Keeping the main thing the main thing!

1 Peter 3:18

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God...

I have, as of late, been reading a number of very good books. One that I am really enjoying is God Is The Gospel by John Piper. In it he talks about the main point of the Gospel being God Himself... not just what He gives. I will let him describe it himself:

Propitiation, redemption, forgiveness, imputation, sanctification, liberation, healing, heaven - none of these is good news except for one reason: they bring us to God for our everlasting enjoyment of him. If we believe all these things have happened to us, but do not embrace them for the sake of getting to God, they have not happened to us... The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God.

I find the power of that last statement brings an amazing focus to living this life. How easy it is to get caught up in all the works of God (and our part in them) and lose sight of why it is we follow Jesus - to be with Him. Our pursuit of holiness, our fighting for authentic relationships with our brothers and sisters, our passion for the world and it's lost... these all fall in behind this one main thing - to be with God. Everything that we have (given to us), everything we are (crafted within us), everything we do (appointed for us) comes to us, for us and through us to lead people to our King, Lord and Savior.

Piper poses a powerful question that is well worth reflection and meditation... I encourage you to think about it: If you could choose to go to a heaven right now (enjoying all of it's fruit and riches) WITHOUT God, would you go?

awaken us again!

As a reminder to myself and those who may occasionally come across my ideas, I thought I might take this opportunity to return to the beginning of the story of this BLOG... why it exists... really, why I exist. And so I resubmit my poem (and my first entry)... awaken us.

awaken us… Lord

awaken us from our slumber

too long have we slept.
too long have we looked upon a darkened, dieing, hopeless world and lazily looked to the horizon for Your coming… or was that our T.V. set?

Awaken us Lord to the hunger that is within.

Stir your children of light from their comfortable seats… that we would know the feeling of Your armor again… the feeling of your sword.

Fan the fire of passion for Your Name… Your Fame… that we might feel the coursing fire flooding through our souls… like rivers… like springs of life.

Let us sleep no longer!
Let us waken from the night in search of our Beloved.
Let us throw ourselves against the gates of injustice… the gates of poverty… the gates of darkness… the gates of hell. Until we can no longer stand AND YET we stand!

AWAKEN US LORD!

Move us to the edges… gather us to the corners… take us OUTSIDE THE CAMP…

AWAKEN US LORD!

Awaken hearts that are broken for the broken hearted. Lives that are lived for the lost.

AWAKEN US LORD!

The night is far gone; the day is at hand.

Even so. Amen.

timothy mark mcdonald

saying goodbye

Yesterday we helped move our close friends Brian and Kellie (and Ethan, Emma and Owen) from their flat (right next door to ours - 7 short steps) several blocks away to a new flat... a new home. Not to sound too dramatic, but it is the end of an era for us. We have lived next to the Ingraham's longer than anyone else we know. We have moved overseas together, culture shocked together, worked together, played together, walked through children's births together, walked through difficult times together... yes, we have even laughed and cried together (don't let Brian fool ya). We have had seasons of great relationship and other seasons that were pretty tough... but we have always been neighbours and community. It is amazing what proximity does for you. Yeah, I know that they will still be neighbours... still be community, but it is also going to be very different. A lot less accidental meetings. A lot fewer "good mornings!" No more cups of sugar, rolls of toilet paper or spare keys. No more waving through the window... or waiting for Ethan and Emma (and Owen) to poke their nose through our mail slot before school each morning.
I know it's not goodbye... but it kinda feels like it.

grace and peace friends.

prayer

Today I came across a prayer written by John Murray on Tim Challies' blog that ministered very powerfully to my soul. As we look to a new week, I strongly encourage you to check out his blog and pray this awesome prayer.

rock and sand

Luke 6:46

Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?

I love the way Jesus talks! Sometimes He is so mysterious, illusive and down right confusing. Other times He has the subtly of a 2x4! Why do you call me teacher and not learn? Why do you call me boss and not do your job? Why do you call me master and not obey? It is a bold REAL statement about the nature of those who follow Him AND who He is.

How often I pray/say, "Lord" without even thinking about what I am saying or how I am living. What's my issue? Have I forgotten who it is I am calling Lord? OR, have I forgotten how amazing His words and commandments really are? I think there is a clue given to these questions in the next verses.

