11.20.09 Friday Insights from Darren Lippe

“I spy with my little eye…” starts off the popular children’s guessing game that has been a blessing on many a long car trip for parents with youngsters.

 Jesus is playing a little “I Spy’ with us in today’s scripture selection.  Jesus urges us to “not worry.” His first contention is for us to “consider the lilies of the field.”  Let’s ponder why He might suggest this.

 When we look at the scenery around us, what do we see?  Perhaps the beautiful colors of the leaves remind us of debris that will need to be raked & bagged.  Perhaps a thunderstorm points out the danger & vulnerability that we all occasionally experience.  Or perhaps, in the midst of our hectic pace, we completely overlook the many scenes of our everyday life.  Maybe we are missing something.

 In the city of Florence, Italy there is an old building that 700 years ago was once a palace.  Around 1300, the artist, Giotto, painted a portrait of the poet Dante in a mural on a wall of the palace.  Over time, the palace became a jail for common criminals & its walls were covered with whitewash.  Giotto’s portrait was all but forgotten under the grime & multiple coats of paint.  In 1840, the mural was rediscovered.  Since it is the only portrait of Dante done during Dante’s lifetime, its value is beyond estimation.  The building, The Bargello, is now a museum & gallery.  A wall that was once was perceived as plain & common now reveals a great artist’s beautiful creation.

 When Jesus looked to the lilies of the field, He saw the loving handiwork of God.  To Jesus, the field is alive & filled with the proof positive of God’s amazing touch & care.  One can imagine God smiling at the beautiful field of flowers as each plant tries to “out-do” each other in proclaiming God’s awesome creation.

 Perhaps our perception is skewed.  If we didn’t see God as some distant being far away from us & our worries, then maybe we’d be able to take Jesus’ charge to heart.  If we began to see God’s great care & love in creation all around us, then perhaps we’d come to understand God’s great care & love for our needs as well.

 The common wall at The Bargello became transformed with the discovery of Dante’s portrait.  The portrait had always been there, but was not seen.  Perhaps we need to wash away our blindness & complacency, to reveal the great Artist’s beautiful creation that demonstrates His love.  Perhaps if we start to consider the beauty of the earth as proof of God’s love, then we can begin entrusting our worries to God’s care.  Let’s play a little “I Spy” today & see where we can spot examples of God’s amazing touch.

11.19.09 Thursday Insights from Rev. Wendy Lyons Chrostek

I am reminded of a Seinfeld episode when I think of this passage of Scripture.  One night, George has gone out on a date at the restaurant where he and his friends frequently dine.   While there, Elaine stops by and they ask if she would like them to order her any food to go.  She responds that she would like a big salad. So, Elaine leaves, they order the salad, and George picks up the tab.  When they deliver the salad to Elaine, George’s date gives her the salad and accepts the thank you.  George is infuriated…it wasn’t that he really wanted to receive a thank you, it was just the principle that Elaine has thanked the wrong person and his date so casually accepted the gratitude.   Finally George can’t stand it anymore and so he tells Elaine.  It somehow gets back to George’s date that he went out of his way to make sure that Elaine knew that it was him who bought the salad.  When she confronts him, his response is “How does a person who has virtually nothing to do with the big salad claim responsibility for that salad and accept a thank you under false pretenses.” 

Now, there are ways that we can take this little story a bit too far so far as to never accept a compliment for the things that we do, but I think that there is an interesting principle behind it.  If we go around believing that we deserve the credit for the wealth we receive and forget to acknowledge that the power and the gifts that make it possible for us to earn that wealth come from God– then we’re missing out on the opportunity to thank God for these blessings in our lives.  And it isn’t like we always do it intentionally, because often times it’s because we truly have worked so hard to get where we are.  But there’s something to be said for keeping in the forefront of our mind the blessings that God has bestowed upon us.  And when we do take the opportunity to thank God, we are the ones who feel truly blessed, for the more we think about the gifts we have, the more we realize we have.  It’s funny, when you really start to think about all that you have to be happy for, you can come up with a rather long list.  So, over the next week, I hope you’ll start compiling a list of things that you are thankful for, so that when Thanksgiving comes, you’ll be able to overflow with gratitude.  And with gratitude also comes a great attitude.

