What I'm Listening to These Days

I can't get enough Glee tunes! In my opinion, the show is "losing its innocence" (literally? yes, literally.) in season 2, but the music is just as good as ever. Thank goodness Glee is back! My recent favorite is a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Fire" from this week's episode.

Ansley introduce me to Marc Scibilia a couple weeks ago and I cannot stop listening to his music. Think Dylan + Garfunkle + Joshua Radin. Amazing.

A Prayer

Give me the love that leads the way

The faith that nothing can dismay

The hope no disappointments tire

The passion that'll burn like fire

Let me not sink to be a clod

Make me Thy fuel, flame of God.

Amy Carmichael

Vocation and the Kingdom

"The homeliest service that we do in an honest calling though it be but to plow, or dig, if done in obedience, and conscience of God's commandment, is crowned with an ample reward; whereas the best works for their kind (preaching, praying, offering evangelical sacrifices) if without respect of God's injunction and glory, are loaded with curses. God loveth adverbs; and cares not how good, but how well." - Puritan Joseph Hall

As a citizen of the Kingdom, vocation is something I think about often. I find myself in a job role that I believe the Lord called me to do, but I continue to find myself frustrated and in doubt. Earlier this year, in search of guidance and Biblical insight, I re-read a book I first discovered in college, Engaging God's World. Cornelius Plantinga Jr directs the text to students, explaining that an understanding of big themes- creation, fall, redemption, vocation, the Kingdom of God, and the hope of shalom - should be the framework of your education.

Plantinga begins, "The point of all this learning is to prepare to add one's own contribution to the supreme reformation project, by which is God's restoration of all thats that have been corrupted by evil. The Old Testament word for this restoration of peace, justice, and harmony is shalom; the New Testament phrase for it is "the coming of the Kingdom."" He continues to explain that God accomplishes this project through Christ, who makes "all things new" and who will come again to finish what He started. In the meantime, our invitation is to join this mission of God, striving to make God's purposes our own and think, pray, study, and work towards the Kingdom coming in our own hearts, as well as the whole world.

I love how Plantinga begins the chapter on Vocation and the Kingdom, highlighting the passionate hope in redemption possessed by people in the Bible. To them God's redemption meant freedom and righteousness. After all, they are Exodus people, Passover people, people with a long history of being oppressed by the hand of the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Romans. In their eyes, God's redemption meant the coming of justice, the coming of liberation, and better yet, the coming of the King of the earth! Plantinga challenges us: Do contemporary Christians bring the same passion to their hope of redemption? Do we long, pray, and work for the Kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven?"

He continues:

"A good citizen likes the kingdom of God just fine, but a prime citizen passionately yearns for the Kingdom. A prime citizen has been redeemed far down in her spirit, way down in her heart, so that she deeply loves God and the things of God. She relishes in God's Word. She rejoices in God her Savior. She finds that the things of faith - repentance, forgiveness, hope in God - seem sweet to her.... Because of her enthusiasm for the Kingdom, she doesn't merely endorse justice in the world, she hungers and works for it. She doesn't merely reject cruelty; she hates and fights it. She wants God to make things right in the world, and she wants to enroll in God's project as if it were her own. She "strives first for the Kingdom" on order to act on her passion. In short, she is a person with a calling. She has been elected to serve the Kingdom of God. A Christian's main vocation is to become a prime citizen of God - this is true for artists, engineers, and evangelists. All are called to mesh their kingdoms with those other citizens in order to work together inside the Kingdom of God."

"To strive first for the Kingdom" in choosing a career, Plantinga urges us to make the following considerations.

• Where in the Kingdom does God want me to work?
• Where are the needs great?
• Where are the workers few?
• Where are the temptations manageable?
• With whom would I work?
• How honest is the work I'm thinking of doing?
• How necessary and how healthy are the goods and services I would help provide?
• How smoothly can I combine my career with family?
• How close would I be to a church in which I can give and take nourishment?
• Is my proposed career inside a system so corrupt that, even with the bets intentions, I would end up absorbing more evil than I can conquer?
• What can I do for "the least of these?"

Plantinga reminds us at the end of the chapter that "ordinary occupation done conscientiously builds the kingdom of God."

Proverbs 3: A Guide to Faithful Living

One of my pastors shared this excerpt from Tim Keller's blog earlier this year and it has blessed me immensely.

In my regular, daily Bible reading over the past year I read through Proverbs 3, a passage I've studied and preached through many times. But during this reading, I realized that in verses 3 through 12 we have all the themes of the rest of the book, and therefore a kind of mini-guide to faithful living. There are five things that comprise a wise, godly life. They function both as means to becoming wise and godly as well as signs that you are growing into such a life:

1. Put your heart's deepest trust in God and his grace. Every day remind yourself of his unconditioned, covenantal love for you. Do not instead put your hopes in idols or in your own performance.

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart (Prov 3:3-5a)

2. Submit your whole mind to the Scripture. Don't think you know better than God's word. Bring it to bear on every area of life. Become a person under authority.

Lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.(Prov 3:5b-6)

3. Be humble and teachable toward others. Be forgiving and understanding when you want to be critical of them; be ready to learn from others when they come to be critical of you.

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. (Prov 3:7-8)

4. Be generous with all your possessions, and passionate about justice. Share your time, talent, and treasure with those who have left.

Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. (Prov 3:9-10)

5. Accept and learn from difficulties and suffering. Through the gospel, recognize them as not punishment, but a way of refining you.

My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. (Prov 3:11-12)

As I meditated on these five elements--rooted in his grace, obeying and delighting in his Word, humble before other people, sacrificially generous toward our neighbor, and steadfast in trials--I thought of Jesus. The New Testament tells us that the personified 'divine wisdom' of the Old Testament is actually Jesus (Mt 11:19.) And I realized that a) he showed the ultimate trust and faithfulness to God and to us by going to the cross, b) he was saturated with and shaped by Scripture, c) he was meek and lowly in heart (Mt. 11:28-30), d) he, though rich, became poor for us, e) and he bore his suffering, for us, without complaint. We can only grow in these five areas if you know you are saved by costly grace. That keeps you from idols, from self-sufficiency and pride, from selfishness with your things, and from crumbling under troubles. Jesus is wisdom personified, and believing his gospel brings these character qualities into your life.

For a number of weeks I have been spending time praying for these five things for my family and my church leaders. There's no better way to instill these great things in your own heart, than to pray intensely for them in the lives of those you love.

Beginnings

A couple nights ago one of my roommates told me that I should start a blog. Ha! Me, blog? I mean, I blogged before but my last blog served a specific purpose: capturing thoughts, happenings, and memories on my four month adventure in Brussels. I had a story to tell, and better yet, I had an audience. What would I say now? And who would care enough to read it?

Really, none of that even matters.

I took the plunge and decided to blog because I realized that aside from emails and Executive Summaries, I have little (no) opportunities to express myself through writing in my day-to-day life. That's sad. Even more importantly, I know I am challenging myself to engage, think, process, and share. And I need that challenge. I think we all need that challenge.