Luke 6:47-49

Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.

Read alone this story is a beautiful picture of the power of standing on God's words and promises... but when connected to the preceding comment you see a fuller picture. Jesus' words are not just pretty stories, they are the essential foundations to our lives. What we choose to do with them can make the difference between unshaken-ness and ruin!

I wonder if I really live like I believe that?

Lord, give me the courage to believe that which is often unseen. I believe You alone hold the keys to life and there is nowhere else that I would desire to go... You are my Rock. Thank you for Your faithfulness to us... command what You will and will what You command. Amen.

believing...

Mark 9:23-24

And Jesus said to him, "'If you can! All things are possible for one who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!"

What does it mean to really believe?

Jesus' statement seems so unreal... almost unbelievable (ironically). It is a tension that seems to follow all those who want to pursue a life chasing hard after Christ. Is it REALLY true - are ALL things possible for those who believe? In Christ? In what He can do?

Too often I find myself in the shoes of the father of the child... desperate, I want to believe that Jesus can do all that He has said He can do... No, I DO believe that Jesus can do all that He has said... Help me Lord to believe!

It feels like a battle between what we see all around us and what we know to be true about our God... because, after all, sick children die everyday around this cruel globe to God believing parents BUT we know God is good, in control and searches the world for hearts fully committed to Him... Help me believe Lord!

It becomes even more complicated when we find ourselves dealing with the divine will of God vs. our small version of the story. Our perspectives are so small compared to Gods... I do believe Lord, help me!

This man's response is so honest and yet filled with desperate intent. It is perhaps one of the shortest most powerful prayers in the whole Bible. It allows for a tension that is foreign to our ears... a sort of both-and. The result is a cry from a despairing father on behalf of his broken child to an all powerful Savior. Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!

very funny...

I would like to strongly encourage you to check out my good friend JJ's BLOG! She has posted a video that is laugh-out-loud funny. When I watched, it was good for my soul... I pray it is good for yours.
grace, peace and bacon friends.

friends, hope and forgiveness

Psalm 71:14

But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.

Yesterday Pastor Brian preached a great message on hope from the life of David - you can listen to the message at RE:hope's website (it's the most recent one). I love the community I worship with... my church. I love it because of the many friends that I have there. I love it because of the great times of musical worship. I love it for how it is always asking how it can love people better. I love it for its passion for God's Word. I love it for being a real community (imperfect and being perfected) amidst the many facades. I love it for what it stands for... and what it stands against.

What does it stand for and against you ask?

For HOPE and against Hopelessness... it is, after all, regarding Hope!

But, one of the things I love the most about my church is that it challenges me. This week I found a place inside my soul that I needed to "do business" with. Not just in a quiet "make-it-disappear" way but in a public "right-it-in-a-blog" way. With out going into too many details of the sermon, at one point our Pastor was talking about the opposition David faced from the many people in his community... friends, family and authorities. He talked about how they were hope "suckers" in David's life - standing against his life, heart and belief's about who he was and who he believed God was. As I sat and listened I found myself saddened by what I was hearing.

I have in my life gone through seasons where I was the voice of hope in a dark place... and in fact I believe that God has placed a call in my life in that area. I believe in the power of hope. I believe in its power to change people in the present with a picture of what will be... a powerful belief (and especially appropriate on Martin Luther King Day). But I have also gone through seasons where I have lost that voice... lost that picture... lost my hope. I became one of David's hope "suckers" and unfortunately, in the midst of these tough last few years, those seasons have been more prevalent... and I believe my community has suffered for it.

And so, for those whom I may have affected in these past seasons... I ask for your forgiveness. I am so sorry that I did not represent Jesus or my calling well. I confess that I lost my way in alleyways of discouragement and confusion... and that I became preoccupied by own issues, entanglements and anxieties. But I also confess to you that Jesus makes all things new and that though I know I am prone to fall my confidence is not in my "self" but it is in the power of God to change a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. I believe in the power of hope and I want to say with David, "But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more."

Do Your work Lord in me. Amen.

