The Best of Living Water 2012

Hello! Here is the best of Living Water 2012. As always I thank you for you for reading and sharing; as well praying for and encouraging me. May God bless you and keep you in 2013. Christopher

 

 

 

Christopher Wolf Twenty (CW20); January

 

 

7. Winning doesn’t always look like winning – most often it’s enduring and remaining standing.

 

8. Being vs. Doing – I used to think that I had to do a lot of stuff for the Kingdom – numbers, accomplishments, etc. Not. God’s asking me (us) to be faithful. That’s what He can use. Accomplishment, activity, doing more…is about us. And being impatient is about us…Being patient and waiting on God working is also being faithful. I’ve had to learn to be patient.

 

9. What has broken me in life has made me who I am. I used to resent things I didn’t have growing up as well as feeling bad about wounding experiences and failures. Now I understand better that God works best out of our brokenness and vulnerability rather than our strengths. I am able to lead, care for, pastor, teach, reach out primarily because of my woundedness; and then my Spiritual gifts enable me to “export” and share that passion and compassion effectively.

 

 

Upside Down, Inside Out; February

 

 

But Jesus, here in this essential message, is clearly saying that what is valuable, what is worth fighting for are these people. When the poor in spirit, the grieving, the meek, and the others in his list are the center of ministry and activity we do as individuals and congregations – the Kingdom will be visible.

 

We are ambassadors of God’s Kingdom. Our churches are embassies of that Kingdom. I tell you with great passion that Christians and churches that commit to more fully representing this Kingdom of God and to finding, reaching and caring for people who need God today – will certainly find themselves turned upside down and inside out – but will also find themselves closer to the Kingdom than ever before.

 

 

A Confession; February

 

 

It’s hard to explain in words, but it’s there. I guess a lot of it is I want people to know and experience what I have with God – the joy, the purpose, strength and healing. I am very moved by stories of people who feel like God abandoned them or wasn’t there for them or just feel like they can’t get close to Him for many reasons – like feeling unworthy or not perfect enough. In part because these are some of the worst feelings in the world; and in part because these feelings are real; but they’re not true. In general, I am so driven to try to show people how much God loves them.

 

Just a few months ago, I was talking to someone and I mentioned that I was so blessed to be where I am right now because it gives me the opportunity to reach out to people I grew up with. And the person with whom I was speaking said that he had never heard of a pastor concerned about that before. I laughed; I had never thought of it as unique – I just thought it was what I was supposed to do.

 

 

Stuck; February

 

So I want to say very lovingly to many of you today that yes it happened and it was awful and it was not your fault. I want to say lovingly that the guilt you carry from what you have done in the past is crushing and suffocating you. I want to lovingly say that there is a problem but you don’t have to suffer under it anymore. I am lovingly saying that you will still be you, in fact a more wonderful you than you have ever known. You know, “we are as sick as our secrets” and I am saying lovingly that all the pretending, denying, pride and fear are only hurting you and keeping you from the goodness and grace God wants to and is ready to pour out on your heart and soul. The irony of course is that to welcome and receive that healing and restoration, you have to embrace the truth of what has happened, what you’ve done, what you can’t control anymore, and what you fear; and it is in that embrace that it’s or their power over you will end and the healing and new beginning can begin.

Maybe it starts like this, “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God…Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love for they are from of old…Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord (Psalm 25:1, 6-7).”

And when you lift up your soul and trust in Him above everything and everyone else, and He supplies you with the strength to embrace whatever ending you need to embrace today, He will absolutely be remembering you according to His love and grace. Then you’ll see that those dreams that seemed so far away will be as close as a whispered prayer. Those dreams of forgiveness and restored relationships, those dreams of getting clean or sober, those dreams of being free of guilt and the expectations of others, those dreams of being and feeling loved unconditionally, those dreams of living fearlessly and purposefully, those dreams of the past being the past, those dreams of no longer being defined by past events or decisions, those dreams of having a future with hope, those dreams of finally more fully experiencing the joy and peace of God’s presence.

 

Alive; March

 

 

Second, this passage reveals that believing and following are connected but very different. Of course, we have to believe in Christ before we know and are enabled by the Holy Spirit to follow. In this passage, Peter is a believer – perhaps the first believer when he says that Jesus is the Messiah. But, seemingly within minutes he is not following. Jesus then explains what following is – (based on believing) denying one’s self, losing our lives for his sake, setting our minds on heavenly things not earthly things. This is not easy. I’ve found that moving from believer to follower is very challenging – but it’s where we are all called to go. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “When Christ calls a person, he bids he or she, come and die.” Meaning, when we die to ourselves, we become alive in Christ, thus truly alive. Today, Christianity and churches are filled with believers (a good start) but meaning it’s pretty easy to attend a church and recite creeds and say some amens and sing some hymns; but when it comes to losing our lives for the Gospel, it’s not happening very much. This is a zombie-ish quality. It’s often called the Holy Huddle. It’s as if you were watching a football game and your team came out on the field high-fived each other, got in a huddle talked for a while and then headed for the locker room. When we go from believer to follower – our responsiveness to the Holy Spirit grows (as our fears of same decreases), our compassion for others increases, our desire for “on earth as it is in heaven” grows, serving is joyful rather than like a chore. If we want to be alive, we have to move and grow from believers to followers.

 

 

Religion or Relationship?; March

 

 

A long time ago…

 

In the middle east, a man named Jesus, the Son of God, came to save, not condemn the world by inviting all people to a relationship with Him and the Father. A real, active, alive relationship. He came at a time when religion had taken over any kind of relationship with God – loveless, elitist, joyless, rule-based, graceless, institutional religion became a god of its own. This Jesus then and today has liberated billions from death and religion and delivered them to eternal and abundant life. Sadly though, even with His Holy Spirit and His Word, people are still prisoners of this kind of religion today – even religion in Jesus’ name. I offer this note of love to awaken people to the essential differences between religion and relationship with God. I offer this to liberate prisoners. I offer this because as I feel called to reach out to and lead people back to God – therefore I also feel called to make church a safer place for them when they come home. Please read and reflect on the following…

 

 

Guess How Much God Loves You; March

 

And, this love of God doesn’t wait for us to be good or get better. It reaches us, it touches wherever it finds us – at our best or at our worst. It’s the very definition of unconditional love.

It’s the kind of love that frees and rescues.

It’s the kind of love that heals and awakens.

It’s the kind of love that lifts us to want to try again.

It’s the kind of love that leads us to want to come home.

It’s the kind of love that eclipses our past.

It’s the kind of love that opens our eyes to seeing who we really are – in God’s eyes.

It’s the kind of love that assures us that when all else fails; it never will…

Yes, God loves you and me this much…arms outstretched; pouring over and through all the walls, sins and hurts; overflowing into the very depths our hearts and souls.

 

 

Right There; April

 

Listen, it’s because the point is not to be richer or more successful or more loved as a way to achieve peace – God’s point all along with us is that our relationship with Him through Jesus is the starting point and source of our joy, grace, and peace, then all the other things will be added. It’s not about solving all our problems with cash and mantras – it’s so that we can see and endure anything that happens in our lives and still say or sing, “It is well with my soul (because I am His and He is mine).” When you and I can more and more genuinely say and believe that no matter what the circumstance – that’s abundant life, that’s living rescued and forgiven, that’s faith, that’s the peace beyond understanding.

