Ordinary

Beware the pressure to be an "Extraordinary" Christian - Be Ordinary, Not Extraordinary by Justin Buzzard

Many of us live with a vague, pressured sense that we need to be extraordinary. Extra-ordinary: more than ordinary. Consider the synonyms of extraordinary, this adjective we highly desire: remarkable, exceptional, amazing, astonishing, astounding, sensational, stunning, incredible, unbelievable, phenomenal. Your hearts craves this. My heart craves this.

This is a mistake. A trap. A lie. A dead end.

Our pursuit of becoming extraordinary actually prevents us from experiencing the extraordinary. Chasing extraordinariness for ourselves leaves us exhausted and empty of the true extraordinariness we are designed to enjoy. Your job as a human isn’t to be extra-ordinary, your job is to be ordinary. Your mission in life is to be an ordinary person who trusts an extraordinary God. In the drama of life your role is to be human, God’s role is to be God. This drama is themed for the extraordinary, but the character who brings the amazing, astounding, sensational, unbelievable to the script is not you, but God.

So, quit trying to play a role in life that you were not designed to play. Be the very unique, yet very ordinary, human God formed you to be. And play your part with childlike wonder as you behold our extraordinary God who takes center stage and wants to dazzle you with his extraordinary being and extraordinary ways.

Today, be ordinary. Be human. And look to God—ask God, cry out to God, trust God, believe God to show himself extraordinary. Enjoy the freedom of playing your ordinary role which shines the spotlight on our extraordinary God.

When A Body Becomes A Business

From "Lover or Prostitute: A Question That Changed My Life" by Dr. David Ryser:

A number of years ago, I had the privilege of teaching at a school of ministry. My students were hungry for God, and I was constantly searching for ways to challenge them to fall more in love with Jesus and to become voices for revival in the Church. I came across a quote attributed most often to Rev. Sam Pascoe. It is a short version of the history of Christianity, and it goes like this: Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise.

Some of the students were only 18 or 19 years old—barely out of diapers—and I wanted them to understand and appreciate the import of the last line, so I clarified it by adding, "An enterprise. That's a business." After a few moments Martha, the youngest student in the class, raised her hand. I could not imagine what her question might be. I thought the little vignette was self-explanatory, and that I had performed it brilliantly. Nevertheless, I acknowledged Martha's raised hand, "Yes, Martha." She asked such a simple question, "A business? But isn't it supposed to be a body?" I could not envision where this line of questioning was going, and the only response I could think of was, "Yes." She continued, "But when a body becomes a business, isn't that a prostitute?"

The room went dead silent. For several seconds no one moved or spoke. We were stunned, afraid to make a sound because the presence of God had flooded into the room, and we knew we were on holy ground. All I could think in those sacred moments was, "Wow, I wish I'd thought of that." I didn't dare express that thought aloud. God had taken over the class.

Martha's question changed my life. For six months, I thought about her question at least once every day. "When a body becomes a business, isn't that a prostitute?" There is only one answer to her question. The answer is "Yes." The American Church, tragically, is heavily populated by people who do not love God. How can we love Him? We don't even know Him; and I mean really know Him....

Good question! read the rest at the link.

Every Day is New Year's Day

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

(Lam. 3:22-24)

Picture from Leigh Hargis Gray

The Reward for Praying Boring Prayers

"Praying through is long and boring, but it is the price you pay for miracles..."

"...We live in a culture that overvalues fifteen minutes of fame and undervalues lifelong faithfulness. Maybe we have it backwards. Just as our greatest successes often come on the heals of our greatest failures, our greatest answers often come on the heels of our longest and most boring prayers. But if you pray long and boring prayers, your life will be anything but boring. Your life will turn into the spiritual adventure it was destined to be.  It won't always get you were you want to go, but it will get you through."

       - Mark Batterson,  The Circle Maker, pages 138, 140

Faithfulness Over Visible Results

It is hard to remember that God commands simple obedience and faithfulness, with the results to be left to Him.

“One of the things we don’t preach well is that ministry that looks fruitless is constantly happening in the Scriptures. We don’t do conferences on that.”"

Matt Chandler:

Update:  Check out The EPIC FAIL Pastors' Conference.

Hat Tip: Justin Taylor

Love Until the End

Here's a beautiful story of marital faithfulness from Elizabeth Scalia, aka The Anchoress - Love, Limits, and Loss.  Some people still believe in 'until death do us part."   Some men still know how to love their brides as Christ loves the Church (Eph 5:25)

A neighbor of mine works as a therapist for Alzheimer’s patients, both high-functioning and low. She recently described one sixty-ish daily visitor. “He is a saint. Every day he brings his lunch and eats with his wife. She doesn’t recognize him, so every day she is meeting a new friend. When we told him he needn’t come so often he said, ‘But she is my bride; if I did not see her, I would miss her.’”

The man’s wife had changed, but if she was no longer capable of seeing her groom, he still beheld and adored his bride. Their marriage, then, is the microcosmic reflection of the macro-love of God for his people and the love of Christ for his church. Love without limit, love without fear, love without desertion; love in joy and in pain, love in the shallows and the depths, love without end.

We cannot see God except as he is made manifest through us, and in the covenant of marriage his faithfulness is beautifully reflected. We look to this manifestation—in all its turbulent courses—to get an inkling of him. When we cannot see the great love of God reflected so near to us, we are diminished.

When love is rationalized into limits, we have sold love, and ourselves, short. If God is love, we have sold God short, too. We have chosen to walk around a fire, rather than through it, chosen not to trust that our sufferings have meaning and that they are, on balance, the crucibles of our commonalities, which mold and strengthen our societies.

 This one makes me cry.  May God enable me to love my bride to the end like this man has.

By The Scruff of Our Necks..

Here are some more great quotes from a great book - The Crucifixion of Ministry by Andrew Purves.

“Christian faithfulness is possible only because Jesus Christ has us grasped firmly by the scruff of our spiritual necks and will not lose hold.” (Page 48)

“Our response of faith, repentance and obedience is the Spirit-led consequence of Christ having seized hold of us, not the condition for it.” (Page 77)