Spirituality

All posts tagged Spirituality

Telling Yourself the Truth

Posted by Jim Thornber on June 1, 2010
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

For four years I was an Assemblies of God minister and a monk with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity, founded by singer/songwriter John Michael Talbot. This is an excerpt from my book Taking Off My Comfortable Clothes: Removing Religion to Find Relationship.

Me and Mom

When you consider yourself a “cool” Southern California kid, you think you can handle anything that comes your way. Move to Arkansas and join a monastery? No problem. Become the world’s only Assemblies of God monk and try to get the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world to accept you? Piece of cake. Joyfully anticipate taking a three-year vow of poverty, chastity and obedience, and even invite your mom to fly out from California to witness the experience? Right up my alley.

Until I noticed a little bump on my upper lip.

At first, I thought I was having an allergic reaction to something. Even though it was January, my mom was having some trouble breathing and we thought it might be a reaction to all the cedar trees. Yeah, that’s it. The bump on my lip is due to allergies. I took some Benadryl, said a little prayer and tried to ignore it.

But the bump grew larger, and eventually I looked like I got in a fight and came out on the losing end of a right hook.  Continue Reading

Knowing My Assignment

Posted by Jim Thornber on May 21, 2010
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 7 Comments

“No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven.” John 3:27

I was sitting in church the other day when the pastor read this verse from John. Naturally, I respected his sermon by immediately tuning him out and writing my own notes. As most of you know, there are usually two sermons we hear on Sunday—the one the pastor preaches, and the one we preach to ourselves on the way home. For my own rude reasons, I didn’t even wait to get into the car before I was preaching to myself.

For me, the dilemma isn’t that I don’t know my assignment, but how to say no to those things I know are close to my assignment. For example, I know my God-given gift is to teach Scripture, but that’s a very broad canvas, so I’ll focus it. My gift is to teach Scripture to believers. That’s better, but let’s focus it further. My gift is to teach Scripture to adult believers. Ahh, that’s even better. But let’s go a step further. My gift is to teach Scripture to adult believers who have a passion to become sold-out disciples of Jesus of Nazareth.

Because I understand my gifts, I don’t have to say “Yes” to teaching children’s church or the invitation to be a youth minister. I’m not interested in going to China as a missionary, starting an inner-city work, or teaching social studies in the local middle school. Those are all close, but not close enough. Knowing my assignment means I can say “No” to those things that are not my heavenly gifts. Continue Reading

But I Don’t FEEL Like Obeying!

Posted by Jim Thornber on May 11, 2010
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

“Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.” — Mark Twain

When I read the story about about Naaman in 2 Kings 5, two things stand out and cause me pause. First, why is an entire chapter in the Old Testament given over to this one character and his leprosy? And two, why am I so familiar with just how Naaman must have felt when he was told to wash in the Jordan River?

First, I haven’t a clue as to why an entire chapter is given over to this story.  However, I am truly bothered by Naaman’s response to Elijah’s directives to go wash in the Jordan. Here is a highly regarded warrior whom the king of Aram knew to be a great man, “because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram” (vs. 1). Aram, by the way, is also known as Syria, whose capital is Damascus. But I digress.

Here’s the picture: Naaman is a great warrior, esteemed by all, adored by the masses and rich enough to own a slave girl imported from Israel. His only problem seemed to be a small case of leprosy, which is a bit more distressing that acute acne by not as bad terminal cancer.

So Naaman is a great warrior and respected by his peers. He’s a bit like me, if you will – a warrior with words and respected by the dozens of people who know I like to write.

Now comes the crisis (leprosy, or cancer or something tragic in my life like another rejection letter from an editor) and the solution (go bathe in a muddy stream, or bow to God or apologize to your family for being selfish or something equally mundane). “Wait!” I want to shout, “I’m a SOMEBODY. Elisha, you can’t be serious. Don’t just send out your maid and tell me to do something mundane. I’m special and I want special treatment!”

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How To Talk “Christian”

Posted by Jim Thornber on May 7, 2010
Posted in: Christian Spirituality. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

“Mary took . . . an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. . . But Judas Iscariot objected, ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?’ He said this because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what as put into it.” – John 12:3-6

Reading this passage reminds me of why I hate Christian clichés.

Judas, in his desire to line his pockets with the disciple’s money, says the religiously acceptable thing when he talks about giving the money to the poor. However, in order to hide his true motives, Judas mouths a frequently used yet thoughtless statement that sounds good to the listening ear but betrays the truth.

To the casual observer, Judas’ statement appears to be closest to the mission of Jesus, but in reality, his motive is furthest from the heart of Christ. That, to me, is the definition of a Christian cliché.

I’m confessing to you that I’m bothered by how many “religious” statements appear full of compassion and dedication, but are actually self-serving and furthest from the loving kindness of God. After sharing my crankiness over Christian clichés with some Facebook friends, I’ve compiled a short list of our least favorite Christian sayings. Feel free to add your own, but I warn you; just thinking about some of these can put you in a bad mood.

  • “Bless her heart.” This is the quick follow-up after sharing some bit of gossip about “her.”
  • “I’ll pray for you.” It sounds so religious and spiritual, but we can all count the number of times we’ve said that and failed to follow up on it. When someone asks my wife to pray for them, she stops what she’s doing, looks them in the eye, and prays for their need. I like that, because the person prayed for knows they’ve been prayed for, knows what has been said about them, and knows they’ve been in the presence of someone who means what they say.
  • “He needs Jesus.” This is code for, “That guy’s a real jerk.” Continue Reading

What Do You Want?

Posted by Jim Thornber on April 26, 2010
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me…” “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.   The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see” (Mark 10:46-52).

