Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways. . . but now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son (Hebrews 1:1-2). It is His birth we are striving to remember in the midst of holiday hecticness. Jesus, the Son of God-let us cling to Him and never stop trusting (Hebrews 4:14).
Never stop trusting the gift described in Hebrews.
He is the. . .
· Reflector of God's glory 1:3
· Exact representation of God 1:3
· Cleanser of the stain of sin 1:3
· Occupier of the place of honor 1:3
· Right hand of the majestic 1:3
· One greater than angels 1:4
· Taster of death 2:9
· Bringer of others to glory 2:10
· Perfect leader 2:10
· Maker of holy ones 2:11
· Unashamed of his brothers 2:11
· Destroyer of the power of the devil 2:14
· Deliverer of those enslaved 2:15
· Partaker of humanity 2:17
· Merciful high priest 2:17
· Taker away of sin 2:17
· Helper of the tempted 2:18
· Messenger of God 3:1
· Deserver of more glory 3:3
· Confidence of our hope 3:6
· Faithful son 3:16
· Key to the place of rest 4:3
· Ascended one 4:14
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive mercy, and we will find grace to help us as we need it.
To all who read these musings, may your worship of the Perfect Leader be rich and full this Christmas.
*All references based upon the NLT.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Getting the Gerunds Wrong
I have to admit that most of the time when I was in school academics was not a priority. So I could often get by with C's and B's based on my half hearted efforts at homework and tests, but because of my lack of commitment, focus and priority there were a number of holes of my own making in my educational background. Many of these would be exposed and require correction why I was in college.
For instance until I was in Greek, I had no idea what a gerund was and how it was different from an infinitive. Here's what I learned.
Gerunds are formed with ING: walking, talking, thinking, and listening
Infinitives are formed with TO: to walk, to talk, to think, to listen
Gerunds and infinitives can do several jobs:
Both can be the subject of a sentence::
Writing in English is difficult.
To write in English is difficult.
Both can be the object of a verb::
I like writing in English. I like to write in English.
But...
Only gerunds can be the object of a preposition::
We are talking about writing in English.
Here is the big thing I learned about gerunds and infinitives.
Gerunds are often used when actions are real, concrete or completed::
I stopped writing.
(The writing was real and happened until I stopped.)
Infinitives are often used when actions are unreal, abstract, or future:
I stopped to write.
(I was doing something else, and I stopped; the writing had not happened yet.)
As believers we often get the gerunds wrong. I'm not talking about the syntax of a sentence. I'm talking about the theology of "praying and doing".
It is very easy to approach life, our work, our ministries, a project, a challenge and get the gerunds wrong. Let me illustrate.
Many of us approach life by doing everything we can to succeed, working hard, planning, theorizing, strategizing, organizing, pushing ourselves. If a problem arises we throw ourselves into it, working hard to fix it, seeking to control it, striving to overcome it. Occasionally we stop "doing" (gerund) "to pray" (infinitive).
Sound familiar?
Stopping "to pray" may be little more than a token acknowledgement that you want God to bless all you are "doing." Stopping "to pray" may be triggered by stress, burn out, overload, fear of failure or even just the guilt of having forgotten to pray. Sometimes stopping "to pray" is a desperate cry for help. We stop "believing it is all on us", we stop "depending on our gifts and skills", we stop "assuming we have the answers" and turn to God "to ask for a bail out plan."
Do you see the problem? It's in the use of the gerunds.
Too often we approach everything with the emphasis on "doing" and only occasionally do we stop "to pray." The use of the gerund on what we do and an infinitive on prayer reveals our dependency upon our works, our talents, our abilities. When we are doing we are not praying. We stop the one to start the other.
I'm convinced that is not the way a leader should lead. Look at Paul's advice he gave in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
Always keep on praying. TLB
pray constantly, RSV
pray without ceasing; NAS
pray continually; NIV
pray all the time; MSG
Never stop praying. NLT
It's never been about stopping to pray. It's always been about "doing and praying." It may be that the hardest challenge for any naturally gifted leader is to believe that there is a big difference between "doing and praying" and just "stopping to pray".
What about you, do you tend to just stop to ask for a blessing? Or are you leading by "doing and praying?"
This next calendar year, this leader will be seeking to get the gerunds right.
For instance until I was in Greek, I had no idea what a gerund was and how it was different from an infinitive. Here's what I learned.
Gerunds are formed with ING: walking, talking, thinking, and listening
Infinitives are formed with TO: to walk, to talk, to think, to listen
Gerunds and infinitives can do several jobs:
Both can be the subject of a sentence::
Writing in English is difficult.
To write in English is difficult.
Both can be the object of a verb::
I like writing in English. I like to write in English.
But...
Only gerunds can be the object of a preposition::
We are talking about writing in English.
Here is the big thing I learned about gerunds and infinitives.
Gerunds are often used when actions are real, concrete or completed::
I stopped writing.
(The writing was real and happened until I stopped.)
Infinitives are often used when actions are unreal, abstract, or future:
I stopped to write.
(I was doing something else, and I stopped; the writing had not happened yet.)