To Mckenzie… and Duncan, Hallie and Celtin

Galatians 4:6-7

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

I wasn't the only person in the family to get books for Christmas. My daughter McKenzie was given a very unique children's Bible (thanks mum and dad) called, God's Little Princess Devotional Bible, by Sheila Walsh. She LOVES it! Yesterday, as we were walking, McKenzie asked me a question of dear importance to her... "Daddy", she said, "am I a princess?" I thought for a bit, mostly because I new why she was asking the question (the book has left quite an impression), and said, "yes, you are my princess... but more importantly you are God's princess." I know, I know... pretty sappy, but as I was saying those last words my eyes actually welled up (a little... dust I think).

It got me thinking.

And as I reflected out came this poem.
p.s. for those unfamiliar with the colors... they are personality types.

To Mckenzie… and Duncan, Hallie and Celtin

A princess you are, as you’ve said it is so
And this call you will live wherever you go.
In the good and the bad, for better or worse
A life under The King is far from a curse.

Whether princess or prince, my prayers for you are
To follow our King and follow Him far…
As He’s made you to be, unique with each trip
I pray you will follow Him as His workmanship.

For McKenzie your heart creative and true,
Filled with a love full of passion - it’s "blue"!
Will take you on journey’s both bumpy and wide
But go you will with your King by your side

He is wonderful and beautiful… He is love it is true
And all of this He is in His love for you.

For Duncan your soul, a friend to the last,
A passion for God came all so fast.
A heart for people, a heart for your King
As "yellow" as they come with gifts you will bring.

He is peace, He is life, a friend, our King too
And all of this He is in His love for you.

For Hallie your mind quick, wild and alive
Moving with courage, fire and drive
Gates will come down with the thoughts of Your head
Your Kings fight will lead you for you are "red".

He is good, He is just and fights for what’s true
And all of this He is in His love for you.

And finally for Celtin your strength it will stand
On Rock, Stone and mortar… no, not on sand.
Built with all care, truth handled with "green"
In front of this world for your King you’ll be seen.

He is righteous and holy, faithful thru and thru
And all of this He is in His love for you.

So our dear children, our gifts for a while
Pursue God wholeheartedly in your own style.
With heart, soul, mind, strength… never give up!
Stand at the ready until we do sup…
With the King of creation, His Spirit and Son.
That day we’ll be brothers and sisters – what fun!
Heirs of the King together we’ll stand
Forever His friends walking full hand in hand.

So, stand strong with Christ, eyes focused on Him
Authored, perfected, forgiven… for Him!!

Love,
Daddy

timothy mark mcdonald

Everything (3)

Matthew 13:44

...in his joy...

Which makes me wonder... where does that kind of joy come from?

It must come from a VERY deep place… a place where what I have (really what I am) is eclipsed by something VERY other, VERY extraordinary, VERY wonderful.

It seems like so often we approach passages like this from the wrong angle. All we see is what Christ is asking us to give (as if He needed anything) NOT what He is giving, completing, fulfilling, transforming, redeeming, awakening, confounding, bleeding for, remaking, restoring, beautifying, breathing life into, refocusing, recreating, healing… loving.

There is only one reason Christ calls us to give everything for Him and His Kingdom… so that He can be our everything.

Tim Hughes puts it well in his song:

God in my living
There in my breathing
God in my waking
God in my sleeping
God in my resting
There in my working
God in my thinking
God in my speaking

Be my everything
Be my everything
Be my everything
Be my everything

God in my hoping
There in my dreaming
God in my watching
God in my waiting
God in my laughing
There in my weeping
God in my hurting
God in my healing

Be my everything
Be my everything
Be my everything
Be my everything

Yes Lord, may it be as he has said.

Everything (2)

Matthew 13:44

...in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

The question is; what is everything...

This is a tough question for us today. Clearly in this parable Jesus is talking about all of the man's possessions and "stuff"... very reminiscent of His conversation with the rich young ruler. But as He continues with the young ruler He seems to "raise the bar", so to speak, to include family, friends and lands (Mark 10:17-31). Everything. When I think about my "everything" I can't stop with stuff (it's all shadows and dust anyway isn't it). No, everything means much more than that... it means the patter of four sets of beautiful feet... little voices that call for "daddy" in the night... hugs, kisses and indistinguishable pictures "just for me". Everything means 13 years of marriage... over 20 years of relationship with the love of my life (and my best friend on earth)... tears, struggles, joys and life. No, everything is huge - worth more than gold, land or MacBook - which only makes the act of laying it down that much more special.

