Northern Pilgrim

Hope in the Valley

2008-04-10T08:07:00.000-07:00

Let's Talk About Sex

2008-02-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

Smashing Ministry Idols

2008-02-08T12:05:00.000-08:00

I Need God Too

2008-01-16T17:59:00.000-08:00

Standing in the face of fear

2007-12-19T21:29:00.001-08:00

Standing in the face of fear

1 Kings 18 happens to be one of my favorite stories in the Bible. God enlisted Elijah to face down many odds in his day. The apex of this quest was challenging the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel.

Can you imagine what must have been going through his mind? I believe that he was scared, but that the fear didn’t over take him. He was called by God into a tumultuous situation that required Elijah to completely hand everything over to God. I’m finding more and more in my own life I need to be willing to go into those scary places and allow God to be Himself. After all, I do believe that God is sovereign and that He is the sustainer of all things.

The problem is that I don’t like to be afraid; I like to feel safe and settled. We are all called to stand against the evils of our world, which is our quest. We must meet the challenges of this quest recognizing that it’s scary and hard but also that God is in control and stands with us.

Are we encouraging question asking?

2007-11-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

Ever have one of those experiences where either you or someone you've chatted with has some deep questions of faith? You know the kind that sends shivers down your spine where not matter what you say God needs to reveal himself in order for truth to come through?

Well i had one of those today and it reminded me of all the questions I've dealt with in my life. I ask myself "what would it have been like if i verbalized my question everyone what threatened by it?"

I wonder what causes us to discourage people, ourselves included, from asking those incredibly tough questions? Is it that God isn't big enough to handle them? or are we too insecure to allow for them?

When is that last time you asked yourself, "How do I know there is a God?", "Why is Christ the only way?", or "How is God relevant in my life?". These among others are questions many youth and young adults are asking. How are we providing environments to ask and guiding them through these questions?

2007-10-26T09:34:00.000-07:00

"A.J. Jacobs is the senior editor at Esquire magazine. Over a year ago he decided to follow the rules of the Bible to the letter. For example, the Bible says a man should refrain from trimming the edges of his beard.

So Jacobs didn't shave. His beard got caught in zippers, got food stuck in it, and he got a lot of attention from airport security. Apparently, it also made two little girls cry. But the beard is just the beginning.

Jacobs says there are more than 700 rules in the Bible. He followed as many as possible, as literally as possible.

He even stoned an adulterer. No, we're not kidding!

Jacobs wrote about it all in a book called 'The Year of Living Biblically."

I heard about this episode last night and got curious about it as you can well understand. The interview was quite humorous and at times very insightful in terms of what "religion" offers secular society. However, he did comment on what we would call "cafeteria faith". Cafeteria faith being that one picks and chooses what they like and don't like about a particular faith system and lives out only that which they appreciate.

Funny thing is that I know we disagree with this concept in word, but in the day to day i wonder how much of this kind of thinking permeates our experience. I've often asked myself what I don't like about Scripture and faith, I wonder how much my preferences dictate how I understand the world, God and even myself.

How would you describe one who is dead to self, in real-life, practical terms?

2007-08-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

In truth the concept of dead to self has always been a bit confusing for many. The way I understand it being dead to self is less about the loss of self but rather the gaining of that abundant life Christ has come to give. Being dead to self is the notion of losing all the insecurities of life, those things that hold us in the patterns of being overly concerned with things that rob us of that life. In myself I want all that is in my own best interest with little to no regard for that of anyone else. When I am dead to self I challenge that natural compulsion and in tern live sacrificially as a servant. The whole notion reminds me of a story I was told of a young man climbing a hill to reach a great and wise guru. When he reaches the top of the mountain, he asks the teacher to tell him how to live as a good man, to live without any form of malice. The guru responds with an allegory. “There are two dogs that battle within each one of us. First there is the black dog; he seeks to devour to take all that is his desire. It is the will of the black dog to seek only that which benefits itself and will claim many victims that stand in its way. Secondly there is the white dog; he seeks to find harmony in life. His desire is to bring unity and peace to all that is around him. It is the will of the white dog to seek a servant life that is in tern blessed with friendships and wholeness. These two powerful dogs battle within for dominance”. The young student asks the teacher “which dog will win?” “The one you feed the most”, states the master. This allegory works well for us as well. We have our old selfish nature battling our new nature and the one that we give most attention to wins. So if I live as I am dead to my self, meaning my old nature, then my new nature grows more dominant and the battle becomes a little easier. However the opposite is also true.

Questions to Discuss

2007-08-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

How does choice or volition depend upon thought and feeling? Why can’t we just change our will? (“Human life does not run by will alone”!)

Volition depends on thought and feeling simply put because you cannot make any sort of decision without first have a thought of some kind and thus having some feeling accompanying that thought. In truth it is probably the most rational argument for personal responsibility that I have heard in a very long time. All too often we see individuals and perhaps even as corporate bodies abdicating responsibility for decisions made. This of course challenges the “I don’t know why I did it, it just happened”.

We can’t just simply change our will because we need to first change our thoughts and feelings. If we believe that our thoughts and feelings to some extent govern our wills, then there needs to be a deeper soul searching in order to affect any kind of long lasting change to our volition. Otherwise we are destined to repeat old patterns. Change the thoughts and our feelings towards those thoughts so there is proper perspective and there will be a dramatic affect on volition.

Clarification

2007-01-05T18:45:00.000-08:00

I should mention that the previous post was based on Mark Buchanan's book "Your God is too Safe".

