athletes, engineers, actors, pastors, or chefs are influenced and trained by others who have come before them. This means that you, too, are responsible for influencing the next generation of gifted and talented people who will influence the world for the Kingdom of God.

For four years I was an Assemblies of God minister and a monk with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity at the Little Portion Hermitage. This is an excerpt from my book Taking Off My Comfortable Clothes: Removing Religion to Find Relationship.

Jesus INSISTED!

Posted by Jim Thornber on September 7, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

“Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake”   Matt. 14:22-27

I’m not a big fan of this story, because it tells me there are times in my life that God insists I get into a situation that is going to produce a hard time in my life. I want to say it makes for lousy theology, but I can’t get around the fact it is true.

Just after Jesus feeds the five thousand, the gospels of Matthew, Mark and John tell us that Jesus “made” the disciples get into the boat and go to the western shore of Galilee. This word “made” may also be translated “compel,” “necessitate” or even “force.”  It is a very strong word that leaves little doubt the disciples did not have a choice in the matter.

What we see in these passages is Jesus forcing the disciples into a boat He knew would take them into a storm, find them “straining at the oars” (Mark 6:48) and ultimately blown off their intended course. The disciples, intending to take a short boat ride across the northern tip of a lake that is merely four miles wide, soon find they were still in the middle of the lake (Mark 6:47) after rowing three or three and a half miles. They were in a storm and going nowhere fast. Fortunately, Jesus rescues them by walking across the lake.

At first, this sounds like a heartless thing for Jesus to do. Why would God send us to a place where He knows we will fight, strain and struggle, only to wind up further from our destination than when we started? I believe that Jesus needed the disciples to learn a number of lessons, and the first lesson was that He was still sovereign over all His creation. Continue Reading

Am I Blocking The Light?

Posted by Jim Thornber on August 29, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Church, Leadership. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

 “Anyone who claims to live in God’s light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. It’s the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God’s light and doesn’t block the light from others” (1 John 2:9-10, The Message)

I saw a former member of my church yesterday. It has been about a year since she and her husband moved to another state to pursue their careers, and the church really missed them and their family.

After a bit of small talk, she finally told me, with her hand over her face and her head turned down, she was getting a divorce. Her marriage had lasted about six years.

Once again, Bible College didn’t teach me how to respond to this. I simply looked at her and said, “I’m sorry.” Apparently, it was enough, because she continued to share her heart with me.

Unfortunately, not every reaction she’s received has been so gracious. The youth pastor’s wife at her new church actually got right up in her face and screamed at her. Other Christians have shunned her. How tragic. I’ve spent some time reading the New Testament, and I cannot remember an instance where Jesus screamed in someone’s face or shunned them because they were in a difficult situation. Instead, He always allowed the love and light of God to shine.

Although I was gentle with this soon-to-be divorcee, I’ll admit I haven’t always been so gracious. Continue Reading

Scriptures That Bother Me — Hebrews 11:7

Posted by Jim Thornber on August 15, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Leadership, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

He Never Spoke A Word

“It was by faith that Noah build a large boat to save his family from the flood….by his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world.” – Hebrews 11:7

I’ve been teaching a series on Hebrews 11 in my church, and I’ve been pondering this verse now for a couple of days.  It challenges me because Noah built an ark as an expression of his faith in God, and it was Noah’s actions, not his words, that proved the faithfulness and holiness of God.

That concept, that actions speak louder than words, is tough on me, a pastor whose primary gift is teaching the Word. However, I see it as a good lesson for all of us.

I imagine as Noah begins this huge project his neighbors couldn’t help but notice. And like men all over the world, when a building project starts up, they went over to see what was going on. You know how men are. They gather around the bed of a pickup truck, lean on their arms with a cold drink in their hands, ask questions, give advice, and tell about the time they knew someone who was doing something similar and ended up in the hospital or the like. I can imagine a conversation around the sawhorses—the OT version of a pickup truck—that went something like this:

“Whacha doin’, Noah?”

“Building an ark.”

“Wow. That’s great! Hey guys, look! Noah’s building an ark. Wow! Oh, by the way, what’s an ark?”

“Well, it’s a vessel used to keep things secure and deliver people to safety. In this case, the ark is a boat.”

“A boat? I knew a man who tried to build a boat once. Got a splinter in his hand that got infected so he had to saw with his left hand and hold the boards with his elbow. Had a callus big as a grapefruit right here, didn’t he Harvey? Harvey saw it. That boat never did turn out right. Say, why are ya building it so large?”

Continue Reading

God Is Thinking Of ME!

Posted by Jim Thornber on August 9, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

 “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!  Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand”— Psalm 139:17-18   

I like the honesty of King David. Up until verse sixteen of Psalm 139, David is contemplating ways he could hide from God. I’ve done that. but unlike King David, I don’t readily write about it.