11.18.09 Wednesday Insights from Pastor Nicole Conard

James encourages to live aligned with God’s purposes. In today’s passage, he emphasizes living life with humility, justice, endurance, and patience.

James starkly portrays that wealth can be an obstacle to aligning ourselves with God’s purposes. He is not saying wealth or money is bad, but we need to be aware of possible pitfalls.   Sometimes acquiring wealth can give us a false sense of security or we feel morally superior to others. We may decide that we must have all things now and not wait. Other stumbling blocks could be that we focus more on ourselves than sharing generously with others.

James’ admonishment reminds us to be patient, humble and care for others well.  To watch how we can be people who exemplify these characteristics.  Today take a moment in silence – reflect and see if there are stumbling blocks that can hinder you from being patient, humble and just.

May we be people who are humble, just, patient, and generously give to others.

11.17.09 Tuesday Insights from Pastor Molly Simpson

As I was signing in to write this post, a bit on the wordpress homepage caught my eye–it was an exerpt from someone’s post called “Running Out of Space.”  The author writes about the amazing progression of the size of hard drives on computers–how we have gone from 30gb hard drives that seemed huge to the new standard of 1tb as default.   The author muses: 

“When did we ever find the need to have 1tb of information on our computers?! … We’ve amassed so much junk, haven’t we? I can barely fit my life into my 160gb Hard Drive currently, but I remember a day when I didn’t know what to do with a 30gb computer. My how times change, but more poignantly…my how our lives are full of junk.”

That reminded me of our rich man with the abundant harvest (from today’s passage, Luke 12:16-21) who decides to tear down his barns to build bigger ones to store his crops so he can take it easy and enjoy life.  But much like our computer hard drives, when we store up material wealth, it never quite satisfies and we always end up wanting (or “needing”) more.  For this farmer, he has invested in the wrong thing–he thinks his security comes from the large barns filled with grain when in fact his richness towards God is what is about to be measured. 

So what about us?  Beyond our computers full of junk, do we have rooms in our houses stockpiled with toys that didn’t hold our interest or closets with lovely clothing that we hoped would define us?  Take a look in the garage or the basement or the attic–the places we store things many of which we don’t really need or use.  Now consider what it means to be rich toward God… do we store up time to deepen our relationship with Jesus?  Do we collect prayers on behalf of others?  Take a look around the house–is there evidence of our faith anywhere?  Try this with me today–find some material thing in your house and give it away, then intentionally seek to be spiritually wealthy by spending time in prayer with God.  Perhaps we will find this to be the most “successful” day we’ve had in awhile. 

Rev. Molly Simpson is the Campus Pastor of Resurrection West, and is available by emailing Molly.Simpson@rezwest.org.

11.16.09 Monday Insights from Pastor Andrew Conard

This is a pretty amazing story. Elijah has transitioned from a place where God has provided for his food and drink to encounter this widow whom God has told him will provide him with food and water. I am amazed at Elijah’s boldness in going to a woman that he has just met and declaring that not only will she provide him with food, but that her food supplies will continue to be sufficient to provide for her family. I am amazed at the boldness of the widow in telling a man whom she has just met the honest truth about the dire circumstances in which she finds herself and the boldness to trust Elijah in sharing her last bit of food.

This is truly a story of God’s work. I appreciate Elijah’s trust in God and the widow’s honesty about the circumstances in her life. In my own life, I find that it is at times more difficult to share honestly with others when I am struggling than to trust for God’s provision. Trusting in God’s provision may involve conversations with my family, but most of all it is based on my relationship with God. It is much more difficult for me to share those struggles with someone else. However, I find that when I share what is really going on in my life, I allow others to support me when it is needed. Likewise, when I offer help to someone who has made themselves vulnerable to me, I find my own faith and life strengthened.

This is the paradox of God’s provision – sharing the strength and truth of God with others does not decrease, but instead strengthens my own relationship with God. Following God’s call to ministry, marriage and to serve in Kansas have been times in my life in which I have trusted in God and found God’s provision to be sufficient and God’s blessings to be overflowing.

11.13.09 Friday Insights from Darren Lippe

Reading Paul’s remarks to Timothy about wealth & contentment, I came across this suggested script for the old T.V. game show, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire? – Biblical Edition.”  (Needless to say, the conflicting themes between Paul’s teachings & the show’s concept doomed the collaboration from the start.)