Granddaughter's Eyes

Two things bother me about this passage. The first is that Jesus, upon seeing a blind man, has the audacity to ask him what he wants. Wouldn’t you assume that if a blind beggar has the temerity to shout at the Son of David, “Have mercy on me!” that Jesus would know what the man needed? But that may not be point. Perhaps the point is, “Did Bartimaeus know what Bartimaeus needed?”

The second bothersome question is, “Do I know what I need?” In other words, in what areas of my life am I as blind as poor Bartimaeus? In this way, ‘ol Bart is probably smarter than poor Jim. At least he knew what his greatest need was. Do I? Continue Reading

Surprised by Jesus

Posted by Jim Thornber on April 23, 2010
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

“Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman.”­ – John 4:27

John 4 is the familiar story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus was on a mission, for verse four says, “Now he had to go through Samaria.” What intrigues me about this passage is the way the disciples seemed bothered by the fact Jesus was talking to a Samaritan woman. This woman was the wrong sex and living in the wrong country for them to feel comfortable. In other words, she definitely was not one of them! Apparently, the disciples still did not understand the mission and the purpose of Jesus, so His actions surprised them.

This got me thinking: I wonder how often Jesus might surprise me. I don’t think I’d be surprised if Jesus had a face-to-face conversation with Billy Graham, or maybe Mother Teresa or even the head of my denomination. Those are all people who are acceptable in my sight. However, would I be surprised if I walked into a room and saw Jesus conversing with someone I’m not sure about? You’ll have to use your imagination for this, but what if I came across Jesus talking to President Obama. (I can hear it now: “Jesus had to go through Washington, D.C.”) Continue Reading

Pure As Gold

Posted by Jim Thornber on April 22, 2010
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

“But he knows the way I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold” – Job 23:10

The book of Job bothers most people because it never really addresses the issue of why people suffer. However, Job bothers me because it show us that God is more interested in our faith and the final, gold-like qualities of our life than He is in our comfort and pleasure.

God wants us all to come forth as gold. But why gold? Probably because it is such an interesting metal. 1.02 ounces of gold can be drawn into a wire 62 miles long. It conducts electricity, shields from heat and, because of its ability to reflect infrared light, it is used to control the temperature on satellites. NASA coats the visors of space suits with gold to afford them protection from the rays of the sun.

Gold is non-toxic if consumed, and chefs use it as a food decoration in the form of gold leaf. 1 ounce of gold can be beaten so thin that it covers 300 sq. ft. Gold is described as ductile because it can be drawn out into a fine wire and malleable because it is easily hammered into sheets. A goldsmith can shape it into any desired form, and it is resistant to rust, oxidation and tarnishing.

Gold is a marvelous substance for the countless ways it is shaped and used. However, before it can be used, it must be harvested, melted, purified and tested. Job understood what it took to make pure gold, and even so, he was willing to go through the process.

Contrary to many people’s theology and comfortable lifestyles, Scripture teaches us that God does desires to test us. The word “test” in this passage is a Hebrew word which means to examine, prove, and test (especially metals); to generally and figuratively investigate. What God is investigating is our purity, our faithfulness, Continue Reading

They Are Not My Disciples

Posted by Jim Thornber on April 20, 2010
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The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”­ – John 1:35-39

Two items bother me about this passage. One, the disciple-making process is a catch and release program. And two, it takes a bit of faith.

But let’s back up. For four hundred years, there has not been a prophet in Israel. Then John shows up, and he’s pretty weird. While wearing camel skins, eating locust legs and living in the desert, John stirs up trouble by calling the religious leaders to repent. Naturally, this behavior draws not only the ire of the religious, but also a crowd and a few disciples.

But John knows his place. John knows that he is God’s instrument to point the way to the Christ, but he is not the Christ. John knows he is not the Word, but his words reveal Jesus. This, of course, begs the question, “Do my words reveal Jesus, the Lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the world?” Not always, but I’m getting off my point.

John knew how to make disciples, and he knew they weren’t his to keep. A wise friend of mine said that Christian discipleship does not come when a person receives salvation. Rather, discipleship comes when you make a friend and take them with you on your journey with Christ. Furthermore, it continues when you let them go to walk with Jesus on their own.

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Favoring Myself

Posted by Jim Thornber on April 14, 2010
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

“My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?” James 2:1

I attended a Sunday school class a while back where they studied James 2. Yes, the entire chapter. I don’t know why or how they talked about the whole chapter, because I had trouble getting past the first verse before I felt convicted.

Most of that conviction came as I felt God reminding me of the way I treat certain people. It seems I’m a master at showing favoritism. How easy it is to favor those who favor me, approve of my ministry or writing and have a similar sense of humor. And I’m always in favor of those who know me best and still, for some unknown reason, choose to not only love me, but also like me.

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Jesus the Prodigal

Posted by Jim Thornber on April 8, 2010
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

“The younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. . .” Luke 15:11-24

Rembrandt: Return of the Prodigal Son

When I first studied this passage back in Bible College, it was easy for me to identify the younger son as those people who have taken their God-given gifts and talents and squandered them for their own selfish reasons. I saw them as the heathens among us who didn’t know that God is waiting to welcome them home.

After some reflection (and a few years of maturity), I began to see myself as the prodigal son – wasteful with my own God-given gifts, lavish in my pride, and extravagant in the ways I used my words, even to the point of hurting others. Yes, in many ways I was like the prodigal son.

Seeing myself (and others) as a type of prodigal son is easy. We’re all selfish sinners bent on having our own way at the expense of those who love us. What bothers me (and may bother you) is to consider this: Jesus is the true Prodigal Son.

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