Bobby Gilles, Sojourn’s Director of Communications, writes the following:
I sat down with Pastor-elder Chad Lewis in his office to discuss the illness that has kept him from preaching as of late. Several have asked “Where has Chad been?” or “Why haven’t we heard Chad lately?”
In this short video, he addresses these and other questions and lets all of us know how we can best pray for him as he continues to serve the Sojourn community as a valued staff elder:
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John Bunyan lived in the 1600’s and is best known for his Christian classic Pilgrim’s Progress. Bunyan knew a lot about suffering as he spent 12 years in prison as he refused to stop preaching. All he had to do was agree to stop proclaiming the gospel, but he told those imprisoning him, “If you release me today, I will preach tomorrow.”
Life was hard for Bunyan and life is hard for us today. I used to read about spiritual heroes who suffered greatly and think, “I’ve got it really good. Why do I struggle so much in following Jesus?”
As I’ve grown into an almost 35 year old, I realize that life is hard for us all. Whether we suffer from depression, loneliness, a broken heart, or unfulfilled dreams, we all need Jesus to fill our brokenness and embrace us in the midst of it.
The amazing thing is that the call of the gospel is not “come after you fix yourself up”, but rather, “come just as you are.” I often say that the Christian life isn’t hard, it’s impossible. God made it this way so that we would never be able to live it in our own strength.
The following quotation from John Bunyan is spoken from the perspective of Jesus. As you read it, remember that Jesus never calls us to something that He won’t empower us to do. The difficulty of following Jesus should constantly remind us that we NEED HIM – ALWAYS!!! (John 15:5).
Following of me is not like following of some other masters. The wind sits always on my face and the foaming rage of the sea of this world, and the proud and lofty waves thereof do continually beat upon the sides of the bark or ship that myself, my cause, and my followers are in; he therefore that will not run hazards, and that is afraid to venture a drowning, let him not set foot into this vessel.
What does this quotation spark in you?
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Brennan Manning writes about the end of death. “Death, you are a phantom, the bogeyman of little children! The only reason my Father allows you to exist is to usher me into the one experience deserving of the name Life.”
Surely our God has rescued us. He has brought us from death to life. Though the stage of the world looks bleak right now, it is only the backdrop of the work that God is doing. When Jesus breaks forth in glorious light into a person’s heart, He pokes a hole in the fabric of darkness and you can’t miss that point of light. One day, the fabric of darkness in this world will be put away for all eternity. But until that day, let’s seek to shine bright and truly believe that our God has already won. The victory was won on the cross and in the resurrection. And this was God’s plan before time began!
Matthew 5:14-16: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
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Before I list my reasons, it might be helpful to explain what I mean by “contemplative spirituality.” It is interesting to see what people mean by “contemplative spirituality” and the range goes from meditating on God’s Word to sitting in a room with a candle with no Bible and seeking to hear God for “new stuff.” I would like to redeem the term because the call of Scripture over and over again is to REMEMBER. So if you call it meditating on God’s Word or contemplative spirituality, if the source is God’s Word and His truth, then I need it.
There are many people in the contemplative camp I cherish and others who I think are dangerous. So maybe we need to create a new term after all. The Christian life is not just having a quiet time and then walking through the day doing your best. This is not the gospel message. We must continually be reminded throughout the day that we can’t, but He can. We must remember that the fruit of the Spirit is something that only the Spirit can produce. Many of us live with spiritual hernias trying to produce something in our own strength when the words of Jesus are clear, “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). So with that preface, here are some reasons I need contemplative spirituality…
Reason 1: I don’t naturally have soul rest.
Most days it seems like a mini-wind is blowing through my soul. Often, the winds increase and hit hurricane force. I’ve heard it said that we often revert to a worried and hurried pace when this happens. By stopping and meditating on the truths of Scripture throughout the day, I can remember – Who God is, what He’s done, what He is doing, and what He promises to do. This fosters soul rest in me and it is a daily, moment by moment need. This might be simply taking a 5 minute walk and rehearsing Scripture in my heart and asking for help, but this simple act humbles me and reminds me of my need of God’s grace.