Maybe you’ve been praying for a rescue or an answer for a long time. And you feel like it’s never come. Maybe you’ve been faithful in waiting for it – “it” as you hoped it would be. But you’re still waiting, still hoping. That’s a good thing. It’s a very good thing to recognize the need to be rescued and that God could be or is the one to turn to. And about that rescue or answer seeming delayed…

Maybe it’s because the rescue you needed, was right there all along, right in front of you…

 

Snapshots of Faith; May

 

A Prayer of Confession

Dear Jesus, we acknowledge our sins to you this morning. We have not loved others as you have asked us. We’ve chosen safety over risking. We’ve chosen convenience over reaching out. We’ve chosen our ways instead of your ways. We’ve chosen loving ourselves rather than loving others. We’ve chosen preserving over pouring out. We’ve chosen fear over trusting you. We’ve chosen indifference rather than mercy. We’ve focused more on the co$t rather than the cross. We’ve chosen to turn away instead of embracing. For all of this, for all the people we have failed to care about and reach, and more, we humbly say we are sorry, ask for your forgiveness and repent of our ways. Pour out your mercy and grace upon us that we may be made new. Renew and remake our hearts in your image – let our hearts break for those for whom your heart breaks – the poor, the alienated, the prisoners, the unloved, the broken, the ones who don’t know you, the rejected, the needy – to anyone who needs you – send us we pray. In Your name, Amen.

 

 

A New Vision for First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook; July

 

For me, I am so thankful to God. I have served at three churches and in each case He has been faithful to grant powerful and unique visions that have helped shape congregations and individual believers. Vision animates, vision unites, vision lends purpose, vision points us to possibility. Vision is a picture of what God most desires in a given context. A long time ago, when I was on a 9th grade trip to Washington D.C, wandering through the Capitol Building, I found a plaque above a door that read, “Where there is no vision, the people perish…(Proverbs 29:11).” That left such an impression on me. And beginning in college, I have sought to bring this to every endeavor of my life – personal, professional and ministry. Asking what God desires for lives, a congregation, people, and community; and passionately seeking with the Holy Spirit’s help to actualize it. Discerning and casting vision takes hard work – constant prayer, understanding the present in truth, knowing the Word, effective communication, knowing the collective gifts of the given congregation, patience and endurance, understanding God’s mission for the church, and being aware of the needs of people in the community. It is truly a gift from God in so many ways.

 

 

A Prayer for America, July 2012; July

 

 

Our Father, we are asking today for You to open the heavens and let Your rains mercifully, gently and abundantly fall upon this nation and people. Where the wildfires of violence, lust, and division burn out of control – let Your rain of peace and love cover and extinguish them. Where we experience crippling droughts of reason and sanity, let Your wisdom fall and satisfy. Where corruption and greed ravenously consume, let Your justice sweep down like a flood to purify and cleanse. Where grief and sorrow burden and weigh down, let Your rain of joy and strength lift and raise spirits. Where discouragement and desperation cloud and darken futures, let Your rain of hope reveal a rainbow of promise to come. In this time of trial for our nation in these last years and the ones to come, we ask for the power and strength through the Holy Spirit to repent and turn from away from the things and ways of death and destruction; and to turn to You, and to life, and to purpose. We cry out to you to renew and heal the soul of this nation; that we may truly become one under You. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.

 

 

Satisfaction (You can get some); September

 

Are you thirsty today? The kind of thirst that is deep in your soul? That’s good. Are you tired of trying to pursue satisfaction through stuff, people and activity? That’s good too! Because you’re in a perfect place to awaken to God’s invitation to experience the satisfaction He wants to give you. It’s a satisfaction that is purposefully designed for you, it’s full of grace, and will touch you deeply in your heart and soul.

“Come, all you who are thirsty…” and come to where there is enough; enough of something that gives life – the living water of Jesus – a supply that never runs out and is deeply, richly satisfying – more than satisfying than anything we have imagined or experienced.

 

The Return of the Joy; September

 

 

Second, when we focus more on God being able and good; we are able to let go of and focus less on circumstances. When we dwell on circumstances we can get very discouraged and be joyless. I’ve been there, I know what it’s like. After all, we think, things are so bad, there’s no solution. And often it feels like that; and many times the circumstances are awful. But if we lift our vision off the circumstances and onto God, we find joy. See, circumstances are about what we can or can’t do; circumstances are temporal; circumstances function like walls that close in on us; like prison bars. But focusing on God’s goodness and his being able to overcome anything in this world allows to see beyond circumstances and experience joy despite everything pushing against it. It’s a powerful feeling.

 

 

How’s Your Garden?; November

 

 

Yet, we have this bounteous harvest of love, peace, joy, compassion; and together we can produce fruit of salvation, changed lives, and community impact. We just need to let it out from the inside and bring it to market, so to speak.

 

It all starts with the garden though, right? We have to awaken to the source of our life fruit – which garden is our source for fruit? Is the fruit of our lives from Eden – selfishness, pride and disobeying God. Or is our fruit coming from Gethsamane – obedience, compassion, sacrifice, God’s will over ours – leading to new life. One garden leads to death and misery; the other leads to abundant life. One garden is about us; the other is about God and others. One garden is rife with weeds and thorns; the other is beautiful, full of potential, and always has room for more.

 

From which of these gardens is your fruit growing?

 

 

Even With My Dark Side?; November

 

 

For many years, I have been haunted by this question, “Will you love me, even with my dark side?” because I know it has been the source of confusion, hurt, distance for so many – it breaks my heart. I find that many people ask it and often don’t believe God’s answer. I find that many people get stuck living in their dark side; stuck in guilt, the past, mistakes, hurts, addictions and more – from which there is freedom in Christ. I also find that lots of people pretend that they don’t have dark sides; in which they lose out on the grace and joy of God; to deny that we’re sinners is to miss the whole point of Jesus.

 

But for today, if you are asking, or if you have ever asked, or if you avoid asking because you’re afraid of the answer, or if you stopped asking at some point – yes, absolutely, yes, God loves you with your dark side. And, for what it’s worth, so do I.

 

My prayer is that more and more, you find your worth, your sense of being loved and loving, your hope, and your heart in the One who is loves us more than we can ever know.

 

 

 

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

www.christopherbwolf.com

 

Christopher B. Wolf is pastor of First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook, NJ and is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and With You Every Step of the Way (2011); and the host of Walk With Me, Wednesdays 7 pm on WYFN 94.9 FM-NY and on www.yfnradio.com.

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.” N.T. Wright

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Even With My Dark Side

It’s a question that comes up a lot.  

It’s a question that many people are asking.

 

It’s a question that is very often a prayer. 

 

It’s a question that keeps people home from church on Sunday mornings.

 

It’s a question that keeps people hiding from God and from others.

 

It’s also a question that some church going people deny and hide from. 

 

This question? 

 

Well, I have heard it in many forms. And then I was driving the other day and listening to the radio and I start hearing this question in song form. It was articulated so beautifully, I was taken back. So when I got back home, I typed in a phrase I heard from the song that I heard, “Will you love me, even with my dark side?” It turns out it is a song by Kelly Clarkson, the first American Idol winner. 

 

I do celebrate the message of this of this song. It asks “the” question I was hinting at above, “Will you love me, even with my dark side?” but also expresses related ideas such as our worth, that nobody’s perfect, fear, never giving up, and staying and or running away in relationships. Then, even better, I watched the video for the song, it does a wonderful job of illustrating many issues of worth that so many of us struggle with – losing jobs, weight/body image, drugs and alcohol, loss and grief, the past, relationships, faith and others; and it offers hope. Here is a link to the video http://www.vevo.com/watch/kelly-clarkson/dark-side/GBE431200044. 

