When someone speaks my thoughts....

Here is the link to a movie that you really should watch:

http://www.dividedthemovie.com/#dialog

Maybe this is why Honey Brook Day Camps has that feel......

What's in a name....

        "O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine."  (Is. 43:1, KJV)
        In this verse God makes two declarations. (1) I have redeemed you, and (2) I have called you by name.  What is the implication of God calling someone by name?  I believe that when God calls someone by name he is revealing to them, their identity.  When God calls us by name I believe he is taking us beyond redemption, God's first declaration, to something higher.  Maybe we could say that God takes us into the "more than conquerors" part of Romans 8.  
        People's identity is often wrapped up in some aspect of their name, especially with nicknames.  Many times people are given nicknames based on how they look or how they act.  In ancient times people would name their children based on the role that they saw them playing in life in the future.  Many times in the Bible God commanded that a person be named a certain name.  Other times, both in the Old and New Testaments God would change someone's name.  Abram become Abraham, Jacob became and Israel, and Simon became Cephas or Peter.  
          Wrapped up in these names was not only the identity of the individual but also the commissioning of their lives.  The virgin Mary was commanded to call her baby Jesus because he was going to be a "Savior."  In calling Simon, "Cephas" Jesus was commissioning Peter to be the rock of the early church.  The role that Peter played in being the rock of the early church is evident as one reads the first chapters of the book of Acts.
          Even as we enter eternity the Bible speaks of the significance of a person's name.  In Revelation 2 and 3 the victorious Christians from the churches of Pergamum and Philadelphia are promised a new name.
           How does the fact that we are redeemed and called by our name affect our daily living?  I am convinced that too many Christians are content to rest in the blessing of their redemption without pursuing God in relationship beyond this.  I feel sometimes that some people either have not comprehended the significance of their identity and commissioning from God or they have never sought God's face long enough to learn their own name, their own identity, and their own commissioning.  
              It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. (Prov. 25:2 KJV).  Many times God conceals things from the average person but reveals his heart to the people who are willing to search it out.  And you shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart. (Jer. 29:13 KJV).  Are we willing to seek God's face long enough in order to learn our name, in order for him to reveal to us our identity?  When Jacob wrestled with God he refused to quit wrestling until God gave him a blessing.  I'm not convinced that God is calling us to struggle with God in quite the same way that Jacob did, but it is noteworthy that Jacob left his encounter with God with the blessing of a new identity (Gen. 32:22-32).  
                I believe God is glorified as we seek out the things he has concealed.  Just like people love treasure hunts and Easter egg hunts because of the joy of hiding things and watching them being discovered, so God, in whose image we are made, and who is the master treasure hunt maker, reveals his hidden secrets to those who earnestly seek him.  
                I don't think God's calling us by name is just on an individual level.   We as humans are naturally created to rally around a unified identity.  This is why nations have flags and sports teams have emblems.  We long for an individual identity but also a communal identity found outside of ourselves.  Isaiah 43:1 is written to the nation of Israel.  I believe this verse can be applied to individuals, but I also think this verse can be applied to our families, churches, communities, and even nations.  
                 I believe God has a specific identity and commissioning for our families.  God has a specific calling for each Christian family to fight and conquer certain areas of darkness, and to speak into certain needs in our communities.   The children of a family are like arrows to take the dreams and visions that God places in the heart of a father into the next generation.  According to Psalms, "Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior's hands." (Ps. 127:4 NLV).  Many people look at children as an annoying by product of enjoying marriage.  Maybe for Christians children are viewed as a natural duty or maybe some people just really like kids and so they decide to start a family.  It seems many Christian parent's highest aspirations for their children are simply to continue the Godly cycle of life that they started and exemplified.  I think we are missing something.  Children are weapons that God gives a Christian family to propel the war into the next generation.  This concept of children only make sense if we first know our individual identity and calling and then the identity and calling of our families.
                  I also believe that God wants to call our churches by name.  God wants our churches to find a specific identity and calling.  God wants our communities to have an identity and calling and God wants our nation to have a name that reflects our commission.  In all of these areas I find Christians who approach the battle of life with a scatter shot approach.  These people help other random people with random needs without ever really hearing from God about their line of service.  I believe that God is calling us to focused service based on our name, our identity, and our calling.  
               Dream with me.....What would happen if a father heard from God that his family has been called to adopt a needy family from the community or maybe take us a cause against some area of social injustice?  What would happen if a church heard from God that their area of ministry was supposed to be some village in Sudan?  This church would pool all of its resources and focus on teaming together to address the needs in this community.  Instead of a church full of individuals serving individually in random areas, can you imagine the power of a concerted effort like this.  What if all the churches in a county decided to band together to meet the needs of a single country like Bangledesh?  So often we don't even pursue God's heart this hard, but could God's dream for our local community really be this wild.  What if Pennsylvania took on Central America because the Christians in Pennslyvania got together and heard God calling their name and these Christians learned their identity.
              I know I'm definitely revealing my age by dreaming about things that seem so impractical.  You say that someday I will learn the meaning of the word "reality."  Maybe I will become less visionary in the future, but I can at least start by pursuing God's face with all my heart and begging him to reveal to me my name, and then the name of my family.  Maybe I can pray that my church would hear God calling us by name and we could learn our identity and begin pursuing our communal calling as a body.  Maybe...... 