Reason 2: I am very forgetful.
I am forgetful. I forget where my keys are if I don’t put them in a certain place. I forget who I am in Christ and so easily merge back into my youthful ways of thinking. I need to be reminded everyday. I need to be gospeled everyday. I am finding Peter Scazzero’s The Daily Office helpful as an additional tool to point me to my Heavenly Father several times throughout the day.
Reason 3: If I don’t, I will crash and burn.
One writer called compulsion, “a blasphemous anxiety to do God’s work for him.” I have this anxiety often. I now believe that these feelings themselves surfacing are not sin, but rather, what I do with them can either be sinful or godly. If they only drive me to be busier, I will crash and burn. If they are a reminder of my desperate need for God, then they are a gift. What are some tools that help point you to Christ?
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MSN Year in Review 2008 has a 75 picture slideshow of famous people who passed away in 2008. This past Monday I scrolled through the list and read about people I was both familiar and unfamiliar with.
Heath Ledger, Bernie Mac, Tim Russert, Paul Newman, and the list goes on. From this list of 75 people, some died from old age, some from health complications, some from drug abuse, and some from suicide. Many of them had reached the pinnacle of fame, prestige, and success. But they all have one thing in common now: they no longer make their home on this earth.
As I reflected on these stars’ lives, my spirit was really affected. I turned to Psalm 39 and read the following words of David:
4 “Show me, O LORD, my life’s end
and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting is my life.
5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Each man’s life is but a breath.
Selah
6 Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro:
He bustles about, but only in vain;
he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.
7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you.
Truly, our only hope is in the Lord. This life is but a breath and then eternity. I do not want to try to build up my own kingdom, reputation, or success. I truly long to point people to the God who created us and who longs to have a relationship with us. In the end, all that truly matters is what we did with Jesus. That will affect not only this life, but it affects all of eternity.
How do these thoughts from Psalm 39 stir your soul? How can reflecting on the brevity of life actually encourage us?
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C.S. Lewis said, “If by one miracle, the total content of time were spread out before me, and if, by another, I were able to hold all that infinity of events in mind and if, by a third, God were pleased to comment on it so I could understand it, then, to be sure, I could do what the Historicist says he is doing. I could read the meaning, discern the pattern.”
Though we can know the main story line of human existence through the Scriptures, we often put some pressure on ourselves to “figure out” what God is doing in every circumstance. I have no doubt that He is working in the minutest details of His kids’ lives, but I also know that our tiny brains could not even begin to understand all the implications of each day on eternity. So where does this leave us? What are we to do? Though the answer is definitely too simplistic in ways, it is the calling of all believers everywhere. Our calling is to trust. Our calling is to fight for faith. Our calling is to battle to believe.
Some days, our faith will be strong enough to see mountains moved. Other days, I know I have experienced a weakness of faith that felt like a string was holding me up over the Grand Canyon. But what I continue to know, is that through all of these times, God doesn’t let us go. He is our refuge and our calling is to trust in Him. As Rich Mullins said, we must trust in the reckless, raging fury that they call the love of God. So, whether you are weary and barely holding on, or you are seeing God move in marvelous ways, be reminded today that God is in control. For every one thing we see Him doing, He is doing 1,000’s of things we will possibly never see. His work is masterful and the canvass is our heart. He invites us into intimacy. He invites us to know His heart. As Hebrews 6:19 says, we have this hope as an anchor for our soul.
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A date night. A movie. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
What if we were born old and grew young. Growing Young is one of my favorite Rich Mullins’ songs and it definitely sparks some emotion in me.