 

I don’t know about Kelly’s faith – but she has written a wonderful prayer. She may not have addressed it to God, but I encourage you to read the lyrics as if it were a prayer to God. It’s there. 

 

And guess what? As the song does a good job of answering that “we’re worth it,” the Bible offers several, wonderful, faithful, answers. 

 

Answers such as, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).” Meaning that God is and was not waiting for us to be perfect and then loving us; He loves us right now, dark sides and all. And it’s through that love that we are enabled to leave or dark sides behind.  

 

Answers such as, “God told them, “I’ve never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love, and more love (Jeremiah 31:3 MSG).” Meaning, God loves us based on His character; not based on us. Therefore there is nothing we can do to add or subtact from it. 

 

Answers such as, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).” 

 

And answers such as, “My son, the father said, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found (Luke 15:31-32).” Meaning no matter how lost, or far away, we can always come back to God. 

 

And there are many more answers, but I think these are some good examples. 

 

For many years, I have been haunted by this question, “Will you love me, even with my dark side?” because I know it has been the source of confusion, hurt, distance for so many – it breaks my heart. I find that many people ask it and often don’t believe God’s answer. I find that many people get stuck living in their dark side; stuck in guilt, the past, mistakes, hurts, addictions and more – from which there is freedom in Christ. I also find that lots of people pretend that they don’t have dark sides; in which they lose out on the grace and joy of God; to deny that we’re sinners is to miss the whole point of Jesus.

 

But for today, if you are asking, or if you have ever asked, or if you avoid asking because you’re afraid of the answer, or if you stopped asking at some point – yes, absolutely, yes, God loves you with your dark side. And, for what it’s worth, so do I. 

 

My prayer is that more and more, you find your worth, your sense of being loved and loving, your hope, and your heart in the One who is loves us more than we can ever know. 

 

Amen. 

 

 

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

www.christopherbwolf.com

Christopher B. Wolf is pastor of First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook, NJ and is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and With You Every Step of the Way (2011); and the host of Walk With Me, Wednesdays 8 pm on WYFN 94.9 FM-NY and on www.yfnradio.com.

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.” N.T. Wright

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Religion or Relationship?

A long time ago…

In the middle east, a man named Jesus, the Son of God, came to save, not condemn the world by inviting all people to a relationship with Him and the Father. A real, active, alive relationship. He came at a time when religion had taken over any kind of relationship with God – loveless, elitist, joyless, rule-based, graceless, institutional religion became a god of its own. This Jesus then and today has liberated billions from death and religion and delivered them to eternal and abundant life. Sadly though, even with His Holy Spirit and His Word, people are still prisoners of this kind of religion today – even religion in Jesus’ name. I offer this note of love to awaken people to the essential differences between religion and relationship with God. I offer this to liberate prisoners. I offer this because as I feel called to reach out to and lead people back to God – therefore I also feel called to make church a safer place for them when they come home. Please read and reflect on the following…

The religious “talk the talk.”

Those who walk with Christ “walk the walk”; it’s evident in their lives beyond Sunday.

The religious focus on performance, appearance of holiness, and achievement.

Those who walk with Christ focus more on what’s inside and on actually being faithful whatever it “looks” like. 

The religious insist on having to prove themselves to God and to others often under the guise of “excellence.”

Those who walk with Christ insist that they and their best is perfectly acceptable to God thanks to Christ, not their works. 

The religious create an atmosphere in which sin and weakness are hidden and only perfection is acceptable.

Those who walk with Christ live in the freedom of His grace and no longer fear their weaknesses and pasts nor sharing them – because they have learned that God’s strength is made perfect in their weakness (2 Corinthians 12). 

The religious believe they already know everything about God and don’t need to learn anything new.

Those who walk with Christ are humble and know they will always need to know God more; they hunger and thirst for studying His word and engaging the Holy Spirit. 

The religious emphasize membership and an “us and them; insider, outsider” mindset, as if it were a club.

Those who walk with Christ emphasize that Christ died for all; that in Christ there is no “us and them”; that their church belongs to God and is an embassy of the Kingdom for the community and world. 

The religious see church as “theirs” and something to be used and controlled; to get something from. 

Those who walk with Christ see church as God’s place where His Spirit reigns and as an opportunity to offer and give of their whole lives as living sacrifices. 

The religious focus on pleasing (certain) people.

Those who walk with Christ focus on pleasing God above all people and things and serving (all) His people. 

The religious trust in rules and traditions being enforced and kept. 

Those who walk with Christ trust in Christ alone; they respect rules and traditions but don’t allow them to discourage others or block the Holy Spirit.

The religious honor the strong, popular and successful among the members.

Those who walk with Christ honor the weak, the dishonorable and those in need (1 Corinthians 12, Matthew 25).

The religious often count on faith and salvation by heredity. 

Those who walk with Christ count on being born of the Spirit over being born of the flesh for their faith and salvation. 

The religious have a “checklist” mentality when it comes to church attendance and involvement for themselves and others.

Those who walk with Christ just love serving and glorifying God – there’s no need to measure it or “check” others. 

The religious work to make sure their church’s experience is safe and comfortable. 

Those who walk with Christ work to understand that following Jesus was, is and never will be safe and comfortable; but it will be good, amazing and Holy Spirit led. 

The religious often lack compassion because the focus is on the institution rather than the people.

Those who walk with Christ see others as gifts from God; see their needs as opportunities to serve God and show others compassion. They see church as made for God and people not the other way around.  

The religious often see people as resources, tools, and obstacles to be removed.

Those who walk with Christ see people as loved by God and to be respected and loved. 

The religious approach faith as being good and doing good; something to be put on and taken off, like a mask. 

Those who walk with Christ approach faith as being transformed inside and out into the handiwork of God, made for good works (Ephesians 2:10). 

The religious connection to God is mostly through church activities and rituals. 

Those who walk with Christ connect to God throughout the day, each day through prayer, Scripture, living, work, relationships; it’s becoming fully integrated.

The religious use judgment as a tool of control and gatekeeping. 

Those who walk with Christ use grace to always remember how thankful they are and extend the same to all others. 

The religious use the Bible as a tool for their own agendas and interests.

Those who walk with Christ use the Bible as their way and source for life; and they let it purely speak the truth into their lives daily.  

The religious trust in their self-sufficiency and self-righteousness.

Those who walk with Christ trust in Jesus’ once and perfect sacrifice on the cross to cover their sins; they trust in grace alone (Ephesians 2:8). And they know that less self equals more Christ.  

The religious are interested in church growth as long as it’s with the “right” people.

Those who walk with Christ are interested in any and all people coming to Christ. 

The religious love others when it works for them and provides affirmation for themselves.

Those who walk with Christ love others fearlessly, unconditionally, purely and sacrificially; they love like Jesus. 

The religious think that deception, division, and manipulation (any means necessary) are okay as long as they “protect” the church. 

Those who walk with Christ think that love, truth, unity, and peace are the hallmarks of Christ in community; they pray and fight for them.  

The religious view prayer as an activity, and an opportunity to show off their “spirituality.”

