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Easter Sunday w/Austin New Church

Psalm 94 – Shenanigans

I think it’s funny when I catch myself saying things to my kids that my parents used to say to me. I’ve yet to give the ole “you’ll poke and eye out” line, but I’ve certainly fallen victim to the typical parental clichés. Probably the one that I’ve thought even more than I’ve said is, “You know, it wasn’t that long ago that I was your age.”

I’m not trying to argue that I’m young. What I’m saying is that I haven’t forgotten how at that age I thought my parents were clueless, and how while I might have been playing dumb at the time, I knew exactly what I was doing.

It’s funny how our kids think we’re clueless to their shenanigans. As if we were never kids ourselves.

In Chapter 95, the psalmist reminds us that God is not clueless. If He is waiting or seems slow to act, it’s certainly not because he’s unaware.

Does he who implanted the ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not see?

Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches man lack knowledge?

The LORD knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile.” – Psalm 94:9-10

This might be the most ridiculous thing we do as believers. We treat God as if he doesn’t know what’s going on. We treat Him as if He is unable to hear or as if somehow some circumstance or injustice can slip Him by.

Today, I’m reminded that He is God. The one who spoke and it was. Just as we can trust Him with our eternity, we can trust Him to bring justice. But let’s not forget… He not only hears and sees the shenanigans of others. He’s just as aware of ours.

Psalm 90 – Retreat

The majority of today’s passage discusses things that honestly, should scare us. It covers everything from God’s power, anger, and indignation, to His wrath. It speaks of our secret sins being revealed, being turned to dust, and being swept away in death. Not really happy times.

Yet it starts by saying,

Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.” – Ps 90:1

The phrase “dwelling place” is translated from the Hebrew “maown” and is from the same as “ownah” which means an abode or retreat, hence an asylum.

So Moses found retreat in Him… the one who’s wrath can turn him to dust.

In light of all else that is said by Moses in this passage, how in the world can He come to this conclusion? If his case is packed with the realities found in verse 2-17, how can this make sense? The answer is something we tend to neglect… a lot. There are two critical verses sandwiched in between the seemingly “scary” characteristics that tell us how. First by telling us how God looks at the temporal, and by implication how He looks at us, our circumstances, and our journey:

For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” – Psalm 90:4

Eight verses later we see the acknowledgement of Moses, our need to do the same, and the perspective changing wisdom that results.

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12

I’ve heard that perspective is everything… it really is. It’s not a twist on words in Psalm 90 to find comfort in God’s wrath, it’s a twist of perspective. Truly changing our focus from the eternal not the temporal. Not just in our minds, but in our hearts (vs.12).  And it changes everything… especially how we perceive our God. Then, His power becomes comfort to us as children of God, not condemnation. He becomes our retreat.

Psalm 89 – The Next Generation

The moment I became a dad, things changed. If you have kids, you know what I mean. I felt like I went through a crash-course on God’s love. And I came out on the other side wanting two things: for my son to understand love and for my son to experience love. Over the past 11 years, and two more kids later, God has used them to teach me a lot about true love: I’ve learned that love is truly unconditional, that it surpasses knowledge, it casts out fear, it heals, it comforts, that it’s not self serving, that it’s not arrogant, it’s not controlling, and that it does not hold record of wrong (among other things).

I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.

I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself.” – Psalm 89:1-2

My greatest challenge as a dad is found in this passage. It’s not hidden. It’s obvious. It’s to pass along an understanding of God’s faithfulness to my children. If that happens, all else will fall into place. So the question that follows: How will I make His faithfulness known to the next generation?

It’s interesting. I’ve met plenty of businessmen who find it easier to lead a large corporation than their own family. In the same way, even as a pastor… at times… it’s easier to lead a church than it is to lead my own family (thus the “preacher’s kid” syndrome. Scary.) If we were to analyze on paper why this is, we’d find some pretty obvious and glaring deficiencies and neglect in our leadership. If we spent half the time creating quarterly goals, managing our time, making sacrifices, evaluating and improving our home life like we do our business life… we would certainly see the fruit of our labor.

However, these verses make it pretty clear how a generation will truly know of His faithfulness: When we declare that His love stands firm forever (vs.2).