As believers we often get the gerunds wrong. I'm not talking about the syntax of a sentence. I'm talking about the theology of "praying and doing".
It is very easy to approach life, our work, our ministries, a project, a challenge and get the gerunds wrong. Let me illustrate.
Many of us approach life by doing everything we can to succeed, working hard, planning, theorizing, strategizing, organizing, pushing ourselves. If a problem arises we throw ourselves into it, working hard to fix it, seeking to control it, striving to overcome it. Occasionally we stop "doing" (gerund) "to pray" (infinitive).
Sound familiar?
Stopping "to pray" may be little more than a token acknowledgement that you want God to bless all you are "doing." Stopping "to pray" may be triggered by stress, burn out, overload, fear of failure or even just the guilt of having forgotten to pray. Sometimes stopping "to pray" is a desperate cry for help. We stop "believing it is all on us", we stop "depending on our gifts and skills", we stop "assuming we have the answers" and turn to God "to ask for a bail out plan."
Do you see the problem? It's in the use of the gerunds.
Too often we approach everything with the emphasis on "doing" and only occasionally do we stop "to pray." The use of the gerund on what we do and an infinitive on prayer reveals our dependency upon our works, our talents, our abilities. When we are doing we are not praying. We stop the one to start the other.
I'm convinced that is not the way a leader should lead. Look at Paul's advice he gave in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
Always keep on praying. TLB
pray constantly, RSV
pray without ceasing; NAS
pray continually; NIV
pray all the time; MSG
Never stop praying. NLT
It's never been about stopping to pray. It's always been about "doing and praying." It may be that the hardest challenge for any naturally gifted leader is to believe that there is a big difference between "doing and praying" and just "stopping to pray".
What about you, do you tend to just stop to ask for a blessing? Or are you leading by "doing and praying?"
This next calendar year, this leader will be seeking to get the gerunds right.
Monday, December 7, 2009
An Identity with the Call
For over four years every Sunday morning worship service at Norwalk Alliance Church has begun with an introduction by the pastor, followed by an identity statement with the entire conversation responding.
"Good morning, I'm Pastor Bruce Rzengota, Lead pastor at Norwalk Alliance Church, and this is my wife, Cheryl. And we're the Norwalk Alliance Church and we're. . .
"Living the Call Together," responds the congregation.
Every Sunday. Without fail. Why? How we identify ourselves helps define our lives.
How the Apostle Paul identified himself defined his life. Look at 2 Timothy 1:1 in these translations[1]
This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I have been sent out to tell others about the life he has promised through faith in Christ Jesus. NLT
I, Paul, am on special assignment for Christ, carrying out God's plan laid out in the Message of Life by Jesus. MSG
I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus just as God planned. He sent me to tell about the promise of life that is found in Christ Jesus. NIRV
From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. God sent me to tell about the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus. NCV
No matter how you read it, what Paul claimed to be (identity) defined his mission.
I'm half Polish. That's enough Polish blood to claim that I am Polish, but other than having had to endure numerous Polack jokes as a kid growing up, there are not many ways that my Polish heritage defines my life. I guess you could say I've eaten haluski, guampki, perogi, keilbasi, but I am not defined by that claim I am Polish.
Does the title you claim (identity) define your life mission? How does claiming to be a Christian, a follower of the Forgiver, a pastor, an elder, a church leader, how do they define fine you? Does what you do flow from who you claim to be?
--The Man In the Window --
-- A Follower of the Forgiver --
-- A man seeking to lead others to him --
[1] NLT - New Living Translation, MSG - The Message, NIRV - New International Readers Version, NCV - New Century Version
"Good morning, I'm Pastor Bruce Rzengota, Lead pastor at Norwalk Alliance Church, and this is my wife, Cheryl. And we're the Norwalk Alliance Church and we're. . .
"Living the Call Together," responds the congregation.
Every Sunday. Without fail. Why? How we identify ourselves helps define our lives.
How the Apostle Paul identified himself defined his life. Look at 2 Timothy 1:1 in these translations[1]
This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I have been sent out to tell others about the life he has promised through faith in Christ Jesus. NLT
I, Paul, am on special assignment for Christ, carrying out God's plan laid out in the Message of Life by Jesus. MSG
I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus just as God planned. He sent me to tell about the promise of life that is found in Christ Jesus. NIRV
From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. God sent me to tell about the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus. NCV
No matter how you read it, what Paul claimed to be (identity) defined his mission.
I'm half Polish. That's enough Polish blood to claim that I am Polish, but other than having had to endure numerous Polack jokes as a kid growing up, there are not many ways that my Polish heritage defines my life. I guess you could say I've eaten haluski, guampki, perogi, keilbasi, but I am not defined by that claim I am Polish.
Does the title you claim (identity) define your life mission? How does claiming to be a Christian, a follower of the Forgiver, a pastor, an elder, a church leader, how do they define fine you? Does what you do flow from who you claim to be?
--The Man In the Window --
-- A Follower of the Forgiver --
-- A man seeking to lead others to him --
[1] NLT - New Living Translation, MSG - The Message, NIRV - New International Readers Version, NCV - New Century Version
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