Jehovah-Jireh

Years ago, in my Findlay Bible Study Fellowship small group, I met a lovely young woman name Kim. She asked to meet after group because she felt  a connection with me. We only had a chance to have coffee and chat once because I was preparing to move to Ashland. Today Kim called me. After all this time, she remembered my name and the town to which I moved!

Kim's reason for calling was her concern for her 72 year old Mom, Carol, who is an Ashland resident. She wondered if I knew of anyone that could provide a listening ear for Carol, fellowship and perhaps some pastoral counseling. As we brainstormed a few ideas, Kim asked me where I went to church. I heard her audibly gasp when I told her Park Street Brethren Church. Coincidentally??? her Mom attends Park Street as well. Kim was even more astounded when I shared I am heading up Care Ministries at church and had several resources to suggest to her Mom for support and care.

Beyond my church leadership, I have a more personal interest in Kim's request. As a daughter, I know firsthand the need of an elderly Mother who yearns for the blessing of community. When my Mom was in and out of hospitals and nursing homes, her most immediate concern was access to friends and family. Once she became ill, loneliness became her reality. It was quite difficult for Mom to be stripped away of her social life due to her inability to see the people she loved on a regular basis. For me, one of the saddest circumstances regarding her death was the fact that she was surrounded by nurses and doctors she didn't know. She died in the very early hours of the morning and neither my brother and I, nor her sister or friends were at her bedside. I felt she died alone.

Two weeks ago at a church leadership team board meeting I met CEO Jay Brooks of Ashland Brethren Care. This residential facility is much like the one in which my Mom lived for most of her final months of life. Jay shared with me one of the most pressing needs of his residents is for someone to visit and spend time talking with them. Another coincidence?

My Findlay friend Kim had a strong sense that her Mom "just needed someone to talk to." On a happier note, Park Street Church can provide for Carol. Kim was full of praise for our conversation today and I truly understood the relief in her voice. Kim has more hope that her Mom will get what she needs. Could it be that the initial connection Kim felt with me was part of God's plan that is now unfolding? Is this the mystery of God to which we often speak?

It appears God has done his part in his provision (if I may humbly note) and now it's our turn to do ours. Spending time in nursing homes can be most discouraging, hospital visits can be awkward, and ministry to people facing the last season of their lives may be depressing. I know that on a deeply personal level. But if we're going to be like Jesus, we don't dismiss what is uncomfortable.

How about you? Do you know a person in need who "just needs someone to talk to?"

And if you still have the opportunity, call your Mom.

Care Ministries: Planning with Purpose

Last night I had the joy of spending time with a group of people that think like me. And yes, that can be a good thing! We gathered for the goal of solidifying the organizational structure of Care Ministries at Park Street Church.

Those of you who know me well may be thinking, of course Donna was enjoying putting together a plan for ministry. Yeah, yeah, I do like to initiate a plan and see it through, but I'm talking about something different today. Our meeting's focus was not about planning, but purpose.

We began the meeting with an invitation to share "I'm here tonight because . . ." The responses were amazing. God's purpose resounded through each person's story. And I realized I was in a room with some very special people. People who found purpose in life by giving to others in unique and unselfish ways. It was truly inspiring.

Here's where the "thinking like me" comes in. I've just always found joy through doing small things for other people. I don't say that arrogantly, because those closest to me know, (to apply an overused counseling term), my, ahem, "growth areas." They are blatant and numerous. But there's something positive and satisfying that expands within me when I am focused on giving rather than myself. And for me, I delight in the process. So to sit with others and hear the ways in which they consider the needs of those around them, for their families, and in the church body was both affirming and enriching.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 was our scripture lesson for the meeting because I do think Paul's voice regarding care giving is one of the most pointed and significant to care ministries.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort."

After a brief look at these verses, we prayed and asked the Lord to remind us of a time when he ministered to a need in our lives. After a few moments of silence, individuals shared their memories. This was definitely the highlight of the evening. Jesus had met them in profound and beautiful ways. No wonder this group of people were so enthusiastic about giving encouragement and comfort Paul spoke of in the scriptures. They experienced Jesus in their most difficult seasons of life. Truly, we can't help but want that for others.

Back to solidifying an organizational plan for care ministries . . . It begins with God's purpose for our lives. Somehow when that's the main point, the plan falls in place.

Helpful Depression?

Today I listenened to a fascinating interview on NPR by Bob Edwards with psychiatrist and author Nassir Ghaemi. The focus of the interview was on Ghaemi's book  A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links between Leadership and Mental Illness. According to his website, his book comprises "an investigation into the surprisingly deep correlation between mental illness and successful leadership, as seen through some of history’s greatest politicians, generals, and businesspeople.

 

A perfect book for my husband and me. He loves history and I love . . .  mental illness? (hmmmm.... somehow that doesn't sound quite right.)

 

 If you are interested in reading a review of the book, go to this site:

http://manicdepressiveblog.wordpress.com/2011/09/06/is-there-a-link-between-mental-illness-leadership-a-book-review-guest-post/

Regarding Isaiah 58

Today is a Bible study of Isaiah 58. It's certainly not comprehensive, but will take more than your usual time of reading my blog post. I hope some of you post a comment after you take a little excursion into this chapter.

