Next week The River begins a four-part series on 'Questions We Ask', looking at 'what is the purpose of life and my life imparticular?' (this Sunday March 14), 'what is justice and where is it?' (March 21), 'what is truth and how can we know it?' (Mar 28) and 'are miracles real and who says?' (April 4 -- Easter).

I am SOOOOO excited about this series for many reasons. One is that we need to be reminded that God is very much OK -- even involved -- with our answer-seeking!  Read the book of Ecclesiastes, or Job, and see how God desires that we seek Him out!  But secondly,I'm excited because the CHURCH needs to be as excited as God is with spiritual questioning.  Otherwise, if all of us are asking the questions but the Church is not willing to deal with such questions, the Church is not where people are; we are 'out of touch'.  Finally, I am excited for some questions to be answered, and some to remain unanswerable!  I believe this will clarify for us what can be known and what can't versus either NOTHING being knowable OR everthing being clear.

For example, I am slowly preparing for ordination exams.  The frustrating part of such exams is the amount of material there is to review:  church history, Bible, theology, ethics, Book of Common Prayer, polity and so forth.  However, I noticed a big difference in my own confidence when last week I went from "I DON'T KNOW what I don't know" to "I KNOW what I don't know"!  When I saw this transition happen, I grew in confidence of what I KNOW that I KNOW while having a comfort level with what I did NOT KNOW (as well as what I will probably never know (because I don't have time to study it))!

In the same way, part of wisdom is to be clear on what we CAN know, and what in this life we CANNOT.  This will increase our confidence level in what we know and also give us comfort with what God has left as dubious.  READ THESE NEXT LINES TWICE!  People who dogmatically espouse either complete unknowability OR all-knowingness (I believe) create a god of their own making; either a God who cannot competently communicate who He is (certain religions and belief systems such as deconstructionism, radical postmodernism, etc -- a bit ironic, isn't it that a GOD couldn't correctly say what He is) OR a God who is so tied to our predictions and our own making that He ceases to be God (the dangers of radical fundamentalism, humanism and naturalism).

I pray, trust, and diligently believe that God will clarify for us what is knowable from that for which we must wait to see Him face to face.  I hope you can find a person or a place that will accept you for who and where you are; yet a person or place that loves you too much to not lead you to Surety beyond where you can go alone.

jt

The first week we talked about why I believe the book of Jonah is a completely factual, authoritative book: 

1.  Jonah was a real person who was written about in a book that is historical in nature, and respected by Biblical and non-Biblical scholars alike.  We know Jonah's father's name (Amittai), where he was from (Zebulun near Nazareth), what his occupation was (a prophet) and even when he lived and served (under Rehoboam II in the time of Amos 800-750BC).  Jonah did not just show up in the book bearing his name, before that he had rightfully prophesied the restoration of Israel's borders and therefore proved himself to really be a prophet (if what prophets predicted didn't come through, they would lose their job and even their life).  

2. If God is truly God -- having created oxygen, water, depth, mammals and all life -- could he not also keep a man alive in a fish (or His Son alive from the dead)?

3. Jesus spoke about Jonah, the fish and the repentance of the Assyrians as a historical and reliable event, comparing our belief in it to our belief in His death and resurrection (Matthew 12).

So if we can trust that God actually DID this historically, what may God have for us to learn from this event?  First, like Jonah, we all run from God.  I told a story of when I was running down my street, tripped on a curb with my hands stuck in my pockets, unable to stop myself from face-planting into the cement.  Similarly, it is VERY hard for us to stop our momentum when we're running from God; we often face-plant into many situations in life that God never wanted us to and that could have been avoided had we kept close to Him.  In that way, we're not much different than Jonah. 

Secondly, the first week of Jonah reminded us that God obstinately pursues us, the lost objects of His love.  God pursued Jonah and even manipulated the oceans to reach him.  Would he not, and does He not also NOW change circumstances in our lives to reach us?  I believe so.  God not only loved Jonah, He also loved the Assyrians, as brutal and sinful they were (historically they were notoriously barbaric); this is why He sent Jonah to preach to them.  Finally, God in His mercy pursues us.  He not only pursued the world by sending Jesus Christ as a reliable, historical event (even Josephus and other non-biblical scholars validate the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth) ... God sent HIs Son -- as the Image of the Invisible God -- to point you and me to Him.  Even today God pursues us with His Spirit, leading us into fellowship with Him and one another.  The question of course is as we read this, will we run TO God, or AWAY from God...

What a glorious message this is to us as we watch -- spectators to the Jonah story; both uplifting and convicting!  Hear the full sermon (at www.therivernrv.org/sermon-archives) and may God take all of us, when we sprint away from Him, to the dry land of His grounding Presence.

JT

I am convicted in my own life that I need to hit my knees and pray for myself and others ... that God would help us to be faithful to the BEST things, not spend a majority of our time on the 'GOOD' things.  But how do we know what is BEST?

