Christmas: an Unexpected Journey - what The Hobbit, the Shepherds, and Missions have in common

In the new movie, The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey, Bilbo Baggins is seen running thru his home in Bagend yelling “Im going on an adventure”. He, the most unlikely of adventurers, is selected to be of great assistance to a company of Dwarves on a mission tied to reclaiming their heritage in the land of Erebor. This unexpected adventure proves to be a life-changing choice for Mr Baggins, a Hobbit of the Shire who never does anything unexpected but faithfully sticks to a routine lifestyle. However his choice is a about a larger purpose unfolding. His choice proves to involve the hinges of the future of the precious world that he resides in called Middle-Earth. 

In the account of Luke 2 in scripture, the Shepherds are found tending their sheep faithfully in their routine lifestyle. Because they also are unlikely candidates, the shepherds are specifically selected to be the first in hearing of the “good news of great joy that will be for all the people”. This unexpected encounter of the lowly shepherds and heavenly Angels proves to be of great significance. It involves the initial entrusting of the precious message of the Gospel to humanity. They were certainly connected to a larger purpose paving the way for missions.

And much like Bilbo Baggins hurrying off on adventure, leaving their sheep behind “they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them”.

You see, everyone has a role to play in proclaiming this Good News, especially the unlikely candidates who give expression to its truth in seemingly unimportant ways.

Perhaps this is why in the same book of Luke chapter 19, the truth taught by Jesus in parable form is included: be trustworthy in the very small matters & you will be entrusted with even more. 

There are enough people to do the job of proclaiming the Gospel. Many people are just disobedient. Or to put it another way, "I believe that in each generation God has called enough men and women to evangelize all the yet unreached tribes of the earth... It is not God who does not call. It is man who will not respond!" 

- Isobel Kuhn, missionary to China and Thailand

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May this new year find you ready, willing, and obedient to proclaim the Good News, especially in the day-to-day tasks. May you also always be ready to take part in any “Unexpected Journey” that is brought into your path by the Lord!

Christmas - blog #1 - The Riddle of your Heart

This may sound like a strange blog for Christmas, but read on and think of the indications of the hope of a new heart heart we have because of the Christ child's arrival... 

“Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’” (Galatians 4:6).

In the Marvel comic movie, Iron Man 2, the Arc-Reactor that keeps Tony alive is poisoning his blood and he doesn’t have much time left. This movies enemy, Ivan Vanko’s appearance causes Tony to doubt his own integrity of the Stark legacy. Tony, directionless and dying, simply throws himself one final going-away party (the only way he knows how.)

Finally, through the interruptions of agents of SHIELD,  Tony is given and sees a film of a video of his father, Howard Stark, speaking of the Stark legacy. Howard admits that he wanted to contribute more to the world than weapons but he was limited by the technology of his time. In a very touching scene, he asks Tony to fulfill the Stark legacy, “I’m limited by the technology of my time, but one day you’ll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is, and always will be my greatest creation… is you.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zx-e2gwiw&feature=related

This statement spurs Tony on to create a new element for his suit (poison free this time) using the model from His Father’s special energy powered city to one day be built. 

NOTE: The last place that He thought he could turn to, because of preconceived ideas about his Father, was the only place He would find the greatest answer to give him life.

Likewise, what is the Greatest Answer to Prayer? It can be found in Luke 11:11-13     

"Does any of you have a son? What would you do if your son asked you for a fish? Would any father give his son a snake? No! You would give him a fish. Or, if your son asks for an egg, would you give him a scorpion? No! {You are like all other people}--you are evil. But you know how to give good things to your children. So surely your heavenly Father knows how to give the Holy Spirit (indwelling of Him in your Heart) to those people that ask him."

This is the answer to the Riddle of everyone's heart. Or in other words, Good news of great joy that is for all people!

"Empty" - a Providential Poem

This was an email that was sent out by me over a decade ago to a select groups of friends. Providentially came across it in a folder this Fall while experiencing great Emptiness.

May the Lord continue to have His way in all our lives no matter how He sees fit to Empty us...  

"They Needed a Push"

Funny how when we are kids and learning to swing we don’t mind asking a family member or friend, people we trust, to “give me a push”. And eventually as we trust in them and our experiences with them, growing bold enough to say “push me higher!” 

Funny how Jesus said in Mark chapter 10 “that whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Funny how we “grow up” and allow ourselves to become so independent we often live like we don’t need God.

Funny how the disappointments in this life can drive us to God... or away.

Funny how the Lord does things that seem backwards to our grown-up intellectual minds but often make sense to the simple faith of a child.

Funny how Job was able to proclaim that "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him” (Job 13:15) 

Funny how the Lord promised that “He disciplines those He loves” in Hebrews chapter 12.