Perhaps one of the strongest admonitions in the Bible regarding serving others is found in the book of Isaiah chapter 58. God had a lot to say through the prophet Isaiah about people who missed the point about what it truly meant to be his people through caring for others.  

Before we direct our attention to the theme of dying to self/serving others, let’s learn a little bit about the book of Isaiah.

Actually, I should say books of Isaiah, since biblical scholars divide this tome-like body of scriptures into three distinct prophetic works.The last “book” of Isaiah includes chapter 58. Scholars identify Isaiah 56 through 66 as a separate collection of oracles spoken by a group of unknown prophets.

Here they speak dual messages. One is of a heartbreak that cries against the sin of hypocrisy and the other contains hope of restoration for a struggling people.

 And what is this hypocrisy? It is the people of God being concerned about looking good to God through their religious performance while not looking compassionately toward others who need their care.

Let’s stop for a moment and let that last statement soak in.

Looking good to God through religious performance while not looking compassionately toward others who need our care . . .

We’re going to take a closer look at chapter 58 that speaks of this hypocrisy by dividing it into three parts.

          Beliefs that are distorted

         

Behaviors that God challenges

Behaviors that God desires

         

In part one, the belief systems of God’s people are questioned.

In part two, the behaviors of God’s people are challenged.

In part three, the behaviors God desires from his people are presented.

I’m guessing there are times when your own beliefs and behaviors are such that you miss God’s design for loving service to others. Sometimes we hold onto religious beliefs that get in the way from embracing the true nature of a loving God. Sometimes our religious behaviors don’t reflect the character of a compassionate Christ.

When have these stumbling blocks of religious beliefs and behaviors been true for you?

Part One Isaiah 58:1-3a Beliefs are questioned.

(vs. 1)“ ‘Cry aloud, do not hold back;

Lift up your voice like a trumpet;

Declare to my people their transgression,

To the house of Jacob their sins.'"

Isaiah is summoned to let the people of God know what’s on God’s mind: their sin!

And what is that sin? Their particular sin to which God refers unfolds in the next several verses.

Continue to read God’s complaint with his people, the house of Jacob.

(vs. 2) "'Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways,

As if they were a nation that did righteousness

And did not forsake the judgment of their God;

They ask of the righteous judgments;

They delight to draw near to God.’"

Now the Israelites start complaining to God.

(vs. 3a) "Why have we fasted, and you see it not?

Why have we humbled ourselves,

And you take no knowledge of it? “

God is directing his admonition toward their belief system.

They believed in the importance of a strict adherence to the spiritual discipline of fasting. But God knew they believed loving rituals was more important than loving relationships. This is their transgression, their sin.

One Bible scholar explains it this way:

"The people of Israel, during Old Testament times, as well as into the early New Testament times, were an extremely "religious" group. They placed tremendous emphasis on ritual, ceremony and tradition. Over the course of time, however, the externals of religious practice had become the totality of their experience (at least for most of them); they had lost sight of the spiritual side of their relationship with their God. Outwardly, they appeared to be a people devoted to God. Their love of ceremony made them visibly appear to be righteous to the casual observer (Isaiah 58:2). The problem was: they loved the ritual, but not God or one another." (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

Part Two Isaiah 58:3b-5 Their behaviors are challenged.

God continues to speak through Isaiah.

(vs. 3b)“’'Behold in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,

And oppress all your workers.

(vs. 4) Behold you fast only to quarrel and fight

And to hit with a wicked fist.

Fasting like yours this day

Will not make your voice to be heard on high.

(vs.5) Is such the fast that I choose,

A day for a person to humble himself?

Is it to bow down his head like a reed,

And to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?

Will you call this a fast,

And a day acceptable to the Lord?’”

What the prophet is trying to say to the people is: “Have a heart! You’re so preoccupied with showing off religious behaviors, you’ve overlooked what it means to be spiritual. The evidence of true spirituality is your attitude and care for one another.  Herein lays the hypocrisy that God was addressing.  

While you are fasting, proclaims the Lord, you fast from work but make your workers pick up the slack (vs. 3b).

Your fasting is causing irritability amongst you and fighting ensues (vs. 4a).

What good is fasting like this; it will not make me hear your voice, says the Lord (vs. 4b).

 How can your religious behaviors of bowing down, spreading the sackcloth and ashes, be acceptable to me, the Lord implores (vs. 5).

These religious behaviors, the Lord contends, do not make up for how you behave toward your fellow men and women!

Part Three Isaiah 58:6-7 Behaviors that God desires

(vs. 6)“’Is not this the fast I choose;

To loose the bonds of wickedness,

To undo the straps of the yoke,

To let the oppressed go free,

And to break every yoke?'"

“The yoke” was a description of the heavy spiritual and physical burdens the Jews were placing upon each other.  

(vs. 7)'"Is it not to share your bread with the hungry

And bring the homeless poor into your house;

When you see the naked, to cover him,

And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?’”