Those who walk with Christ view prayer as connection with the living God; an always open line to confess, repent, cry out, hear, be transformed, adore and worship, thank, intercede, be humbled and led, ask and more. 

The religious believe God is most pleased by order, success, good performances, and appearance.

Those who walk with Christ believe God is most pleased by a broken and contrite heart, faithfulness, loving and unity with others, doing justice, and thanksgiving. 

The religious are offended by invitations to grow and transform because they believe their self-righteousness has already perfected them. 

Those who walk with Christ are committed to being new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17); the old has gone, the new has come. 

The religious are ultimately fear-based – relating to God and others through fear – mostly the fear of rejection.

Those who walk with Christ are faith-based; fears are left behind in the embrace of God’s complete love in Christ. 

The religious often view pastors and other leaders as tools, threats, obstacles and people to manipulate. 

Those who walk with Christ view pastors and other leaders as sent and called by God, treating them with their due honor and authority, loving accountability, encouragement, and much prayer. 

The religious love to talk about theology but seem to have very little first-hand knowledge and experience with God.

Those who walk with Christ have a relationship with God through Christ, enabled by the Holy Spirit, founded on the Word, informed by theology, crystallized with experience. 

The religious wind up worshiping things of God (church activities, committees, music, pastors, traditions, etc.) rather than God himself. 

Those who walk with Christ worship God purely, directly, allowing nothing or no one to eclipse His light in their lives. 

The religious come to see church as a duty and responsibility. 

Those who walk with Christ joyfully see church involvement as another way to thank God for all He has done in their lives, using the gifts and passions He gave them.

Most of the time the religious are not bad people. But the problem is that they are killing their churches by suffocating the very breath of the church – the Holy Spirit – which gives life to churches. As well, most religious people are miserable inside and outside – joyless because their lives are rooted in themselves, in others and things of this world. In addition, they are literally and by perception pushing and keeping people away from their churches. For many, pretty soon, it will just be a small group of religious people and then it will close and die. If possible, even worse, religious people are not connected to God; they have no real relationship with Him. Remember when Jesus said it will be like, “I never knew you…” that’s what awaits many religious people – even though they think otherwise. Religion doesn’t save; only Jesus saves. The degree to which you find yourself being religious or relational with God will be directly proportional to your faithfulness, fruitfulness and enjoyment of God. If you belong to a church, your church’s vitality and ultimate survival will be greatly impacted by the proportion of people you have that are religious, and are relational with God. He wants your heart, your life, all of you to belong to Him. When you stop focusing on doing good and being good all that’s left is to belong to Him – I promise it will be the most wonderful relationship you have ever known.    

It’s not too late… 

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

www.christopherbwolf.com

Christopher B. Wolf is pastor of First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook and is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and With You Every Step of the Way; and the host of Walk With Me, Wednesdays 8 pm on WYFN 94.9 FM-NY and on www.yfnradio.com.

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.  N.T. Wright

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Stuck

Hello! Here is this week’s Living Water. This is a remix of Sunday’s message. Great news – whether you have a pc or a mac you can listen to Walk With Me live on Wednesday nights – 8 pm on http://www.yfnradio.com. We also have just added several new affiliates around the nation. Thanks be to God! Christopher

Feeling stuck today?

Maybe you feel stuck at a job; in a relationship; in a rut or routine that’s not helping; in an addiction; in a spiritual valley; at an organization or group?

You’ve thought about getting out but it never happens. Something else always comes up; rationalizations and compromises are made.

Are you haunted by, or overly attached to the past? Do you often wish or even exist as if the past was great and anything present or new just doesn’t match up?

Or do you avoid thinking about the past altogether because it’s too painful or shameful?

Deep down you know something is not right…

Stay and fight for a solution? Start over? They sound good but seem impossible.

What about something new altogether? That’s it! But a new start…scary.

Let it go (even though you’ve tried so many times before)?

Still stuck, right?

Stuck in the middle between old and new; comfortable and reaching; liking and loving; numbed and compassionate; circling and devoted.

Though stuck may feel safe – it’s not truly alive.

Let’s talk about why we get stuck and how we might get un-stuck.

Here are some ways we get stuck: Denial (“It’s not really over,” and “It never happened” and “I don’t have a problem”) and Pride (“It’s not going/ending the way I want it to”) and Fear (“What will a new beginning be like; who will I be if ____ ends, or I let go?”). All of these together point to something we all wrestle with – avoiding truth, reality, endings and losing control. To make things worse, I cringe when I hear the phrases, “just move on” and “swept under the rug” because they don’t work and cause even more damage beyond being stuck.

As you might imagine, truly getting unstuck might have something to do with shifts on these two – avoiding endings and losing control. Professor Walter Brueggemann explains it as, speaking from a Biblical and spiritual perspective, “only embraced endings permit new beginnings.” Not partial, not hints of endings or temporary ones – only embraced endings.

And he’s right. The Bible is filled with only embraced endings enabling new beginnings. The cross is the ultimate embraced ending…Jesus willingly went to the cross (ending) so that the dominion of sin and death could end and the resurrection and new life would occur. But also, in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:18) in which the son decided to return to his father and repent.

Listen to the words of Psalm 32 that is the voice of stuck to unstuck spiritually speaking, “While I kept silent, my bones wasted away…Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity…and you forgave the guilt of my sin… (Psalm 32:3, 5).” Do you see it? Suffering, strife while in denial or proud or afraid; then acknowledging the truth, embracing the need for God’s grace – new beginning – living forgiven.

Keep in mind, the “new” has already come – Jesus announced that the kingdom “has come near (Mark 1:15).” And in 2 Corinthians 5:17 we hear, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old has gone, the new has come.” So the denial, pride and fear can’t keep the new in anything from materializing (this is a key part of the Gospel). It’s whether or not we are going to engage it by first embracing whatever the appropriate ending is. And frankly when we are not engaged with the new that God is doing (which will always be life-giving), we are usually embracing things that are dying or of death.

So I want to say very lovingly to many of you today that yes it happened and it was awful and it was not your fault. I want to say lovingly that the guilt you carry from what you have done in the past is crushing and suffocating you. I want to lovingly say that there is a problem but you don’t have to suffer under it anymore. I am lovingly saying that you will still be you, in fact a more wonderful you than you have ever known. You know, “we are as sick as our secrets” and I am saying lovingly that all the pretending, denying, pride and fear are only hurting you and keeping you from the goodness and grace God wants to and is ready to pour out on your heart and soul. The irony of course is that to welcome and receive that healing and restoration, you have to embrace the truth of what has happened, what you’ve done, what you can’t control anymore, and what you fear; and it is in that embrace that it’s or their power over you will end and the healing and new beginning can begin.

Maybe it starts like this, “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God…Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love for they are from of old…Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord (Psalm 25:1, 6-7).”

And when you lift up your soul and trust in Him above everything and everyone else, and He supplies you with the strength to embrace whatever ending you need to embrace today, He will absolutely be remembering you according to His love and grace. Then you’ll see that those dreams that seemed so far away will be as close as a whispered prayer. Those dreams of forgiveness and restored relationships, those dreams of getting clean or sober, those dreams of being free of guilt and the expectations of others, those dreams of being and feeling loved unconditionally, those dreams of living fearlessly and purposefully, those dreams of the past being the past, those dreams of no longer being defined by past events or decisions, those dreams of having a future with hope, those dreams of finally more fully experiencing the joy and peace of God’s presence.

Amen.