Rich writes,
I’ve gone so far from my home
I’ve seen the world and I have known
So many secrets
I wish now I did not know
‘Cause they have crept into my heart
They have left it cold and dark
And bleeding,
Bleeding and falling apartAnd everybody used to tell me big boys don’t cry
Well I’ve been around enough to know that that was the lie
That held back the tears in the eyes of a thousand prodigal sons
Well we are children no more, we have sinned and grown old
And our Father still waits and He watches down the road
To see the crying boys come running back to His arms
And be growing young
Growing young
My beautiful date (my wife Ginger) and I left our movie feeling melancholy. The movie was really, really well done. But even so, it didn’t hold out hope to me. The one reminder I took away was that life is short, rather you live it forward or backward. However, when I read God’s Word, I know that even though we are broken, tattered, and have grown old inside, God is doing something in His children that is bringing about restoration. I am growing young inside.
Many people who are later on in life are cynical and jaded because of life’s tough lessons. By God’s grace, He has taken my hard heart and continues to make it soft. Many older people are fearful and keep themselves locked up. By God’s grace, He has taken my fear and tendency to isolate myself and given me confidence that He is in control. In many more ways, God is growing me young and I pray that He will never stop.
How are you growing young?
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I get made fun of quite often for the illustrations I use and how I act them out in front of crowds. Inside I chuckle because it just shows that people remember the illustration.
The performance treadmill is one of my favorite illustrations. I act like I’m on a treadmill and then ask how far it gets me. People reply, “Nowhere.” I then tell them how it just works up a sweat and if you stop running, you actually get hurt pretty bad.
For years, this described my Christian life. I had no rest. I had no soul rest. I was constantly trying to win God’s approval with how I lived and of course I could never stack up. I would either dwell in the land of despair if I was not doing well, and if I was doing alright, I would live in self-righteousness. Despair was my land more often.
Then, in 1997, God awakened my heart to start understanding what the finished work of the cross really was and how that applied to my life. I was not called to live to win God’s approval, but rather, God’s approval through Christ was already mine and that should be what stirs me to live.
So my motivations began to change. God continues this work in me today.
Hebrews 4:9-11 says, “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.”
Do you find yourself on the performance treadmill today? Do you find yourself trusting in the finished work of the cross? Is the center of your motivation for living that God loves you and longs for what is best in your life? The best gifts God can give us are those things that shake us to the core so that we will find our greatest treasure in Him alone and not in the passing things of this world.
So take a breath and reflect on the cross. Thank God for what He has done and ask Him to help you live in that reality today.
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I am thankful…
…for God ambushing my heart when I was seven.
…for God holding me when I let go.
…for Jesus’ unwillingness to let my heart believe lies about him.
…for seeds of hope when days grow long and weariness is deep.
…for family who loves me no matter what.
…for a few heart friends who really know me and still accept me.
…for a Savior who I long to point others towards.
…for a past that is filled with heartbreak and wounds.
…for a God who holds me back from making unwise choices.
…for a God who sees me, knows me, and wants me.
…for a small, but real renewal going on in my heart.
We often focus on the negative aspects of our lives. We too often focus on the trials. If you had to write 10 things that you are thankful for, what would be on your list?
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Peter Scazzero writes in Emotionally Healthy Spirituality,
“Picture a beggar. Not someone you might find on the streets of a North American city, strolling along looking for change to buy beer or cigarettes. Rather, picture a person in such abject poverty that he is incapable of doing anything more than lying in a corner with a palm upraised, hoping someone will take pity on him. Picture someone who knows he will die unless someone has mercy upon him.”
How often do we really see ourselves in such need? I was with two brothers in a meeting yesterday and we discussed some of our struggles that occurred over the holidays. I told them that we have two things in common. One: We are very needy people. Two: We realize it. I shared that it was a gift that we realized how needy we are.
As you find that you are needy, don’t let it lead you to despair. It is actually the very thing that God has placed in our lives for a reason. God will never lead us to a point where we will stop needing Him. As we grow in the Christian life, we should become more acutely aware of how needy we actually are and thus depend on God more each day.
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