Funny how “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” according to Matthew 4:1. And even stranger how in Luke 22:31-32, Jesus bluntly explains to Peter that “satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” 

Funny how often overlooked is this basic truth of Christianity. His wisdom is based on different (higher) presuppositions (read Isa. 55:8,9). Once we understand and accept his presuppositions, His wisdom makes perfect sense.

Funny how some have chosen to have the childlike faith like Jesus described and were able to live and record some of their insights for us to look into and learn greatly from...

“It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.” - A.W. Tozer

“If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.”... “At times God puts us through the discipline of darkness to teach us to heed Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and we are put into the shadow of God’s hand until we learn to hear Him.”   

- Oswald Chambers

“It is always upon human weakness . . . not on human strength and confidence, that God chooses to build his kingdom; and he can (do this) not merely in spite of our ordinariness and helplessness and  . . . infirmities, but precisely because of them. - James Stewart

“Never forget what Jesus did for you. Never take lightly what it cost Him. And never assume that if it cost Him His very life, that it won't also cost you yours.” 

― Rich Mullins

Funny how a modern day Superhero movie can have a glimpse of truth about Christianity revealed in it :

“There was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable people, so when we needed them, they could fight the battles that we never could”. Fury tells The Avengers that a set of Captain America trading cards were on Agent Coulson’s body (and accordingly bloodied when he sacrificed himself earlier in the film) in order to motivate them. He throws them on a table in front of all of them especially in close proximity to Captain America;... When asked about the cards by another agent later he replies, “they needed a Push” - Nick Fury in THE AVENGERS

Funny how the Lord of all creation cares more about getting you where He wants you to go with your life than even you do.

So, what cards has He thrown on the table in the engineering of your circumstances lately? 

More likely than not you “needed a push”. Choose to trust and obey Him as He guides you. And eventually you’ll grow bold enough to say “push me higher!” 

We Are FAMILY...

A Few thoughts on FAMILY... make sure to look closely at little Mrs Ava's expressions in the photos at the end :) 

“If strangers and strange sights can shake the world of children, it takes the people they know and love best to pull it out from under them like a chair”  - Buechner

“You don't choose your family.  They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.”  ~Desmond Tutu

“Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts.”  ~Author Unknown

“If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.” 

George Bernard Shaw

“The greatest thing in family life is to take a hint when a hint is intended-and not to take a hint when a hint isn't intended.” 

Robert Frost

“You set standards that no family activity can live up to.”

Ellen Griswold-Christmas Vacation

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4- 9

1 Timothy 5:8
But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever

"Family" Lyrics by TobyMac 2012

Arrows flying, into silence

Broken pieces, lying around where it went down

Waters risin, back to silence

Quietly crying, wondering how

And look at us now

We thought our love would take the world by storm

CHORUS :

Are we too far apart?

Two worlds among the stars

You’re gonna take a piece of my heart if you leave

So its two separate ways

Or am I too late to say “I wanna fight for what we got

Cause I believe in family”

In family

So are we still trying, or simply surviving

Facing these giants, the bigger they are the harder they fall

But I still believe in the dreams we’ve been dreamin

The hope that we built on

Its never too far, never too far

If we choose to turn and let these walls fall down

I still believe…

I still believe…

That we're not too far apart?

Two worlds among the stars

Don’t take a piece of my heart please don’t leave

It’s not too late to say: “Father show us the way

To fight for what we got

Cause You believe in family, in family”

"Making This Up As I Go" Part 3

So, what about our reciprocation back towards God? 

In his comments on the exact RAIDERS scene mentioned in part 1 of this blog and in the book “Wild At Heart”, John Eldredge notes that “God is an immensely creative Person and he wants his sons to live that way too”. 

Really? I mean do we really believe that this is the way God wants to relate to us? This I believe is the other missing ingredient in how we are able to “come boldly to the throne of our gracious God (Hebrews 4:16)”.

As a son, Carson was able to extend to me his own creative gracious choice of picking the restaurant where we would go after the movie. 5 GUYS was the final choice and he was uncertain as a first-time customer. But he did know that it was conveniently located near a Barnes & Nobles that he definitely wanted to go to after the meal. I was glad to be led by him to do both wearing quite a smile.

On a final note, Charles Spurgeon once said that “It is when we are in His work that we may reckon upon His smile”.

Or to put it in an Indiana Jones style: I’m going after this Jesus... How?... I don’t know. I’m Making this Up as I Go.  

"Making this Up as I Go"...Part 2

In order to get to this really good day, we have walked through some tough times together recently. 

A few weeks back I invited Carson to go with me to this IMAX showing of Indiana Jones as a shared experience in lieu of my recent 38th birthday. He was extremely excited about this prospect.