Is our God too Safe?

2007-01-05T18:42:00.001-08:00

There is a place, in Africa, wedged between Kenya and Uganda … a little town called Busia, which forms the quintessential "Borderland". He describes it as a place of "double crossing" – both Kenya and Uganda each have their customs buildings, and it is essential to go through both in order to travel between the two countries. There are two borders, two crossings to make … and between them a small strip of land, perhaps 100 by 300 meters, thronged with people … peddlers, hawkers, beggars … in a place which no-one claims, where law is suspended, no-man's land … Borderland!
But for those who choose to live there, it is safe. It's safe because it's predictable, it's small and limited, the boundaries are clear and in sight, they hold some things in, but a lot more things out, tomorrow will be the same as today, and there are very few decisions (if any) which are required, Living in Borderland is safe!
It’s familiar. It can be traced out. It keeps things in and denies things entry. It is the place of perpetual knowing. We always know what is to come because borderland doesn’t change.
If you think about it, we do the same thing with God. There is a blood feud that divides Christ’s domain with the world’s, and the cross is marks the crossing.
It’s a way of life that is hard to learn. This new land is dangerous, with difficult terrain. It calls us to constant dying. Borderland seems safer so we refine an aptitude for lingering.
Take, for example, Uzzah the priest, whose brief story we heard in the first bible reading earlier. Uzzah and Ahio were escorting the Ark of the Lord to set it up in its new home, in the city of David … Jerusalem, which David had recently conquered, and declared as the capital of the new kingdom. The band was in full swing, the procession was moving slowly and majestically towards its destination, "and the whole house of Israel was celebrating with all their might before the LORD". It was a moment to be captured (if only they could have) on video footage, and replayed over and over, to re-experience the celebration and joy.
Suddenly there was a problem. One of the oxen stumbled, the cart jumped, and the ark began to slip. Quick as a flash, Uzzah reached out and grabbed the ark, to prevent it from slipping right off the cart and onto the road … clearly the right thing to do, to save embarrassment, to protect the moment, to maintain the sense of celebration. And suddenly, without warning, he was dead! Right there and then, at that moment, beside the ark, Uzzah died!
And the text says it was because God was angry …
"The LORD's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God." (2 Sam 6:7).
Yet you and I would say that Uzzah had done the right thing! Surely it was better to stop the ark from slipping, than to allow it to drop onto the pathway, risk damage, stop the whole procession, interrupt the worship and the celebration! But there was something deeper at stake here.
Years earlier, God had given very specific instruction as to how the ark was to be carried.
"Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. 13 Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 14 Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the chest to carry it." (Exodus 25:12-14).
It was the role of the priest to ensure that things were done God's way. It was the Philistines, who had captured the ark during the time of war with Saul, who first thought of the method of transportation by ox cart, so this whole procession, organized, no doubt, by Uzzah and Ahio, was dishonoring to God, rather than being the worship they thought they were engaged in. It was their idea, not God's!
And isn't that what we all do, much of the time? We think we know best. We do things because it suits us that way. We've become comfortable and safe in our religion, keeping the traditions, or even breaking them, and forming new ones, maintaining the safe and predictable cycle of our lives and relationships, and making space for God when and where it suits us … living in Borderland!
And God struck Uzzah dead!

Am i my Brother's Keeper?

2007-01-05T17:49:00.000-08:00

Luke 10:25-37

When we’re growing up with brothers and sisters we may have felt like we were responsible for them if we were older. As we get older we get tired of always being responsible for others and so we become very egocentric (focus on us). We may be like Cain when he asked if he was his brother’s keeper. Scripture refers to neighbor as a brotherly relationship, when asked “who was my neighbor?” Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan. The suggestion is that everyone is your neighbor and brother, and you are your brother’s keeper.

New Years Thought

2007-01-02T21:02:00.001-08:00

As I prepare for New Years Eve I’m excited. I love the planning of parties, the fun in the decorations, the food, the music, the people, and the games and of course the countdown to the New Year.

I mean who wouldn’t be excited about all of these things; it’s such a great time. But I realized that I began to focus on the New Year. I remember growing up and my parents would always make new years resolutions. They would promise themselves that they would exercise more, drink less, be more outgoing, and argue less. I found myself making some of my own. I would be a better brother, do better in school, and do better at work. I remember promising that I would treat girls better; spend more time with my friends. Every New Years Eve became a time when I evaluated my life, my relationships and my time.

I would often get down on myself for screwing up my life, or being a “bad” or “horrible” person. The funny thing is that I’m not like that anymore. I don’t feel like I’m “bad” or “horrible”. I have value and my life isn’t determined by all the wrongs I’ve committed, or the people that approve or disapprove of me.

I’m not held to my mistakes anymore. I’m seen through these new glasses now that make me worth more than I could ever dream of. I am clean, and now as I look into the New Year; I look forward with confidence because no matter what I do Jesus will always be there to meet with me. He’s been misrepresented at times; He’s not angry or hateful. He’s not waiting for you to screw up so that He can lay down the smiting hammer. All He’s waiting for is us to respond to Him and let Him tell us our value and our ability to place confidence in His perfect love.

Think about where your life is at. Are you in a place where you feel like you are one of the “bad” ones? You’re not you know. Your life could be so much more than it is now not necessarily easier, but definitely more. Maybe it’s time to at least find out more about this Jesus guy and what He has to offer?

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:38-39

In Christ
Rob Haslam