AND what would you be willing to sell everything for?

Now this is an especially tough question for us today. In this parable we see a man sell everything he has (filled with joy) for the treasure he discovers in the field... and Jesus says that this is what the Kingdom of God is like. When I read words like this it challenges me to my very human core. Oh how hard it is to let go of what I have... of what is "mine"... "my own, my precious." To sell it all for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom come (His movement & His purposes on earth)... seems like such a huge sacrifice. And yet, we sell them all the time for everything else around us. We sell our children for our jobs. We sell our marriages for our cravings. We sell our callings for our ambitions... our gifts for fame. And then we lay them all down before the gods of money, fame and power. But for Jesus... that seems like such a leap of faith (or is it trust)... let alone to do it because of shear joy.

Which makes me wonder... where does that kind of joy come from?

Everything (3)

Christmas books

I was asked the other day what I had on my shelf... mmm books...
So here is what I got for Christmas to add to my reading pile! (If you know how these books end DON'T tell)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer - The Cost of Discipleship
A.W. Tozer - Keys to The Deeper Life
Scot McKnight - The Jesus Creed
Jon Krakauer - Into The Wild

Should keep me busy in the new year!

Everything

Matthew 13:44-46

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

These two kingdom parables are some of my favorite verses in the Bible. I often find myself coming back to them in meditation as reminders and sources of encouragement, strength and joy. They are very similar to each other yet with some interesting differences. It seems that sometimes Christ draws attention to certain key ideas by telling two similar stories that have a few striking differences.

In the first story we see a man who stumbles over a treasure in a field. He was probably not looking for it (searching a farmers field for a buried treasure would be an impossible task) but the response of finding the treasure is amazing; with JOY, he sells all that he has to buy the field. Let us not lose sight of what this treasure is representing; this is Christ… His kingdom… His life lived.

Yet, in the second we see a merchant who is searching. With all probability searching his whole life to find this one pearl that would be the crowning symbol of all that he was. Once again, let us not lose sight of what this pearl is representing; this is Jesus. Here Jesus is saying that His kingdom is like a merchant who is searching for something…no, THE thing. The merchant’s response is equally amazing; he sells all that he has and buys it!

Two different stories. Two different people. Two very different journeys. Yet one response; they both sold everything and bought Christ and His Kingdom. It would seem that passion (in its simplest form) is selling all that you have so that you can gain Christ… as a stumbler or as a searcher… as a man on a journey or as a “man on a mission”.

The question is; what is everything AND what would you be willing to sell everything for?

Everything (2)

One desire

One desire

Only You can be our one desire
Only You can set this heart on fire
It’s through You our lives can truly shine
So my Lord... make Your desires mine

Be our Passion
Be our fire
May the greatness of Your Name be our one desire

Be our way
Be our truth
May Your goodness in our lives be a living proof

Be our hope
Be our life
Make this bride of Yours a pure and spotless wife

Take our sin
Take our shame
Take them precious Lord for the glory of Your Name

Only You can be our one desire
Only You can set this heart on fire
It’s through You our lives can truly shine
So my Lord... make Your desires mine

Take my life
Take my dreams
Do with them my Lord whatever You may deem

Take my heart
Take these hands
I offer them to You, I place them in Your hands

Because only You can be our one desire
And only You can set this heart on fire
And it’s for You alone we want to shine
So my Lord... make Your desires mine

timothy mark mcdonald

Questions

Ephesians 4:1

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called…

Asking the right questions can be tough.

For the past couple of days I have been at a director’s conference for NieuCommunities in Malaga, Spain. It has been great to catch up with my friends and co-laborers from the other sites around the world (US, Canada & South Africa) but it has also been challenging. We have spent hours thinking through and processing how we are living out our community values and rhythms, how we are going to move with more force into mission, and how we are going to continue to innovate… big questions. But, one of the big centering questions that we landed on today has been both personally convicting and instigating.

Are we living out who we say we are… how? Or spoken personally… Am I living a life worthy of this great calling to which I have been called?