Leading up to the day of the event, I had told him that we would have some “fun” things to do together as we traveled to the movie. He didn’t seem convincingly excited about this prospect. 

Little did he know that the day I would pick him up from school, that my car would be full of IJones items including his stand-up lego IJ from his room, trivia questions, a “Mad-lib” game and a “Trumps” card set for us to play while traveling. And of course along for the ride with us was my 1981 IJ large action figure along with his more new-and-improved IJ large action figure acquired in recent years. With a smile on his face throughout the ride and amidst the blaring tunes on repeat of the “Raiders March” in the car, he continued to affirm me as his dad, in a way every Dad longs to be affirmed: "Dad, you know you’re crazy, right?” (see Photo of Car Seat full of Indy props attached)

So, how does all this relate to this walkaway truth I mentioned? One of the missing ingredients I see in many believers is an understanding of how the Heavenly Father waits to relate intimately to His children.  Our friendship with God is to be a delight where we willfully are obeying Him around every corner of life. And when we round those corners He often surprises us with Joy, even in the midst of life's toughest situations. He invites us up into adventures we could never imagine nor could be be prepared for if not steadily listening to Him along the way.  A large part of His love, because He is Holy and Just, is revealed in walking through tough times together often due to our own willful disobedience. Only then in that order can we be led by the Heavenly Father to the really good days. As a Father, I was able to extend this same grace to my own son in the simple form of offering to take him on a road trip centered around common interests.

Oswald Chambers, as with most timeless truths, once had something to say about this:

"Obey God in the thing He shows you, and instantly the next thing is opened up. God will never reveal more truth about Himself until you have obeyed what you know already...oh, the delight of the friendship with God"

To Be Concluded...

"Making this Up As I Go"...Intro Devo

JONES:..."I'm going after that truck SALLAH: "How?" JONES: "I don't know. I'm making this up as I go". 31 years after first hearing and seeing the above conversation unfold in the classic movie Indiana Jones & the Raiders of the Lost Ark, my son and I were able to experience the film together on not only "the big screen" but in an IMAX theater format recently (Sep 13th, 2012. See the Photos attached). That’s almost a “nuf-said” statement in itself.

It's been almost 5 months since I last blogged. Leave it to this shared experience to jumpstart my heart back into sharing insights from the journey so far. Writers block, for a thinker like me, mixed with being a student pastor, husband, & father of four is a tough load to bear. Without recapping the amazing movie experience itself (leave that to the movie reviewers) or divulging all the personal eventful moments of our trip, I’ve realized that there is a walkaway devotional truth here: as a Father observing and interacting with his son, I continue to realize more and more the possibilities of how the Heavenly Father waits to relate to His children. Additionally, our reciprocation back to Him is of equal importance in reckoning upon His smile. To Be Continued...

What Matters Most...

Here's a link to a recent post in the Starkville Daily News reviewing the Starkville Christian School High School Graduation that I had the privilege of sharing a devotional challenge at. Enjoy the article and the thoughts on "what matters most"... www.starkvilledailynews.com/node/9995

a Note on DEVOTE

The meanings of words amaze me. It probably started in the late 80’s for me when we as kids thought we were cool for using seemingly new words like “rad” and “gnarly” or phrases like “Cool beans” or “gag me with a spoon”. And certainly, when my parents moved our family to Mississippi, a whole new world of southern Euphemisms exploded onto my ever developing personal glossary.
As I got older, I thought it was even cooler to have communication with friends all using either quotes from my favorite movies or music. Sometimes people just didn’t know how to take it. Yeah, you know some of you still do that.
Anyway, it was interesting to me how a word or phrase used in one context could be interchanged to be applied in others situations. All the while the phrase could still maintain the original intended meaning, at least as meant by the one using the terminology. Similarly, it has always made me laugh that while in a car we say “turn up the air” meaning make it colder but while inside a building we say “turn down the air” to get the same result. Ahhh!

The spiritual application came much later in life while in seminary. Through one professor, I heard a few meanings behind old sayings like “it’s raining cats and dogs” or the classic “that’s an old wives tale”, whereby an interest in words origination's reignited. Now, by God’s grace, I was not required to take the Hebrew & Greek classes. However, I was exposed enough to them via preaching classes that for the first time in my own studies of Scripture the variation of meanings of words or phrases used interchangeably in our modern translation of the Bible was not only apparent but astounding.

Just this week, for example, in the reading of the one year format “Reading God’s Story” of the Bible, I came across a word that has grabbed my attention. Maybe this brief note will do the same for you...

The word is DEVOTE. In the book of Joshua chapters 6-8, the word is used in a few different references. Either a city was to be “devoted to the Lord” that the Israelites were taking over or “devoted things” from that city that were to be destroyed. Not only was the constant use of this idea striking to me but also the basic liner notes of the NIV of the modern English Bible. The note reads as the following: The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.