Then David realizes that there is no place in the universe he can go to avoid God.  He even concludes that God knew Him and counted all of his days while he was still forming inside his mother’s body. After meditating upon all of this, David finally says, “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!” As this Psalm clearly shows, the thoughts of God have been resting upon David, and David tells us that those thoughts are more numerous than the grains of sand (vs. 18).

Think about that. God has more thoughts about you than there are grains of sand on the earth. And those are precious thoughts, not angry, disappointing thoughts.

God is thinking about His creation, and His thoughts are precious as they pertain to man—so precious, in fact, that God has chosen to crown man with glory and honor (Ps. 8:4-5; Heb. 2:7) and to one day set his stature eternally above that of heavenly beings.

When we truly understand that God is thinking precious and positive thoughts about us, and even wants us to live crowned with glory and honor, not burdened with sin and shame, will it change our way of life?

  • Will we use our crown to show off our unique place and tromp around like a Hollywood celebrity, or will we live in the humility of Christ, who taught us that the “first will be last, and the last first” (Mk. 9:33-37; 10:29-31)?
  • Will we use our creative abilities to make a place and a name for ourselves in this world and gain Andy Warhol’s promised fifteen minutes of fame, or will we take the few talents that God has given us and return to Him double the portion He has granted us (Luke 19:12-27)?
  • Will we desire to grow rich and famous and have everything we could ever want, and gain everything the world could ever give, or will we take this glory and honor and use it as Jesus did – to radiate the glory of God Himself (Hebrews 1:3)?

It bothers me that I have not always believed that when God is thinking of me, His thoughts are precious. But they are. And He’s given me a crown to wear and a King to represent. I figure if God thinks well enough of me to die for my eternal salvation and crown me with glory and honor, the least I could do is believe Him.

His thoughts of you are precious, too. Do you believe Him?

I Want To Do It All

Posted by Jim Thornber on July 27, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

I Want To Do It All

 “So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him” – Genesis 6:22

I stumbled upon this verse while I was writing a study on Hebrews 11. Verse 7 says that Noah “obeyed God . . . and received the righteousness that comes by faith” (NLT). The Genesis account says he did everything God commanded him. It seems that Noah, even if he did have a soft spot for a nice Merlot, was still a righteous man.

This got me thinking. I wonder if anyone will quote Genesis 6:22 about me at my funeral.  “Jim did all that God commanded him.” It would also be a fitting inscription to have on my gravestone. Part of me doubts this could ever be true,  that I’ll never attain such a life of faith, for I’m well aware of my past (and current) tendencies toward sin and selfishness.

However, I will make a vital mistake if I equate faithfulness with moral perfection. Continue Reading

Why I Cannot Be Happy

Posted by Jim Thornber on July 24, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Church, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 9 Comments

Why I Cannot Be Happy

Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall; don’t be happy when they stumble. For the LORD will be displeased with you and will turn his anger away from them – Prov. 24:17-18

When I read about the death of Amy Winehouse, and my first thoughts were, “She was so young.” My next thoughts were, “She died at twenty-seven? So did Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain. I hope this is just a tragic coincidence.”

As the postings about her death circulated the internet, I was a bit dismayed to read the comments from a variety of people. Some expressed sadness, while others replied, “Who cares?” and “Why does this affect me?” I’m sure others felt she had it coming since she was known for her substance abuse. After reading these comments, I felt confused and hurt at the callousness of some people—even those who say they are Christians.

I found myself confused and hurt in the same way when O.J. Simpson was running from the police on the highways of Southern California. It wasn’t fun to watch him evade capture, and I didn’t hope he “get what he had coming to him.”  I didn’t, and still don’t, have enough knowledge of his situation to make a judgment.

The same is true for Casey Anthony. Many people are so absolutely sure of her guilt, they walk around mad that she got off. Would they feel better if Casey got the electric chair? Would they sleep better at night knowing justice was served? Are they so good at being judge and jury that they can condemn without knowing all the evidence? Continue Reading

You Have My Permission To Be Yourself

Posted by Jim Thornber on July 18, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Leadership, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Earlier this week, I was reading Eugene Peterson’s book Under the Unpredictable Plant. In it he shares that someone once asked him his favorite part of being a pastor, and he answered, “The mess.” Yes, being a pastor is messy, which contributes to the creative side of allowing God to be God in situations that don’t always fall under the category, “Stuff I Learned in Seminary.”

As I thought about this same question, my quick answer was, “I get to love people on my own terms.”

I’ve worked with more than one pastor who felt the need to micro-manage his staff so they’d behave in ways that he was comfortable with. Regardless of their gifts, talents, backgrounds and personalities, these pastors made sure their staff understood what was and was not acceptable in the ways they spoke to and related with people. I had a sense they were trying to make me into a mini version of themselves, and something in me always rebelled. They wanted to control my sense of humor, what passages of Scripture I could teach on, how I could speak to people and what stories about my life I could tell.

In spite of my unique gifts, talents and skills, they seemed determined to make me in their image. Needless to say, I didn’t last under their leadership.