In other words, we get to pass on God’s love to our next generation. And it is indeed the understanding and experiencing of that Love that makes the passing along possible. Without it, it cannot happen. Not because we’re such great lovers, but because God Himself is love. We must embody that concern for one another, model that love with our spouse, and express that love to our children. If they see and experience anything, let them see and experience love.

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing… And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, 13

Psalm 88 – Cry for Closeness

Guest Post: Mike Kilbane

But I cry to you for help, O Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you. (Psalm 88:13)

Depending on our degree of longing or desperation for God’s touch, the intensity of our prayers will vary from a conversation, to a request, to a plea, to a cry.  While at different times, each is appropriate; our relationship grows the most when we’re crying out to Him.  It’s at those  moments that our surrender to Him and acknowledgement of His majesty is greatest.  Whether He rescues or just comforts us, when we desperately seek Him, we can be sure He hears our prayer.

If we desire to actively grow our relationship with God, one of the best ways is to look outside of ourselves to find things to pray desperately about.  Over the past few weeks things were going pretty good and I felt my prayer time lapse into more conversational tones.   I had lost an earnestness in seeking Him.  Digging deeper to find things I was struggling with, as well as being more diligent in upping my prayers for others – moving them from “requests” to “cries”, has been extremely helpful in getting my prayer life back on track.  I don’t have to wait for a personal crisis to get closer to God.  I can look around me and easily find things that are unjust, where there is suffering taking place, or where I need to reset my priorities, and cry to Him for help.  It’s not “manufacturing a crisis” to get close to God, it’s seeing the world through Jesus’ eyes and recognizing how much help this world needs from Him.

Psalm 87 – Birthplace

Guest Post: Tray Pruet

Indeed, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her.”The LORD will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.” 
   Selah Psalm 87:5-6

Where we were born tells a lot about us.  For instance…I tell people I was born in Ft. Walton Beach Florida….and the question most people from that area or in the military will ask is…”Oh, was your dad in the Air Force?”

Where we were born is always on our Birth Certificate….and is a common questions when filling our government documents.  It’s a way of tracking our authenticity and making sure that we are, who we say we are.

In verse 6, the register is the same as the “Lambs Book of Life” and all those born of Zion….or born of the Spirit….are included in that book.

Honestly, most of the time people are surprised when I tell them I was born in Florida.  Maybe because I don’t fit their preconceived notions as to what someone from Florida may look like…. maybe because I am so far from my original birthplace….Whatever the case, are we authentically ‘repping’ our birthplace well? Does it make sense when we identify ourselves as being born of the Spirit?  Or does it surprise people……Why?

Psalm 86 – Signs of Goodness

Guest Post: Mike Kilbane

How many signs of God’s goodness do we need before we recognize it’s Him?

Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.” -Psalm 86:17

In today’s world, I think many of our enemies take a much different form than in David’s time.  Whereas he contended with physical enemies out to kill or destroy him, we tend to struggle against doubt, cynicism, pessimism, and apathy.  I thought of these enemies today and their attempts to attack my Spirit and attitude.

In this context, I saw the signs God gives me on a daily basis to put these enemies to shame.  He has given me signs of health, a family, opportunities, friendships, joy, peace, and material blessings that I’m incredibly grateful for.  But, the key to putting the enemies of doubt and negativity to shame is to recognize the gifts for what they are.  To understand that they are gifts given by a loving creator for my pleasure and His glory.  Not things to overlook or take for granted.

Thank you, Lord, for your abundance.  Thank you not only for signs of your goodness, but also for the awareness of them, that I might give you glory, and honor, and praise. Amen”

Psalm 85 – Enough

As if this wasn’t enough:

(1) You showed favor to your land, O LORD; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. (2) You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins.” – Psalm 85:1-2

He continued with this:

(3) You set aside all your wrath and turned from your fierce anger.” – Psalm 85:3

My simple thought for today is, wow, that’s enough to be thankful for. But He doesn’t even come close to stopping there. Since I wrote so much yesterday… maybe this simple reminder is enough for today.

Psalm 84 – Good

It was good to be at Austin New Church yesterday. Actually, it was beyond good. But somehow the words great, awesome, incredible come with more of a frenzied flavor. There’s just an “easy like Sunday morning” feeling that accompanies the word “good”. Good feels more like how it feels to take a deep breath and relax. Good feels like rest. Good feels refreshing. That being said, I also think last night felt great, awesome, and incredible.