            Just some thoughts......That's all.most all. 


Heh heh, I had to do it.........                 

The Other Side Of The Coin

Ever since I saw this video a number of years back I get the feeling we must be missing something about how we as a church are supposed to function. We may live in a country that declares that we have, "certain inalienable rights," which include, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," but that does not mean we have to keep these rights for ourselves.

Catalyst East 2010: Francis Chan

Yea Chan......! Let's go do it church........

Chris Beiler Waxes Eschatological

So the youth Sunday school class that I'm teaching just finished studying the book of Malachi....  Malachi 4 begins with a number of proclamations about the "day of the Lord."  I think it is really good for every Christian to meditate about eternal things.  Our perspective of eternity drastically affects how we live today.  More than just meditating about end times it can be a really good and fun activity to just dream a little about how things could happen based on the little snatches of information we are given.  So let's put a little flesh and blood to a couple of phrases from Malachi 4.

 ^1 [a]“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. ² But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays [wings]. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. ³ Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the LORD Almighty."

The phrase that I've been thinking about is that "the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays."  This healing process is compared to the sun that rises in the morning.  Therefore it would seem that this is an event that isn't going to happen at the snap of a finger but will be more of a process.  Like John Piper in his commentary on Malachi 4 describes a sunrise on the ocean, 

"A thin line of orange and red appears along the water. Then it intensifies, brighter and brighter, and you see the brightness focusing more and more on the center of the line, until the flaming ball surges up out of the water. And then you watch it rise up, and in a sense it brings that whole red line on the rim of the water up into the air as though the sun had wings."

Because so many of the details of how the end times will be played out are somewhat obscure it is easy to think of these events as 5 second occurrences, but would a God who took the time to make man from the dust of the earth and breathe into his nostrils the breath of life and who formed each of us in our mother's wombs really just give us our new bodies with the wave of a wand?  No, I think this going to be something much more beautiful - maybe a long process but who cares because we have all of eternity to enjoy heaven.

                I see a beleaguered multitude of people standing at heaven's gate.  Despite the fact that these people revered God's name they are wounded and sick from their lives in and around sin. These people are crying because they are beginning to see reality.  They are gazing at truth in the flesh:  Jesus Christ.  Despite having followed Christ and having been his disciples they realize just how many areas they missed living according to God's plan.  These people have regrets for the ways they have spent their time on earth.  These people are crying for loved ones who have just been destroyed by God's judgement.  These people are beginning to see what salvation and God's love are all about and this reality brings them to tears.

               I see Jesus intermingling with the crowd.  Jesus takes time to sit down with each individual and speak to them about what is going on inside their heart.  He takes time to wipe the tears from their eyes, He talks to them about their disappointments, he heals their wounds and speaks word of healing into their lives.  He tells them who they really are and he gives them a new name that fits them perfectly based on everything that God has dreamed for them and their calling in eternity.  

             As each person receives the healing touch of the "Sun of righteousness" they in turn minister healing to the people around them.  I see this wave of healing, just like the sun rising in the morning, spreading throughout this multitude of people until the whole mood of the group changes and instead of this being a group of mourning, broken people it is a mass of celebration.  As Jesus gets around to the last people and has had time with each person this group of people is sent out from around God's throne and invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.  Malachi says, "You will go out and frolic like well fed calves."  In my minds eye I see that the atmosphere has now changed completely in this huge group of people.  Everywhere people are going nuts with so much energy and joy that they cannot contain themselves.  A huge feast is laid out and people are jumping around, dancing their heads off, and engaging in the most holy partying that eternity will ever know.  All the Christians from eternity leaping around like calves released to pasture - yes this will be an interesting scene.  

           This, my friends, is the fruit of my time spend dreaming about the first while in eternity.  

Dialing....

     "Hello, this is Chris Beiler calling.  I need a psychologist.  Can I spill my beans to you?  Here is my deepest fear......."