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

http://www.christopherbwolf.com

Christopher B. Wolf is pastor of First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook and is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and With You Every Step of the Way; and the host of Walk With Me, Wednesdays 8 pm on WYFN 94.9 FM-NY and on http://www.yfnradio.com.

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.
N.T. Wright

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The Best of Living Water 2011

Hello: Here is the 2011 Best of Living Water! Thank you so much for your support and prayers! May God bless you in 2012. The full Living Waters from the below excerpts can be found at https://christopherbwolf.wordpress.com. Please take some time to write back/post about which ones were most meaningful to you and why. I would really love to hear from you about that 🙂 Christopher

 

Proof, January 2011

What if people said of you and me, “I know what it is to be loved by God because of the way you loved me?” That’s the kind of goal or achievement I am seeking after. That my life, my loving, my faith – all pointed to God that clearly. And think of how transforming it would be within churches and beyond them into communities! When people look at our lives, if we are doing this faithfully, the only conclusion they can come to is, “Only Christ could be the author of that kind of life.” So as God’s “letters” – there really is only one true and faithful response – “Here am I; send me.” Here we are Lord; write us with your Spirit, address us to other lonely, broken, despairing human hearts and…send us.

 

One Bread, One Body, February 2011

Second, Paul’s description redefines success, making it based on the resemblance to Christ – unity, health and functionality. According to this passage there is direct connection between a church’s health and unity and its ability to authentically resemble Jesus. So that, it doesn’t matter the size, its worship “performance,”  or its income – worldly measures of success. Do people experience the salvation, love, forgiveness, healing and transformation of Jesus? These are things that can’t be faked or fudged – a church that is depending on God and depending on one another will be obvious…This is about belonging to one another – to need others in the best and worst times of life and faith. It’s the difference between being a part of a religious social club and being part of the body of Christ – huge.

 

For Good, March 2011

So, can we come to a place in our lives, where we see our wounds, our mistakes and failures, disease, apathy and wickedness, even death – all of these terrible circumstances as part of a larger plan that we know and are convinced is for our ultimate good? And to be sure, Providence does not excuse or erase wickedness, apathy or other things; nor does it take delight in failures or catastrophes – it lovingly and compassionately supersedes and overrules them.

 

 

🙂 or +…It’s Our Choice, April 2011

 

But a big, yellow smiley face, as pleasant as it is, has no power. A smiley face has never equipped anyone to truly follow Jesus, or to forgive, to reconcile, to be merciful and gracious or to share the joy of salvation; but not only that, a smiley face has never enabled someone to overcome addiction, or leave guilt and pain behind. With all of this and more, only the cross has that power.

 

Resurrection, April 2011

As I am writing this, blossoms, buds, sprouts, and shoots, botanical ambassadors of new life, are fighting through wind, snow, earth, rocks, and other things to emerge from the ravages of winter, from death. And somehow the breathtaking symphony of color and fragrance always wins. Spring happens no matter how bad the winter was. You and I will never know what it takes for them to push through all of that to make it through to the other side. But we do know this. That through Jesus suffering and dying on the cross and being dead and buried, new life, resurrection emerged into this world and into our lives through faith. It wasn’t a snap of the fingers, it wasn’t a magic trick, it wasn’t a formula, and it was anything but easy. But it happened…

 

About Bullying, May 2011

 

At the same time, I just want to offer some solutions for schools, companies, churches and communities. First, if there is no truth about bullies, their targets and bullying episodes, there will be no healing. Schools, churches and companies can and often do try to cover it up, but it won’t work. Sometimes the calculation is made that “moving on” will cost less than “upsetting” everyone with the truth. False. The truth about bullying may be ugly and upsetting, but only when there is accountability, consequences, understanding and restoration can the body or system respond in ways that are healthy and life-giving. Because guess what – bullies and bullying systems don’t just stop after one target – and that’s just one target people may know about. If there is anything that we have learned in the last few decades about leadership – it is that credibility and dealing with issues head-on, no matter what the cost, is effective, builds trust (over time) and leads to a more secure future. Second, bullying is not just about individuals and communities – it’s a justice issue. Tolerating bullying is unjust and means that a school, church or community is operating for the few or for the “self.” Whatever you want to call them – the popular, the elites, the righteous – may be working in your school, church, company or community for the benefit of themselves and will protect it aggressively. Yet, when people are working against bullying and not tolerating it, it means that a school, church, company or community is committed to justice for all.

 

Possibility, May 2011

 

It’s happening right now somewhere – someone is facing an impossible situation – and they are getting down on their knees and praying their heart out; and somewhere someone is introducing and invoking God’s Word and Spirit where it has never been before – and with all of this – there is hope, real hope and possibility.

 

Worthy Worship, May 2011

 

The first is that we have to shift from thinking of worship as only a ritual to thinking of it as an encounter or meeting with God. Could we come to worship prepared to meet God? How, you say? You’ll find Him through hearing His Word read and proclaimed, through loving fellowship of other believers, through prayer, through praising – music or otherwise – God is there ready to meet us through the Holy Spirit…Second, and related, is that we have to shift our thinking of worship as a once a week activity to everyday. Anytime we thank, think of, devote time to, serve, sacrifice for God – this is worship…If we only walked or exercised once a week, our health and fitness would not improve much. Same thing with worship. Third, our approach as worshippers has to experience a paradigm shift. We have to go from “getting something” to “giving something.” We have to start coming to worship because we want to thank God for creating us, saving us and sustaining us. God is worthy of our worship in His own right, but then we also reflect on His marvelous works in our lives – and suddenly worship is more than an just an hour on Sunday.

 

 

Promises, June 2011

 

Beloved ones, I know that many of you are asking those and other questions today. Real, painful questions that you have been wrestling with for so long – without answers. Let’s stop shaking the Magic 8 Ball furiously until it gives us the answer we want! But when I have exchanged my search and demand for answers for remembering and embracing these promises – that’s when I have healed and moved on and seen God working new things in my life. Let God be God, and let us be His people to whom He has promised wonderful things through good times and even in the midst of suffering, trouble and sorrow. We may never have or find answers in this life – but we do have God’s promises – promises that can’t be diminished. I pray that you receive these promises as your own today – welcome, embrace, and cling to them.

 

Where You Belong, July 2011

 

Even with all its flaws, a gracious group of Christians sharing Christ and life together is the highest, purest form of community – because the bonds and connections are supernatural (the Holy Spirit) not performance or money or appearances or status – you just come and belong as you are. And it is the closest thing to thing to Heaven – it’s the closest thing to truly experiencing God’s love and presence. After all, a Christian community is an embassy of God’s Kingdom – where joy, love, justice and wholeness reign. So, hey there, what are you doing this Sunday? I know many of you have been hurt by church and by Christians. I know that it is hard to trust again. I know you want to belong and to be a part of something real. I know you might think what I am saying sounds impossible. But remember, with God all things are possible! I would love nothing more than to see you come through those doors, encounter God in new ways, as well as experience the loving embrace of people who may not know you but somehow have been waiting for you…the embrace of brothers and sisters to whom you can belong. I’ve prayed for it, I’ve dreamed about it, and one day…

 

Something’s Missing, August 2011

 

Like Red (The Shawshank Redemption), like the woman in this passage (Luke 7:36-50), when we seek and work to grasp – how forgiven we are, how we don’t deserve God’s grace (but have it anyway), how broken and hopeless we are without Him, how we can be freed of the past and from our sins, what it cost to save us (Jesus bearing our sins at the cross), and from what we are saved; our responses over time will be increasing – joy, passion, gratitude, devotion, service, hope, strength and more. Oh what is possible when a group of people who are acutely mindful of their “savedness” (over their “chosenness”) and therefore alive and new in Christ, get together and praise God, love one another and go out and seek to share that love with everyone around them in their community and the world! And when their worship and fellowship and mission and serving and giving and their living throughout the week is more and more influenced and impacted first and foremost by their joy and gratitude from being saved by God – watch out!