(1) How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! (2) My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” – Psalm 84:1-2

The last three weeks have been pretty “busy” for ANC. We’ve been making the move from a multi-million dollar fine arts facility to a simple room in the back of a private school that seats half the amount of people. There were many reasons we could have stayed put… it’s an amazing facility, there’s room for growth with children, even with summer crowds we were finally reaching critical mass in the theater, and it was incredibly inexpensive, just to name a few (and all are valid points).

Honestly, the most tempting reason to stay put was my pride and the perception that we might have moved because “we couldn’t” instead of “we shouldn’t”. That’s lame of me.

But as we considered our long-term vision, it just didn’t feel right, it felt temporary. From the very beginning, I knew ANC’s calling was unique. Where we meet communicates what we value and what our priorities are. While I believe with all my heart that in order to reach our city we need churches of all personalities, styles, and sizes… God is calling us to lead in ways and towards things that are new to many of us. (There were some pretty practical reasons as well. click HERE to read the announcement).

Among all the clutter of thoughts that went into the decision to make the move to our new location, I’ve been praying for continued affirmation. Not just physical affirmation, but something of the Spirit.

My point? I felt it yesterday. Not just last night during our worship gathering. Not just as we began and we were seeing a diverse crowd of families visiting from just around the corner, but earlier in the day around 1pm.

What happened at 1pm? My favorite part about our move is that I was able to come to the auditorium in the middle of the day, with no one else there, kneel at the front, and pray. I found myself praying for the community, praying for the school, praying for those who might find refreshment and encouragement at ANC. I prayed for our leaders, our people, and I prayed for God’s Spirit and His favor. I found my soul craving what I believe the Psalmist felt in verse 2… “My soul yearned, my heart and even my flesh cried out”.

Not only do we have the flexibility to meet anytime we want on a Sunday at our new location (good thing since now we’ll have to go to multiple services this fall) but we have a place to come and pray, and it’s the same place that we will come and worship. I know that the “Courts of the Lord” (vs.1) are not bound by geography, but it’s awfully nice to have the two line up.

So maybe it was just me. Maybe I just felt the Spirit more last evening because my heart and soul was seeking more earnestly… but whatever it was. It was good.

Psalm 83 – Favor

There is a ton of bad in this world. I’ve heard others say and found myself at times wondering why God would allow it to continue. At times it seems like injustice is tolerated and God remains silent. But God is anything but silent, quiet, and still. More than that, God is anything but unaware.

O God, do not keep silent; be not quiet, O God, be not still.” – Psalm 83:1

We are in an amazing season of favor. Most of History occurred before Jesus incarnate. We live just this side of the cross and under grace, and on the flip side, just this side of judgment. Scripture tells us that there is a coming day when “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess”. That’s not a threat, that’s a promise.

So what should our attitude be during this season of Grace?

First we need to see with bigger eyes than our own and know God’s timing is perfect. So we can stop being confused and frustrated. God is not unaware of the injustice and the oppression in the world.

With that in mind, we need to be aware of our own thoughts and tendencies. Recently, a friend of mine wrote about a thing called, “Schadenfreude”, here’s what he said:

There are lots of motivations for winning.  On the other side, there are many reasons we like to see people lose.  Sometimes, we enjoy seeing a rival football team lose, just because we always like them to lose.  Other times, a player has been getting cocky and it’s good to see him get “put in his place.”  In either case, I think there’s a different part of our brain and personality that kicks in and drives these feelings, a bit of maliciousness, even if it is in the name of sport.  Bad things happening to someone else makes us feel good.  Psychologists use the German word “Schadenfreude” to describe this and it is a combination of the words “harm” and “joy”.

The Psalmist in chapter 83 is pleading with God to obliterate His enemies… as I read, I find myself cheering for the same… and they aren’t just standing against God, they also happen to be Israel’s oppressors. So are we seeing a little “schadenfreude” here? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe he’s being a little self serving. And maybe his heart is truly for God’s justice not just his own benefit.  Either way, WE have the responsibility to take these thoughts and put them in New Testament form:

Christ did not teach a doctrine of retribution. He taught reconciliation, both for the oppressed and the oppressor. We have a hard time with that. But once again, we’d be better off to realize that at times we are both as well.

Oh, and one other thought that hit me today in reading Psalm 83.  Often in the OT, God judged nations. Think about that for a moment. I’m so thankful that through the cross He made it personal.