 First question for $500, Paul’s letter to Timothy famously states (NIV):

1. Money is evil
2. Evil has its roots in money
3. The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil
4. Don’t love evil money

 Correct Answer = C.  Money & material things are not evil, but the love or desire for wealth will always become a problem.

 For $1,000, Paul advises us that contentment is desirable.  What does contentment mean?  (Using a Fifty-Fifty Lifeline, 2 incorrect choices have already been eliminated.)

1. An inner sufficiency that maintains peace in spite of outward circumstances
2. Having enough wealth to provide security from life’s challenges

 Correct Answer = A.  The desire for wealth is built on an illusion:  security.  Money can never provide the much-desired feeling of peace.

 For $2,000, the estimated global average annual income is:

1. $50,000
2. $25,000
3. $7,000
4. $18,500

 Correct Answer = C.  Bear this in mind as we think of “those” rich people & “their” unhealthy attitude toward money.  Many in the world may view us as rich. (Source:  The Boston Globe)

 For $4,000 what is the most effective way to attain wealth?

1. Never invest in anything that eats or needs repairing
2. Buy low, sell high.
3. When you can’t sell high, don’t buy
4. Learn the difference between needs & desires.  Limit your desires.

 Correct Answer = D.  Our desires will never be met.  There will always be an upgrade just in time for the next Christmas season.  If you ever want to see yesteryear’s “indispensable”  & “must-have” gadgets, then check out Resurrection’s annual rummage sale.  As a little kid, I recall my Grandfather telling me the secret to doubling my money:  pull the dollar out of your billfold, fold it in half, & put it back.

 Is money the focus of our lives?  Are we busily striving to attain wealth, but not feeling any contentment?  Today might be a good day for us to use a lifeline and call on God.  We could ask for His assistance in transforming our lives, as we seek the ever-lasting peace & contentment that can come from a life with Christ.

11.12.09 Thursday Insights from Pastor Penny Ellwood

I went with a couple of girlfriends recently to a favorite shopping spot north of KC that I only get to once or twice a year.   A place I have enjoyed going to over the years to see the latest in home accessories.  I usually find one or two things there that I “just can’t live without.”  Things I generally need like another hole in the head!  It was so satisfying this trip to look at everything and appreciate the beauty of the arranging but not want to take any of it home.   I’m into simplifying my life these days and paring down. I’m finding I don’t need all the “things” in order to realize contentment.

Contentment is an illusive commodity today. In fact, much of the business world works hard to breed dis-content so that we’ll just keep buying products.  There’s always something “new and improved” that we have to have to “keep up with the times.”  Have you ever thought about it?  The entire marketplace is bent on creating dis-ease; trying to make us feel dis-satisfied with life by playing to our greed. They want us to believe that we are not significant if we don’t have the best and the newest.  

It really seems that contentment begins to grow when we come to understand that our greatest treasure is our relationship with the Savior. Discontent comes from feeling that we have been deprived. But when we understand what we truly “deserve” and compare it to what we have received in Christ, then nothing else matters but Christ.  There is nothing anywhere that compares in value to what we have been given by God’s grace. We are the richest of people because of His mercy.  When we live with that knowledge we are given strength to face any situation.  This is what Paul is saying,  ”I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.”

We find contentment in the fact that God has promised that He would take care of us. No matter what the circumstance of life, the promises hold. He will protect, defend, guide, strengthen everyone who is willing to follow Him.  This contentment allows us to be completely present in the moment, to enjoy a day with friends, just for the beauty of the day itself.  How blessed we are!

11.11.09 Wednesday Insights from Pastor Russell Brown

In this chapter of Paul’s second letter to the churches in the city of Corinth, we find him exhorting the members of that church to greater and greater lengths of charitable giving. He does this by – in a sense – “shaming” them into giving by holding up the example of the extreme generosity of their sister churches in Macedonia (v. 1 and 2). Paul paints quite a vivid picture when he tells the Corinthians that out of their extreme poverty the gifts of these churches “… overflowed in a wealth of generosity.” (v. 2)

Obviously Paul is talking about financial giving in this part of his letter. But since we pause to celebrate Veteran’s Day today (a holiday originally created to mark the signing of the Armistice agreement ending World War I), let’s widen the concept of giving just a little bit and talk about the sacrificial giving of the men and women of the U.S. Armed Services. The act of volunteering to serve in the military is an act of giving at the most profound and basic level. It involves a decision to put personal safety aside in defense of the greater community.