 

In The Broken Places, September 2011

 

I know you and I have our broken places. Real and painful. Some are because of loss and grief. Some are because of being harmed or abused. Some are because we made destructive decisions. Some are because we are addicted. Some are because we are separated or divorced. Some are because of dysfunctional relationships. Some are because of a lost job or career. Some are because of heartbreak and losing heart. There is so much brokenness in our lives and in this world! Oh, how I wish it weren’t like this! But all I can tell you is how God works – works through – not around – all the brokenness. And, He often meets us most powerfully, most obviously, and most vividly at our broken places…Strong at the broken places. Lower Manhattan Thriving after 9/11. For when I am weak, then I am strong. If you are waiting for everything to go back to normal, if you are waiting to wake up as if it were all a dream, if you are waiting until you are better or “more together” – that may not work nor may not happen. But please know you already have everything you need for God’s healing and restoration to begin…It doesn’t end at our broken places; it begins.

 

Walk With Me (the introduction to my new book, With You Every Step of the Way), October 2011

 

Like any good guide, I want to walk alongside you for a while, sharing, reflecting, and taking steps. Maybe we can even stop and sit and rest for a while together. All of our journeys include mountaintops, valleys, and wildernesses; and it often seems like the weight we carry doesn’t get any lighter. As you know, I can’t alter the journey God has graciously designed for you, but I can encourage you, whisper wisdom and insight, help reveal purpose and promise, laugh and cry with you, and make it more bearable, as well as illuminate pitfalls, landmarks, and breathtaking views along the way. So, would you walk with me for a while?

 

Heart Portrait, October 2011

Because, the kind of heart God is interested in, the kind of heart He can really work with is, “The sacrifices (worthy worship) of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise (Psalm 51:17).” Though I am sinner, may God, through the Holy Spirit, also find a growing humility, repentance and contrition for those times when my heart is turned away from God. But also for those times when life has broken my heart, may I see the loving stitches from the hand of God sewing it back together. A heart that looks more and more like a vessel that is willing to be used and poured out for God’s Kingdom and for others.

 

Season’s Healings, November 2011

Have you ever noticed that the some of the most blessed, sacred, and wonderful things in our lives have come during or after the tears? Think about the hopes and dreams that have come after tears. Think about the strength and renewal that has come after the tears. Think about the clarity and focus that has followed after our tears. Am I right? It’s no coincidence that Psalm 126:5 says, “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” As much as tears of fear, grief, sadness and isolation are a part of our lives and a part of our faith journeys, they do not have the last word; they are not the end. In fact, they are a gateway to God’s comfort, the comfort of others, truth, clarity, renewal and much more.

 

An Uncommon Love, December 2011

 

It’s the love you’ve been searching for, the love of which you’ve dreamed, the love you’ve been thirsting for…and it’s the love that doesn’t have to be sought after or found; it finds us…it has found us – that’s the baby in the manger!Oh, when we awaken to find and behold the gift of God’s uncommon love for us in our hearts and lives – it’s better than even the best Christmas morning gift opening! Then all the fear and self-serving and confusion can disappear as fast as the wrapping gets torn off presents. And then when you and I, depending on God, start to try to love others in these ways – loving spouses, children, family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, fellow church members, everyone faithfully, unconditionally, sacrificially and daringly…what’s possible is this amazing, uncommon love of God becoming more and more visible so that while it may not be a baby in a manger or a man on a cross or an empty tomb; but it will still be His body. Christ in and through you and I – loving, reaching, restoring, liberating, lifting up, and embracing right here, right now for all the world to see and know.

 

 

 

 

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

www.christopherbwolf.com

 

Christopher B. Wolf is pastor of First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook and is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and With You Every Step of the Way (September, 2011); and the host of Walk With Me, Wednesdays 8 pm on WYFN 94.9 FM-NY and on www.yfnradio.com.

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.” N.T. Wright

 

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Heart Portrait

As you may know, my family’s cardiac history is not great. So my alarmed primary care doctor sent me to a cardiologist. After the consultation, even the cardiologist was concerned – wanting to make sure I am not a “time bomb”. So they decided to do an immediate echocardiogram – taking pictures of my heart. Don’t worry, the echocardiogram revealed a typical 41 year old heart with no apparent blockages. The analysis of the pictures seemed to include measurements of atria and ventricles as well as the speed of blood flowing through them – all key stuff I am sure to cardiologists and patients. But while I was laying there listening, I kept thinking of the idea of what does God see when He looks at my heart?

 

I am pretty sure the echocardiogram, while very perceptive in its own right, did not pick up on the spiritual state of my heart. Instead, as Psalm 139:23 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart.”

 

Hopefully, the Lord finds some of the following:

 

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).” Meaning that through faith in Christ – the hardness and stubbornness and pride are fading and my heart is becoming more pliable and flexible and responsive to God’s ways over my ways. Very interesting that hardness of heart spiritually and hardness of heart physiologically (arteriosclerosis) are both destructive.

 

Because, the kind of heart God is interested in, the kind of heart He can really work with is, “The sacrifices (worthy worship) of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise (Psalm 51:17).” Though I am sinner, may God, through the Holy Spirit, also find a growing humility, repentance and contrition for those times when my heart is turned away from God. But also for those times when life has broken my heart, may I see the loving stitches from the hand of God sewing it back together. A heart that looks more and more like a vessel that is willing to be used and poured out for God’s Kingdom and for others.

 

So that more and more, “Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above (Colossians 3:1).” As our walk with Christ lengthens and deepens, our focus is less on the world and more on “things above” – in other words, on God’s priorities, on accumulating treasure in heaven rather than on earth, and on eternal thing rather than temporary stuff.

 

Then I can be better equipped to “…love one another deeply, from the heart (1 Peter 1:22).” I don’t always get it right, but so often, my heart overflows with love for others. A sacrificial love that desires to give hope, healing and grace to as many people as I can reach and touch.

 

Perhaps more than anything else about our lives, the Lord is concerned with the state of our hearts – our spiritual heart health. Clearly, God is not looking for perfect hearts – they don’t exist. But by the Word, God’s “TheoCardioGram” is looking for – hearts that belong to Him and that continuously try to make more room for Him by clearing away sin and obstacles; a heart that is broken by sin and life but is always being renewed and knows a joy and peace that nothing in this world can take away; a heart that is increasingly focused on the things of God; and a heart that is loving others richly and deeply and freely so that they will come to know God’s heart.

 

If your TheoCardioGram comes back in good shape – that’s great! If you are concerned about the spiritual state of your heart – no worries – God’s great heart and hands can reach, restore and renew the hardest, coldest, most broken hearts. Better than stents and surgeries and statins and other therapies – ask Him in prayer this very moment about your heart and His “therapy” can start immediately!

 

Amen.

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New Book and Website Kick-Off – With You Every Step of the Way

Hey there!!