Ok. So, in modern Christendom, it seems to me that we have completely misunderstood the usage of Devotion to the Lord whether via other Scripture passages, in songs we sing, in reference to reading a “Devotional”, or in everyday conversational usage of the word devotion. If you have prayed or sung or thought something like, ‘Lord, I want to be devoted to You‘, in essence it is a prayer for destruction of anything in you not of the Lord. It is not an emotion or a wish to be devoted to the Lord. In fact, Jesus defined following him more in relation to this Hebrew meaning of devotion than our own modern feel-good versions of being a Christian. Think of this terms definition when you read Matthew 16:24-25
Whoa, this Heavy (sorry, couldn't refuse to insert a movie quote from the 80’s).

Alright, so back to the point. Event though you cannot purely take every English word in scripture and cross apply it with others, the meaning of the term DEVOTE as used in the passages in Joshua become incredibly deeper when done so.
Take the following verses that use the words devote/devoted/devotion and apply the original Hebrew term meaning into the context of the selected passage and you may just be astounded at the indication:

1 Chronicles 28:9 ; Jeremiah 30:21 ; Ezekiel 33:31-32 ; Acts 2:42 ; Romans 12:10 ; 1 Corinthians 7:34-35 ; 2 Corinthians 11:3 ; Colossians 4:2 ; 1 Tim 4:13 ; Titus 3:3-8


Making this up as I go, (name the source of that quote...)

Matt Loving

NEW Year Verses on NEW

It’s often a good thing to talk about something New. Whether it’s at the end of the calendar year, when you have given or received a few New gifts at Christmas or at the outset of the New calendar year with hopes set high for the months ahead in your journey. Or maybe your favorite movie or tv series is Newly released on vhs...no wait dvd...no wait again Blu-ray...or finally re-released in theaters in 3-d...hmmm.
And even recently, a New Super-Bowl champion team was named as they reached their goal that they had set out to accomplish.

It’s not often a good thing though to make New things our life’s focus. Strange isn’t it, that although that we know things, emotions, events, accomplishments, or even circumstances don’t last, we may quickly find that the temporary is all we have been emptily pursuing.

It’s always a great thing to set ones affections on the Eternal things of Christ. Often our focus can be re-evaluated and cleansed out by the simplest truths. In recently re-reading the devotional based upon the adventures of The Hobbit, Walking with Bilbo, I came across the chapter entitled “True Identity” that highlights this search for the “New” ingrained in the dna of the human race. The author Sarah Arthur wonderfully concludes the chapter by stating that “when we surrender our false identity to God--the identity we’ve allowed the world to give us--He gives us a NEW identity that is more truly who we really are, who we were always meant to be”.

It’s definitely a truth Bilbo Baggins or any one of us in this journey of faith would attest to. An even more, it’s an eternal truth that the Word of God speaks plainly on. Since it is always timely (and Fun) to speak about NEW things, here are a few Eternal thoughts on NEW for the NEW year. Listen closely to whatever NEW thing God wants to do in your journey ...

Gen 17:1-6 ( Abram’s New name) & 35:9-15 (Jacob’s New name)

Isaiah 62:2-4 (Israel told to Repent & get a New Heart / Name from God)

Ezekiel 18:30-32 (Zion’s New name)

Matthew 16:13-19 (New naming of Simon Peter)

2 Corinth 5:14-17 (New creation in Christ)

Ephesians 4:21-24 (put on the New self in Christ)


Or as C.S. Lewis once explained:
“Until you have given up your self to Him you will not have a real self..your real, New self (which is Christ’s and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for HIM”

Nee-How! Most of you know by now my appreciation for the country of China. This year, the Chinese New Year is Jan 23rd.

So, in honor of their culture and of the Christian mission work that has and will continue to go on in that country, I share a few pertinent quotes with you today. Happy New Year.
Zai Jian!
=========================================

“How many there are among us...who imagine that because Jesus paid it all, they need pay nothing, forgetting that the prime object of their salvation was that they should follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ in bringing back a lost world to God”
“I would that I had a thousand lives that I might give them to...China!”
Lottie Moon Missionary to China

“God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply”
“God isn’t looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him”
“The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed”
Hudson Taylor Missionary to China

“Keep the Dynamic nature of God’s call in your mind as you find His place for you. He cares what you do with your life and, yes, He has a plan for you, BUT do not get bound up in the paralysis of analysis trying to find the one-for-all-time job description for your life. Just stay close to Him and seek to serve Him”
- pgs. 88-89 book THE MISSIONARY CALL by M. David Sills