In one sense, giving of any kind is a practice that flies directly in the face of our culture’s definition of “the good life.” Those preoccupied with the hoarding of life or of wealth are downright puzzled by the notion of voluntarily giving ANYTHING away. And yet, in reality, every decision we make to do “X” necessarily entails deciding to give up the chance to do “Y” in that same moment. So we are forever engaged in the act of giving things away… whether we realize it or not. The question is, how do we make giving an intentional act and use our giving to bring new life and new options to the world around us?

When we take Jesus at his word, we find out that conscious, sacrificial giving of our whole selves is really the key to life. In Mark 10:45 we read Jesus’ words that reminds us that: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

 To some, giving our money, giving our goods, or giving our lives voluntarily does not make any sense whatsoever. In God’s hands though, giving is the doorway to God’s kingdom.

11.10.09 Tuesday Insights from Pastor Scott Chrostek

Growing up in an affluent suburb of metropolitan Detroit, I learned a lot about the power of a job title.  My surroundings taught me that a person’s job title, the title listed on one’s business card, determined the car you drove, the house you lived in, the number of friends you had, and the amount of joy you had in life.   The better the job title, the better the car, bigger the house, the more friends you had, and the more joy you experienced.  I was taught that one’s fulfillment (a person’s joy) was directly proportionate to the prestige of his or her job title.  It was a simple formula really, one I could easily grasp, that is, until I actually had the job title and didn’t have any joy.

At the age of 21, I had the car, I had what I thought to be friends, and I had the money, but no matter how hard I tried, I didn’t have any joy.   Ecclesiastes 5 tells us that, “The lover of money will not be satisfied with money, nor the lover of wealth with gain.”

I rediscovered joy (and God’s peace) when I first heard my little sister sing almost ten years ago. I can still remember hearing her voice as she sang for the very first time.  I couldn’t believe my ears, her voice radiated with confidence and love.  It was filled with pure joy, something I desperately wanted.

My little sister is one of the reasons I became a pastor.  With her joy-filled song, she invited me to join her at church.  She asked me if I’d be willing to give up some of my time to join her youth group.  She asked me, “Scott would you be willing to be a chaperone for our youth group?  And would you be willing to drive one of our church’s vans?”

My little sister was the first person in my life, who actually invited me to give up some of my time, to give up some of my money, to give up some of my commitments in order that I might begin a journey of faith.  Within three year’s time of her first invitation, I left my position in the investment world in order to become a pastor.  I cashed in my IRA’s, I spent my savings, and I sacrificed my job title in order to live out a life of faith, and in so doing I found life.  I met my wife, I found my voice, and I discovered that my life was being filled with God’s joy and peace.  My heart had been touched and turned inside out, my grip had been loosened, and my life no longer depended upon my job title.  My little sister invited me to encounter the Holy Spirit, and I said yes.

I believe that God is calling you similarly.  I believe that God is calling you to give of yourself, to give of your time, to give up some of your commitments in order to give back a portion of the things you hold onto so dearly, in order that you might be filled with God’s joy and peace.  I wonder, have you been ignoring God’s invitation?  Have you been neglecting a call to action?  Have you been unwilling to let go of your commitments in order to free yourself to give back?  My friends, God is calling you to sing.  God is calling you to serve.  God is calling you to live a life of generosity and joy.

11.9.09 Monday Insights from Pastor Andrew Conard

I am a preacher’s kid. My dad was in the pulpit every Sunday when I was in church growing up. Going to church was not something that felt forced upon me, it was just something that we naturally did as a family. My parents first planted the seed of God’s Word in my life. It began to grow slowly throughout the early years of my life, however it was not until high school when those seeds really took root and began to grow on their own. I remember a moment in which I recognized Jesus as my savior and Lord and began to earnestly seek to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Today I believe and hope that my life is good soil for the seed of God’s Word to continue to grow. There are some areas in my life which I know could be better soil for God. With God’s help, I hope to be able to transform these areas into the soil for rich growth.

Busyness is one of the concerns that most often crowds out God’s kingdom as the top priority in my life. I know that slowing down and recognizing God’s presence in each moment of the day may be helpful in addressing this issue. Recognizing that God is ultimately in control will help address my need to feel busy.