It is what I see repeated over and over in the Bible, specifically in the New Testament:

Read the Bible, pray and worship in your secret closet (heart) and home.  It is what Jesus did when He wasn't with people.

Allow that love to influence those around you, especially your spouse, kids, family, but also of course, friends.  Develop people to lead like Jesus did.

Keep in community with others who love Jesus, meet in the temple courts and house to house.  It is what Jesus did -- joining existing community or created new ones.

Share that love with those who don't yet know God through deeds, and when necessary, words (that was St. Francis' mantra).  Share it not to conform them to your view, but to Christ.

Summary:  All the other stuff that religious and spiritual people DO may be GOOD (talking, writing, reading, debating, etc) but I believe they are distractions from the BEST.  Until we begin to DO THESE simple things that Jesus did, I doubt we, or the world, will change much.

I stand very much in the need of prayer; unlike you, Jesus, I am easily distracted.  Lord, help me not to lose sight of you amidst the waves, or fall asleep in the garden while you grieve.

JT

Case in point, less than sixty years ago commerce was not an issue for the holidays.  America, recovering from the great depression in mid-century, was forced to celebrate a simpler holiday that wasn't mail-order, or catalog-driven.  Americans didn't have the money -- and the credit -- that it has now.  But somewhere in the 70's and 80's came the boomers -- the wealthiest generation ever -- and suddenly the holidays became more about making sure kids got what their parents did not, especially with the guilt that came from a new tide of divorce...

So my hope -- and I believe the hope of many -- is to return to a prophetic, Isaiahish holiday ... preparing for the coming King without the cash register.  For in our past as we look at Isaiah, we see our spiritual fragility, our tendencies towards depravity, our faithless religiousity.  And in looking back to periods such as that of Isaiah (captivity, discipline, regression) that we also reiterate our mortality and yet must relax in God's incredible and unrelenting mercy.

Remember YOUR past and I believe you'll discover your present.  Hear the first week of our series.

JT

There were SO many things experienced and learned it could take up more space than most would like to read.  However I was most moved by the Fatherhood of God in my life. 

Sometimes I still find myself looking for approval in ways that are adolescent:  my humor, my looks (not), my athleticism (perhaps five years ago!), my work, et cetera.  This weekend tied all of those earthly longings for approval to a my quest as a son to know I am loved, good, cherished, strong.  These are all things I knew theoretically, but now far more personally, God desires to give me.  God reminded me in a very personal, powerful and tender way that He WILL be the Father I've always wanted, always needed, and still long for. 

Wow!  What a powerful time.  I left the retreat and reentered the world with a very quiet, inner, subtle peace.  The peace that a loved son would have.

jt

Three quotes this week 'made my day'.  One from CS Lewis, one from John Piper and the other is anonymous .  I'll give you the anonymous quote here (for Lewis and Piper you'll have to listen to the sermon).  It speaks of the illumination we receive when we have a relationship with the true God of light.  Here's what it says: I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by 'it' I see everything else.  

I haven't drunk any cool-aid; I'm a thoughtful person and I certainly don't need some 'cause' or stupid 'campaign' to give my life meaning.  I've lived like God didn't exist, wasn't involved, didn't care and I've lived like He does exist, is involved and cares about me.  There is a difference between being judgemental and having judgement:  I'm not casting judgement on anyone, but using judgement for how to navigate my life. 

And my conclusion after 42 years:  The joy, peace, enlightenment, confidence and enlightenment I've experienced while walking with Christ is far more powerful and real than anything I've ever experience while stumbling in the dark.

With you and for Him,

JT

hear the full sermon from this past Sunday here

I ignored it the first week because I thought it was like a computer pop-up; not really helpful or related to anything.  Just a random Scripture that got lodged in my psyche only to emerge at bizarrely unrelated times (I'm not at war these days) like when I'm killing a fly or wiping my shoes or weedwacking.  Not that I would hesitate to sometimes define lawnwork as 'war'. 

At any rate, I was thinking just the other day how I've been going through a particularly DRY spiritual time over the last few weeks and then the phrase again, "when kings went to war ...", and it seemed to make sense to me.  The word to me was:  be careful to still go to war ... pray, study, read, fast and stay fit.  Protect and enlarge your territory.  Because when people don't do what they supposed to do when it is that time, they fall.

Wow.  That made a lot of sense to me and taught me not to ignore the little things going around my head.

Heb 6:11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Psalm 119, 105 says “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path”. It seems to be where so many of us are:  clarity needed about why things happen, understanding for the future, counsel regarding situations that come up in our lives. Often with the Lord's lamp we are meant to only see ahead one step; rarely does God allow the light much beyond that.