After we were done our discussions I was struck by what a great exercise this was for me. It is the difference between walking the walk and walking THE walk… the worthy walk… the steps of Christ. Often it can get so easy to get caught up in running from conversation to discussion to meeting to training to mentoring to parenting to leading… we forget to live let alone live on purpose. There is so much power in simply stopping for a moment (even once a week) and asking ourselves if we are actually living out who we say we are. If we are trying to change the world in which we live (which I believe we are) how is who I say Christ is in me changing hearts, minds and lives around me? Do we claim to be lovers of God, of people… how then have we done today with our children? Our spouses? Our co-workers? Our neighbors? Our enemies?

Asking the right questions can be tough… but ask we must!

How then do we fight?

Matthew 4:3

And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God..."

So how then do we fight the good fight for faith in a faithless age? In a soaked age?

It gives me great peace to know that we follow a Man (and God) that was tempted in all the ways we have been... but without getting soaked to the bone. And It seems, as we read, we must fight as our Lord fought while He walked in our shoes by fighting it on the inside (in our hearts and minds) and on the outside (with our lives and words).

For me... I have found that fighting on the inside is an act of clinging to God’s Words, His great and precious promises. I cling (sometimes unsuccessfully) to what I know about God and His provision when what I know does not make sense with what I am currently seeing OR what people around me are telling me to think and feel. Basically I preach to myself. That sounds pretty unpopular today I know. But Jesus Himself did this as He faced these same challenges and He tells us that as His followers we should expect to live the same way He did… to be treated the same way he was treated BECAUSE we are following behind Him in His very footsteps. He faced the temptations… we will face the temptations. He faced the world… we will face the world. It is a part of what it means to be human.

As the fight moves from inside to the outside I find myself speaking the truth about who God is and living out the realities of His (oftentimes counter) Kingdom. The life He created us to live filled with love, humility and compassion. It can feel foreign to my own skin sometimes... but I fight to hold to what I know about God when what I know does not make sense with what I am currently experiencing OR what people around me are telling me to do and how to live. This is very unpopular today. But what I have learned is that these temptations are not primarily about getting me to "mess up"... no, they are an assault on who I REALLY am... just as satan's temptation was an assault on who Jesus REALLY was. It is like our enemy is asking, "If you really are children of God..."

But I am!

And as a child of God... as a servant of the King... I must live as a representative of the new Kingdom. I must fight against lording it over others and the systems that destroy the hearts and lives of my fellow humans. I must fight against the idolatrous self-absorbed kingdoms of me and my comfort-at-all-costs. I must fight against the consumerist plague of profit-at-all-costs...

And I must fight to win!

Inside and outside!

Make it so Lord.

Soaked

Matthew 18:7

Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin!

Yesterday I received an email from a friend and co-laborer in India. He has been planning and preparing for an equipping and encouraging event that will be taking place in the mountains for rural pastors in India. The event will take place in February (please be praying for us as we prepare to go and teach God’s word to these faithful followers in the hard places). As he has been planning the event he has had some difficulties in finding available coordinators. In his words, “…cooperation was very poor in Andipatti. They are soaked with the World.”

I was struck by his words.

When you live in a place where rain can come upon you at any moment – prepared or unprepared – you understand the meaning of the word soaked. Saturated. Immersed. Permeated. Absorbed. Soaked.

In India there are few Christians (compared to the West). In the south the numbers are greater, around 3%. As you spend time with those believers (particularly these remote village pastors) you cannot help but be struck by how much more difficult it is to follow Christ there. Almost every village pastor I met was very skinny and quite poor. Most serving their small fellowships scattered over a few villages by themselves with little or no formal education… just the Word of God. They face a lot of opposition. Their fight seems strong compared to so many I see in the West. But still… some are soaked.

Soaked by a world-like desire for authority and power.

Soaked by a world-like desire for importance and fame.

But mostly, soaked by the desire for money and security

…sound familiar?

Our Lord faced this in the wilderness.

His followers have faced it throughout all of history.

We face it in the West… and my friend faces it in the East.

So how then do we fight the good fight for faith in a faithless age?

Happy Hogmanay

Colossians 3:12-14

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

We are wishing all our friends a great New Year and a Happy Hogmanay!

Father, lead us as Your chosen people into this New Year. Give us the strength to live as holy dearly loved children... clothed with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Help us Lord to bear with one another AND forgive each other as we should... as You have forgiven us. And over all this Lord we pray for love that might bind us together as one holy family. Amen.