“To hide yourself from your own flesh” meant the Jews were not even paying attention to your own families’ needs and the family of God to which they belonged.

God examined the fast in which the Jews were engaging. Biblical scholars call this a religious fast. Yet God desired a spiritual fast. He redefines the practice of fasting. Then he lists the behaviors that are true signs of a spiritual fast. Bring freedom to those in bondage, share your food and share your homes. In other words, share your life! 

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it."

 Proverbs 3:27
                                                                                                                                 

This seems like a good place to wrap up this brief study. Perhaps a good challenge for today is:

In what ways can you pay better attention to the needs around you?

May blessings abound,

Donna

 

Morning Meditation



My morning goal everyday is to walk outside and "be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). Since I am quite the visual person, God's creation never ceases to inspire me to draw closer to him.





Perhaps an impromptu morning excursion to a beautiful park

 How do you focus on God at the start of your day?       


Perhaps it's enjoying the morning shadows across your lawn



                                       

  

Or a favorite chair beckons you to "be still."

The ways in which to be in God's presence are endless.
                                                                                    
If you'd like to experience him today with an inspirational visual tour, complete with music for meditation, check out Selah's new recording, " Be Still."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-MR7J8xD0Y&feature=player_embedded

May blessings abound,
donna





Always In Process

I've been writing a lesson for a spiritual formation curriculum that focuses on dying to self and serving others. My key scripture passage is Isaiah 58, but on the way to Isaiah I got sidelined by the hymn of Christ in Philippians chapter 2. So here's where I will begin and will revisit Isaiah in a later post.

M. Robert Mulholland in his excellent book, Invitation to a Journey states

 “spiritual formation is the process of becoming like Christ for the sake of others.”

There's that process word. I'm forever in process. (sigh)

That last phrase in Mulhollands definition, "for the sake of others,” is the interpersonal aspect of spiritual formation. It’s what goes on between you and another person or persons.

Consider this~

We grow in Christ to become more like Christ to be Christ for other people.

Growing in Christ is your intrapersonal journey. It's your inner transformation.

I've been considering~ 

          How have I balanced my intrapersonal and interpersonal spiritual journeys?

          How have I experienced an inbalance in my spiritual journey?

Scripture profoundly illustrates what this means to become like Jesus in Philippians 2:1-8.

I appreciate Eugene Peterson's paraphrase that follows.

If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion. (The Message translation)

Easy for him to say.:) Tough for me to follow.

Check out the ESV translation for a solid word for word reading.

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,t6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant,t being born in the likeness of men.8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (ESV translation)

  

Becoming like Jesus for the sake of others requires something from us.

What "something" is God requiring of you? 

Anatomy of a Care Ministry: Dissecting Donna

After a summer of concentrated prayer and exploring with the senior pastor how to care for the church body, I accepted the formal invitation to consider the board position of leading Care Ministries at Park Street Church. I have never, in my thirty years of church experience, gone through this church's particular process of moving into a leadership position. The beginning steps were familiar enough; seek God's will for my involvement at church, dialogue with others currently in care ministry at Park Street Church through lay leadership, and share ideas and dreams with the pastor on what it could be.

But last night moved from these small steps to one giant leap into a place I haven't been before. I was interviewed by a large group at church  bearing the openly accountable title, Spiritual Health Team. A position on a committee with that moniker would certainly drive me to more vigiliance regarding my Christian walk! Their task was to discover if I possessed the Biblical qualifications of a leader while posing questions about my own historical walk with the Lord, my family and my leadership skills. They assured me I wouldn't fail if I didn't meet all of the qualifications (no one is perfect, right?).

For a solid hour this dedicated group of people asked probing questions in order to get to know me on both a personal and vocational level. Although you truly don't know someone until you've lived with him or her, or in the case of church ministry worked side by side with that person, I was quite impressed by the effort. But the most remarkable piece of the process for me was the request for my husband's presence. The team inquired about Jim's spiritual journey as well and endeavored to know him personally.

Inviting a spouse to this juncture of  decison making is advantageous on many levels. For me, it provided a marriage enrichment bonus as I listened to Jim's responses with curiousity and admiration. For the Spiritual Health Team, it afforded them the opportunity to see that Jim adds to my own spiritual health with his steadfastness in the Lord and even temperament. For Jim, it gave him a different venue to express his faith as well as show support for my calling and service to the Lord. All in all, if the candidate for leadership has a spouse, it is a win win situation to have the spouse present. I especially appreciate the insight the committee could have gotten if Jim wasn't supportive. Perhaps even more importantly, if marriage issues or personal problems surfaced, it would give this group of people a chance to minister to us.

Harkening back to the anatomy analogy, I do admit my bones were a little rattled while driving home from the interview last evening. But a little shaking up is good for the soul and a lot of accountability is good for the church body. I'm thankful for these "inquiring minds who want to know" if I hold myself accountable to the Bible, my spouse and God's will for my life.

This morning I praise the Lord with this psalm that expresses my thoughts about my new season of  ministry:

" You make known to me the path of life;
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
At your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
                                          Psalm 16:11 (ESV)