It is hard place, but a good place. For is it not this mystery, this gap in understanding or direction or justice or fairness which is created for us to long for HIM ... His face and not just His hand? Think of it as a holy chasm created BY God for us NOT to long for wisdom, direction, clarity or understanding FIRST, but to long for HIM as a son, a daughter, a child of our Father. It is in this regard that Matthew 6:32-34 says, But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Light perhaps to avoid one tree, to illuminate one step, to avoid one pit; that is what God often provides.

Why is it that we must often suffer extreme loss, or hurt, or hardship for us to reach to God? Often that holy chasm creates the knowledge gap WE need, not that we WANT. It is the human condition that we forget Him in times of plenty, and often shake our fists in times of need...very few get to the point of brokenness where we lie before the King’s throne and reach up to Him as His children. This is the posture of contrition that God wants.

In contrast, some have cut themselves off to mystery...usually they’ve had hurtful events in their life they haven’t grieved or addressed, so they respond by tightening everything up into a little box: little theologies, little pat answers, little quibs and idioms that can be distributed like tacit doctors distribute aspirin. Such tightness ignores so MUCH of Scripture, so much of God. It hurts people, it misrepresents the Lord, and life, and reason. Think about so many in the Bible, in history, who we regard highly. Were not many events and situations of their lives shrouded in mystery?

We as The River, live in and embrace this mystery: Sometimes we walk confidently into the future with clarity, sometimes we tiptoe and sometimes we wait.  At this point I believe God has given us Manna (literally ‘what is it’ in Hebrew) in our journey. Like the light that illuminates the path one step, the manna is only to last one day and not two ... temporal provision to be a Holy Chasm.

Very practically, what that means is that we MOVE on what we know and wait on what we don't. And God has shown us faithfully only where to go a few steps ahead. As a Leadership Team (Charly Tull, Gray Roberson, Jim Sallie, David Maranz and myself) we retreated a few weeks ago and emerged with the sense that the Lord had given us JUST enough for now: start LIFE groups (a very different kind of group life model than I’ve seen in 15 years of ministry), gather the Body to learn, share and focus (the Wed evening eight week series starting Sept 16), utilize a team to pray in services after the sermon and during communion, and to keep being faithful in the day-to-day. Very simple, like Manna.

I believe with all my heart that God has set us apart as The River for some very good and important things in the NRV. I say this not in the “I’m going to exaggerate the importance of our existence" way, but because I see God having drawn together some very incredible people to do a very incredible work of the Kingdom for a very critical time. We are ALL privileged to be invited and I’m thankful to be a part of you all.

Tell Fearlessly, Invest Intentionally, Live Sacrificially, Love radically

Yours in Christ,

JT

In my sermon this week I shared a story about the wonderful and difficult week we've had.  Ten days ago we rolled into town with the Penske truck and unloaded our belongings into this incredible blessing of a house that's been provided for us generously by a church family for the next year.  For FREE!  Many helped unpack the truck and put together beds which of course goes a long way.

Five days later and Robin and I were both stressed out, barely talking.  Four more days and all of us were in bad form:  kids stressed out, dad muttering, wife gleering cold and dark glances...domestic cacophony.

Thursday about 1am (after we finished the crapola of unpacking for the day and were laying in bed) I threw on the light and said that we had to talk...I couldn't sleep because I was so tore up about the shape of things.

We talked until 3am and even though everything wasn't resolved, we broke the silence.

In the same way, we have the opportunity to break the silence with God.  To tell Him all our cares, concerns, to confess ways that we (like King David) have fallen short of what we know to be right, true and good.

Psalm 32 has long been one of my favorite Psalms; today when I preached the sermon it came alive not as ink on a page but as what it is, the very heart of God.

Hear the full sermon here.

As I journied throughout the day, I felt as if rays of a dawn of new beginnings were peeking over the mountains:  on Friday Robin and I enrolled the four younger kids in the SAME school, Dayspring Christian academy, in Blacksburg (located a few blocks from our house, I might add).  We visited the house we'll be moving into, and had a wonderful sabbath meal with the owners (they are missionaries that our church supports).  Over the course of the weekend, Robin and I celebrated a very good season in our marraige, and I celebrated the four beautiful children we have, the incredilbe flock that God has provided for me to shepherd and equip and a position where I sense God's pleasure.

MOST of all, as I preached on the Fatherhood of God in the morning, I reflected throughout the day on the persistent initiative, commitment and intimacy of God in my own life.  Driving back to NC to pack up our things and move (in ONE WEEK), I have been especially congniscent of the weight of God's presence.  Every day, reminders here and there wherever I am, that He is with me not because of who I am, but because of the fundamental heart of who HE is towards me.

Yes, I am still sad and burdened for a few friends who I know did NOT have good Father's Days.  My heart and prayers went out to them yesterday because it reeks to have days of celebration with hearts of despair.

But yesterday I pause and thank God for a VERY good Father's Day.