 

I am excited to introduce to you the new and improved www.christopherbwolf.com thanks to my talented wife Jennifer! It has new features, a direct connection to Living Water (weekly message), more links (Twitter, FB, etc.) and information about my first book Giving Faith a Second Chance as well as my new book – released next month – With You Every Step of the Way! I believe it’s the right book for the right time. There is so much uncertainty and fear in our world and lives today – and this book comes along at this time to remind us that God is always with us as well as to reveal a path built on solid things. It will be a source of hope, inspiration and comfort each time readers turn to it. 

 

As we approach the official release date of With You Every Step of the Way – September 27 – it’s essential to start reaching out and “planting seeds” about the book. It will be available in paper, as an ebook (for IPad, Kindle, Nook) and audio. It can be pre-ordered through the publisher site at full price, http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61777-838-4 but you may want to wait until it’s on Amazon and other discount sites. So I am asking you for three things:

 

• ·        Please share this announcement or your own post/email about the book with others.

 

 

• ·        Please consider hosting a book event (i.e. brief talk and/or book signing) at your home or other location; or connecting me with your church or organization to host an event. If you have any interest in hosting an event, don’t worry about distance right now, we can look into all of that. Any general networking related to the book would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

• ·        Please pray for the message of this book to be clear and for it to reach the people God desires to receive it.

 

 

I want you to know that this is not an ego or money thing for me. Any reach or effort I am making is about sharing this message. As my father Carter and I have discussed many times – I am just a messenger, this is not about me.

 

 

It promises to be an exciting fall; lots of good things happening at our church, First Reformed of Saddle Brook as well as the release of this book. To God be the Glory!!

 

 

I want to thank you so much – many of you have been encouraging and praying for me for years (some, for my whole life!); I am so blessed with family and friend support!! Thank you and God bless you!

 

 

For Him, Christopher

 

 

 

 

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

www.christopherbwolf.com

 

Christopher B. Wolf is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and the forthcoming, With You: Every Step of the Way (September, 2011).

 

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.” N.T. Wright

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Ultimate Us

Hello! Here is this week’s Living Water! It is a chapter from my first book – Giving Faith a Second Chance. It is the first chapter from Part III – A Second Chance Offers…Possibility. It is a series of chapters that communicate about what happens when people give faith a second chance. This chapter in the book is called A Second Chance Offers…Truth. In the original manuscript it was called “Ultimate Us.” Always feel free to share Living Water! Peace, Christopher

 

 

Ultimate Us

 

Remember how we talked about being “as sick as our secrets” before?  Part of it of course is that what happened to many of us was awful.  But what makes it even worse, even more damaging, is that it’s hidden and that is where it does the most damage.  And while hidden it keeps working on us shaping us in destructive ways.  Much like a fungus that grows in the dark, it grows and takes over after a while.

There is also this strange light of an eclipse that colors everything.  As we remember, the light is strange because something has eclipsed the true light of our lives, God.  And while God’s light still shines around it, the obstruction colors everything we do.  And many times, to deal with it we say, “there is nothing wrong; there’s no problem.”  The only problem with that is many of us can see the strange light as well.  In many ways, the strange light is denial.  Denial is anything that keeps us from the truth – stories, lies, rationalizations.  Denial is anything we use to convince ourselves that everything is okay when it is not.

So we resolve that we are going to stay hidden so no one can find the real us.  We are the life of the party so that no one looks any further.  Maybe they will and maybe they won’t.  But the longer we hide, the more we disappear.  The more that we fade away, all that is left is a mask.  In addition to that, we are going to exist in this strange light of denial, never experiencing real joy or real pain.  And that is okay, we think, that is the way we want it. But, how can anyone connect to a mask and to someone in denial?  But that is okay with us, we’ll risk it because we are convinced that staying hidden and unknown is safer and less painful.  It may feel freeing at times to wear masks and live in denial, but it is very imprisoning.

But there is something that can make the difference: Claiming and remembering that God’s love for us is unconditional.  Because we have become so performance based in everything it is very hard to imagine someone, let alone God loving us for who we are (whoever that is).  And when we are loved unconditionally there is no truth in or about our lives that is so awful, painful and reprehensible that cannot be understood by God.  I know, I know it sounds ridiculous.  But this love of God is very much like a light.  A light that can shatter any darkness.  It is a light that can shine through any mask.

But we have to understand one thing.  Once we let God’s light into our lives the truth becomes clearer.  There is nothing so clarifying as the light of God’s love.  That is why so many of us stay home from church and stay away from God.  Fear, judgment – we are wise to avoid these.  But we are missing out on something else.  What looks horrible and awful in the dark becomes comprehensible and hopeful in God’s light and love.  The disfigured face behind the mask becomes beautiful.  This is the Gospel found in stories like Beauty and the Beast.

Though, the idea of being found, the idea of being unmasked is still terrifying.  Because we get so used to hiding the in dark or behind masks that to come out from behind them it very uncomfortable – thus misery…at first.

Listen to these words from Jesus, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”  Now, from my perspective he is talking about two truths.  The first is the Truth that he is the messiah.  The second one is about truth – the truth of life.

One way to think of this is – we will never heal, we will never even come close to being whole, we will never be free until we acknowledge the truth of our lives.

It is only when we engage and inspect and accept the truth that we can begin to heal; but we don’t have to do this alone.  The alternate ending to a life of masks and strange light and darkness is being held by God and living in the truth.

The masks and the secrets can melt and dissolve away; revealing the truth of our lives, which is God’s work still in progress – remember the reason and how he is making all things new.  Darkness and denial and secrets can’t stop it.  The light of God’s love can melt and shatter them, if we become brave enough to let it in.

And in that light, there is a way in which like some kind of miracle mirror – instead of seeing the damaged, masked, hidden and unrecognizable image of ourselves we see each day, we can begin to see the face that God lovingly sees, the face, the person, which is the possible, ultimate us…

 

Reflection Questions

Can you think of some areas of your life about which you are in denial?

What do you think or feel when you hear the idea that what is horrible in our lives can become “comprehensible and hopeful” in God’s light and love?

Can you think of some things to face the truth about as well as some things that need to be let go?

 

 

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

www.christopherbwolf.com

Christopher B. Wolf is pastor of First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook, New Jersey. He is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and the forthcoming, With You Every Step of the Way (2011).

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.” N.T. Wright

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Still

A lot of people think that only “good” people go to church.

A lot of people think that they are no longer worthy to be near God or be involved with God’s people.

A lot of people think that their sins and pasts disqualify them from having a God-given purpose.

But, see, there’s this thing called grace.

And while a dictionary definition of grace would say something like, “God’s unmerited favor,” it goes way beyond that in real life. It’s part unmerited favor yes, but it’s also part love, part forgiveness, part healing, part liberation, part surprise, part restoration and of course saving.

We see it over and over in the Bible. So many people in the stories of the Bible are essays of grace. Three in particular that I would encourage you to look at would be the woman at the well (John 4), Zacchaeus (Luke 19), and Paul (Acts 9). Just looking at these three we see a clear pattern emerge about how God’s grace works. Let me show you…

God’s grace is His alone to give – If a lot of people think that only “good” people are at church or that they are somehow disqualified or unworthy. Think again. God’s grace is not distributed by the “holier” people. It comes only from God. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith (in Christ) – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).” But this verse, the stories of the woman at the well, Zacchaeus and Paul all reveal that God’s grace is unearned, undeserved and unwarranted – for all of us!!