......I hate making phone calls.  I will put off a phone call for days sometimes because I just don't like it.  I don't know why I don't like it.  I think maybe I'm scared something awkward will happen (I hate awkward situations).
      "Hello this is Chris from Smucker's Energy"
      "Hi Bill, could I please speak to the CEO?"
      "Yes you can speak to the CEO, but my name is Chris."
      "Oh, sorry Tim."
Maybe I'm scared that I will get a coughing fit while I'm on the phone.
      "Hello, this is Chris Beiler."
      "Hello, this is John Smith from church.  Could you teach our kid's Sunday school class?"
      "Cough, Cough, Cough, Sneeze."
      "Uh, are you okay?"
      High, squeeky voice "Yes excuse me, I'm okay."
While these reasons may be part of my fear, I have come to believe that the predominate reason I am hesitant to make phone calls is that I don't like to ask people for help.  I don't like to need other people.
        Voice in my head - "Chris, you really need to call that guy and see if he can help at the Sunday potluck."
        Other voice in my head - "Chris, maybe you can just do everything (make all the salad, do all the grilling, make the invites, and clean up afterwards.  It will be hard but it will be better than making a phone call.  It will be especially better than asking for help."
          Why do I hate asking for help?  I'm beginning to see that this whole concept of self-sufficiency is a huge motivating force in my life as I make day to day decisions.  I'm also beginning to see that this is more than just a Chris Beiler problem but a human problem.  The American Dream is driven by a quest for being self-sufficient.  We assume that the person who never expresses a need has life completely together.
        I love to help people.  I love being the hero with the answers to life's problems, available at anyone's beckoning call.   But for me to actually need someone else is really a very different situation.  Maybe this is why people who watch me think Christianity is impossible for the average person.  Maybe this is why the world feels so judged by my very presence.  So, what does it mean to be a needy person?
        Jesus spoke of all kinds of blessings for the people who are needy - Blessed are the poor, hungry, thirsty, and those that mourn.  In other words it's okay to have needs.  In fact if you have needs you will be blessed.  I don't want to become a sap on society though.  I don't want to have a bunch of needs just for the sake of being needy.  Maybe this is more about realizing my needs than it is trying to make up needs that I don't really have.
        The letter to the church of Laodicea says, "You brag, 'I'm rich, I've got it made, I need nothing from anyone,' oblivious that in fact you're a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless." (Rev. 3:17 - The Message)  The only way we realize who we are is by seeing who God is.  As we become aware of God in His holiness the extreme depravity of our condition becomes apparent.  Okay so what if I finally realize that I'm needy?  I still don't like to tell people.  I still don't like to ask for help.  I still don't like to make phone calls.
         Peter didn't like being helped by others either.  I think this is why he didn't want Jesus to wash his feet.  Allowing others to serve us can be humiliating, but it can also allow someone else to receive a real blessing.  For so long the church has gotten really excited about helping the world.  What about letting the world help the church.  Do people in the world have things to offer the church?  I believe they do.
          Here again we've bought the lie that every time the Bible talks about the world it is talking about the people who don't go to church.   When the Bible says to not love the world it is talking about Satan's kingdom and ideas.  It's okay to love the people in the world.  The Bible also says that God so loved the world that he sent Jesus.
           I've learned so much recently about what it means to ask for help from a man in our town.  His family needed help and so he asked me.  Soon after I started spending time with this family I began to ponder about my courage in asking for help.  I really wonder if I would ask for help if my family needed it.  Would I be willing to say I have a problem or would I try to cover up what's going on and make everything look okay?
           There are two things that I am praying for my life.  1) That God would show me who I really am in perspective to his holiness, and 2) that God would give me the courage to ask for help as I realize how needy I am.  Maybe as we start praying this prayer the church will actually become something that the average person can relate to.  Maybe the church will begin to have more feeling and life.  Maybe if we didn't have quite as many answers to life people would start asking more questions.  Maybe if we didn't masquerade our lives as being quite as much together the world would feel free to share what's going on in their lives.
            STOP STOP STOP !!! - don't worry I'm yelling at myself.
            We do have answers to life.  We do have our lives together because Jesus Christ has made a change in our hearts.  Every time my thought train goes down the emergent track that we shouldn't have answers and we shouldn't have life so together, another side of me says "We do have answers to life.  Our lives are more together because of Christ and we don't have to be ashamed of it."  Where is the connection between my emergent thought train and my fundamental thought train running towards me from two different directions?  Where is the balance between having needs and meeting needs?  If life were all about having needs, the street bum has reached the epitome of life.  How do I need other people and still care for them?  How do I ask questions and still have answers?  How do I wander and still not be lost?  How do I become needy and still have my needs met in Christ?
          Raising my hand.....Oh yeah I'm on the phone so you can't see I'm raising my hand, but I just had a comment.  Ooops I'm the one doing all the talking anyway, but here is my comment.
         I have a need.  I need an answer to these questions.  Most of all I need to know why I hate making phone calls..............so there you go!


..........Can I please, please hang up now?

May it truly be said of me "todos los que andan no se pierde"

Eric Ludy - The Gospel

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