This manipulation went beyond the basic and necessary training a good leader engages in when teaching the staff the vision, mission and culture of this particular local church. They seemed to think if the church members saw a staff person as more loving and forgiving, more personable and likeable, more capable of handling God’s word and feeding the spiritual appetites of the congregants, there’d be competition on the team. Instead of working together as companions in the Kingdom, these pastors often viewed others with a wary eye, watching for any sign their staff might be better pastors than they were. I walked many a year in different churches not with the hopeful challenge of, “What would Jesus do?” but with the fearful question, “Would the pastor approve of this?” Continue Reading

Scriptures That Bother Me — Luke 11:37

Posted by Jim Thornber on July 14, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Church, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

Can I Be Like Jesus And Be A Pastor?

 A Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table . . . Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.” – Luke 11:37ff

One day, Jesus is walking along, teaching a crowd of people about prayer, Beelzebub, driving out demons and the sign of Jonah, who lived inside a fish for three days. You know, the basics of the faith. Then a Pharisee invites Jesus to eat at his house, so Jesus goes and has a nice lunch, but when He doesn’t wash before the meal the way custom instructed, the Pharisee gets religious with the creator of the universe.

In response to this Pharisee and his concern for traditions over God’s mercy, Jesus tells him and his friends they are filthy cups and fools who are headed towards God’s judgment for the way they chose tradition over relationship. This is the famous passage where Jesus pronounces His “Six Woes” upon the Pharisees and scribes.

As I was reading this, it occurred to me that Jesus is actually condemning those who were feeding Him lunch. After accepting an invitation to eat in someone’s home, Jesus turns on the one who fed Him.  In appears that Jesus wasn’t afraid to tell the truth to those who were hosting Him. Could pastors (me included) learn a lesson from this?

  • How often have pastors been afraid to address certain church issues in fear of offending the generous giver and losing their financial support? Are we, in this manner, placing tithes over truth?
  • How often have pastors been afraid to address unscriptural behavior by a member in the church out of fear of offending the family and losing a big contributor? Are we, in this manner, placing salary over salvation?
  • How often have pastors steered away from preaching the whole Gospel of Christ because they fear what Sister Self-Righteous will say during the weekly prayer/gossip circle? Continue Reading

As He REALLY Is

Posted by Jim Thornber on July 7, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Mark Twain said, “Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.” This quote hit home recently when I read this passage from 1 John 3:2: “Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is” (NLT).

C. W. A. Scott

As soon as I read this verse, I knew why it bothered me. John says that when Christ appears, “we will see him as he really is.” Inherent in this phrase is the fact that right now I do NOT see Him as He really is. And how can I? How can my puny, finite eyes really see and understand the infinite reality of our God-become-man-become-Savior?

How do I see Jesus? Usually, I see Him as I’d like to see Him-friendly, forgiving, easy to get along with, gently prodding me along to become a better person but mostly agreeing with my hopes and ambitions. I like to focus upon His place as King (Zechariah 14:16) because it gives me hope and security, but don’t spend too much time on His position as Judge and Lawgiver (Isaiah 33:22). I don’t like thinking about the many ways I’ve broken His law, and I can’t help but think that the final review of my life will be a disappointment to Him. And to me.

Furthermore, I don’t spend time seeing Him in light of my own desires and lusts. It is just too hard to imagine He ever had THOSE thoughts. Until, that is, I read Hebrews 4:15, which reminds me that He was “tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin.” Yes, Jesus was even tempted with THOSE thoughts. But unlike me, He never gave in.

It seems I’m a master at creating Jesus in my own image and likeness, making Him the type of God who comforts, forgives and accepts me, while at the same time rejecting my enemies (NOW I like to see Him as Judge. Why is it so easy only to see God only in the ways that suit me?).

 

Of course, Jesus is an American consumer who would choose to live in my neighborhood, shop at my local grocery store, eat my favorite foods, spend four dollars on a cup of coffee and buy only fluorescent bulbs. (Actually, I’ve never purchased a fluorescent bulb. I just thought my green-minded readers could relate).

There are so many ways I don’t see Him as He really is. For instance, I have trouble seeing Him as the creator of the universe, eternal and omnipotent. Just thinking about eternity brings my mind to a screeching halt. Conversely, I have difficulty thinking about Him as a mortal man-hurting, tired and hungry.

Finally, I cannot comprehend how He will return. Will it be at the literal sound of a trumpet, with blazing glory and a universal audience, with vengeance and retribution on His mind? Or, will it be in meekness and quietness, gently appearing to share His final act of love as He gathers His cared-enough-to-die-for loved ones into His strong, pastoral arms?

I don’t know. And maybe that’s good. Maybe not seeing Jesus as He really is makes the longing to know Him stronger and more effective. Perhaps that is why Paul could say, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Galatians 3:8). Instead of trying to figure out all the unknowns, maybe I just need to concentrate on Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Perhaps then, I’ll begin to see Him as He really is.