Not one of us is worthy. And yet, it comes anyway!! As the old hymn says, “O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood; To every believer, the promise of God; The vilest offender who truly believes; That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.” The grand total of sin will never be more than God’s grace. After the cross it went from sin>grace to sin<grace. And once it is yours, no one and nothing in all creation, life or death can take it away because after all it came from God.

God’s grace is transforming – For the woman at the well, Zacchaeus and Paul and others, once they encountered Jesus, there was no going back; they were changed forever. And if you think about it, it has to be that way. Once we have comprehended that God has chosen to give us His grace, once we are in Christ – we have gone from dead to alive spiritually and eternally. Jesus said, “Anyone here who believes what I am saying right now and aligns himself with the Father…is no longer condemned to be an outsider…and has taken a giant step from the world of the dead to the world of the living (John 5:24 The Message).”

An encounter with Jesus and God’s grace is life-changing – sometimes like a lightning bolt, sometimes gradual, but always transforming. And the encounter for these three was not demeaning or condemning – yes it was convicting; but it was loving too. Jesus didn’t tell them how awful they were in the hopes of forcing them to change. That is what some Christians think; but Jesus didn’t operate that way and neither should we! Instead as Paul (after his transformation) said, “In kindness he (God) takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into radical life-change (Romans 2:4 The Message).” It’s how people are able to go from lost to found, hurt to healed, weak to strong, broken to whole, from isolated to community.

And for my dear friends who stay away from church, for even the most valid reasons, they are missing out on encounters with Christ. Yes, prayer and reading the Bible can be transformative and nature is serene; but it is only within the context of the body of Christ (church) where the Word of God is proclaimed, the Holy Spirit at work in and with the fellowship of believers – this is where full, transforming encounters with Christ most often occur today – because it is in the “flesh.”

God’s grace gives purpose – After their encounters with Christ in the flesh, the woman at the well became like an apostle – telling others the good news; Zaccahaeus returned the money he stole; and Paul became an apostle. In other words, this grace that God gives though transforming encounters with Jesus offers purpose – purpose for life. By the “holier than thou” lens – none of these “unlikely” people would be “worthy” for a God-given purpose. Yet clearly God chose them to serve as revelations of His grace and we are still learning from them thousands of years later!!

We spend a lot of time trying to figure out our purposes in life. It may be elusive because true, eternal purpose is sealed in an envelope of God’s grace. When we try to figure out purpose apart from God’s grace – we may stumble upon “good” things, but it’s nothing compared to the specifically, uniquely designed purpose that comes from God for us. This is because God’s grace comes through our lives – woven into the fabric, not a plastic cover. Even through all the wrong turns, mistakes and brokenness – the grace is at work making us new. To me, the most authentic testimonies of God’s grace are from people who seemed the most “lost” and yet God worked amazing purposes in their lives despite it all.

My dear one, I want you to know today, that God still loves you; you can’t stop Him. I want you to know that God is still pouring out His grace upon you – no matter how unworthy or undeserving you may feel. I want to convince you that you still can be transformed by knowing Jesus more and more. I want to assure you that still enclosed in all this grace is the purpose for which you have been searching. I want you to believe that there is still a group of God’s people who will embrace and love you. And I want you to see that your story, however unlikely it may at the moment appear to fit into God’s story, makes it all the more likely to be filled with grace – because God specializes in blessing and “gracing” the unlikely ones – still.

Amen.

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

www.christopherbwolf.com

Christopher B. Wolf is pastor of First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook, New Jersey. He is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and the forthcoming, With You: Every Step of the Way (2011).

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.” N.T. Wright

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Beneath

“For the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

Remember the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast, and how the prince became a beast? An old woman comes to his castle asking for shelter and he is so repulsed by her appearance, he turns her away. She cautions him not look upon “outward appearances” but he ignores her and tries to send her away. She then reveals that she is a witch of some kind and casts this spell on him that turns him into an ugly, repulsive beast.

Or how about the toys on stuck on the Island of Misfit Toys in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer?

There is some important truth in these stories about judging by appearance.

And we are doing this all the time. We look at people’s clothes, cars, personal hygiene, wealth, good looks (or not) – all superficial things to make decisions and judgments about people. Sometimes if you listen carefully on the news, when bad things happen to people, it is often commented on how they were so “beautiful” or “attractive.” Does it mean that it isn’t so sad when “ugly” people have bad things happen to them?

Billions of dollars are spent each year on surgeries, cosmetics, clothes and other things all for the purpose of “looking good.” Consider our main cultural influences such as movies, television and other media – all based on appearance.

This above verse is from when Samuel is asked to seek out the new king of God’s people and thinks that Jesse’s oldest, most handsome son is the “one.” And God says to Samuel, “…man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

It is still true today. We look on the outward appearance in relationships, at work, at church, in school, in neighborhoods and communities. How one appears is the first and often the last factor in how consider and look at others.

How many times have we written off or avoided people who weren’t dressed “appropriately?” How many times have we come to conclusions about others before even getting to know them, based on things to do with their appearance?

God’s point to Samuel is very true today. Samuel was basing his decision on who “looked” like a king. The current king at the time, Saul, appeared strong and handsome, but did not have a heart for God. And this is the heart of the matter.

First, we should imitate God when we “look upon others.” We need to have the ability to look through appearance to see and know someone’s heart before we come to any conclusions about them. I know, I know, it takes patience, it takes effort, it takes understanding – it takes the Holy Spirit’s help. But when you can look upon someone’s heart, it is always a blessing. Sometimes it is hidden deep beneath surface because of pain or hurt or the past. It is always worth the journey.

In high school and into college I had bad acne. I didn’t want to look in the mirror most of the time. And even though it was just my face, it affected my life. I think there were many times where I made it hard to look upon my heart. I was more concerned about appearance than heart. But there were some brave and patient people who hung in there and found it and I remain forever grateful. I like to think I am doing the same thing today when I reach out to those whose hearts are hidden or don’t fit in.

Second, we need to see others’ hearts because when we look at the outward appearance we can be easily fooled. While we are all spending so much time and money on our appearances, it is often designed to distract or hide our inside – which we fear might not be attractive or might be rejected. How many times have we thought we knew people based on what we saw and then realized that we were wrong? Too many times.

How easy was it Jesus’ time to have looked at him and said, “This is God’s Son?” He’s the carpenter’s son from Nazareth, they said. They missed the most beautiful heart the world has ever known.

Finally, when we focus on our outward appearance and not our inside or character, it is vain. God isn’t concerned with what we are wearing or how attractive we are. He is concerned about how our hearts are growing in faith and obedience to Him.

Maybe you feel like or know a “misfit.” Maybe you feel like or know “beasts.” Have hope, there are some Rudolphs and Belles out there who look beyond the surface to find the hearts of others.

Maybe you could be one who begins to “look upon the hearts” of others and find blessings and treasures you never imagined.

Amen.

Discussion Questions

1. How much do you focus on appearance for yourself? For others? Is it working?
2. Why do we look on the outward appearance?
3. What does it take to see someone’s heart?
4. What would be different if we were more purposeful about seeing others’ hearts?

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

www.christopherbwolf.com

Christopher B. Wolf is pastor of First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook, New Jersey. He is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and the forthcoming, With You: Every Step of the Way (2011).

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.” N.T. Wright

Read Full Post »