Three Spiritual Propositions

June 28, 2013

Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him! Then he will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.”  (Hosea 6:3 NLT)

When I first came to faith and for the first few years as a pastor I struggled with the concept of knowing God personally.  I struggled until several spiritual heavyweights mentored me in this dimension of my faith journey.  They helped me by shaking everything down to three simple propositions that were basic, yet absolute. 

The three propositions are:  God is there, God is real, and God is personal.

I have not struggled with the proposition that God is there.  My mentors challenged me to think about all the ways God responds to our many prayers to Him.  As proclaimed by Hosea I found that when I related myself to God He responded by relating Himself to me.  That inspired me to believe that He is not only there but He is very real when I relate to Him and make contact with Him there.

Over time as I shared the intimate dimensions of my personal, private and even secret life with Him I affirmed the glorious reality that God is personal and I should believe Him when He tells me He knows the number of hairs on my head at any given moment.  I should also believe Him when He tells me He has a plan for my life that when followed will make me an original person distinct from every other living person.

Are you pressing on to know the Lord?  If you are, I offer you these three propositions that can help us all know the Lord when we believe them.

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Posted by Dick Woodward

A Prescription on Perspective

August 8, 2012

“Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness.” (Matthew 6:22, 23 NLT)

Perspective means “to look through” to the end.  I learned a helpful spiritual discipline on my faith journey when I asked God to give me His perspective of the long view and the forward look.  I now find it helpful to look up and ask God to give me His perspective as I take the long view back at the events of my life.  I believe it does wonders for our perspective when we regularly shake ourselves out of our introspective pity parties, look up, and ask for God’s long view perspective of our life in both directions.

Robertson McQuilken, a spiritual leader I deeply respect teaches: “It is easier to move to a consistent and problem-free extreme than to remain at the center of tension on any biblical issue, but the truth is often found at the center.”

In an interview Rick Warren was asked how he felt about his wife’s cancer.  He reflected that he once thought life was a series of mountaintops and valleys, but he has now decided life is like a railroad track.  The left rail represents this hard reality: there is always something bad in our life because God is more interested in our character than He is in our comfort.  The right rail represents this blessing: there is always something good in our life because God is good and He does love us.

I have found that when we’re hurting we can often find truth at the center between these two rails of reality.

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Posted by Dick Woodward

Apprenticeship

February 3, 2012

“If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether My teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” (John 7:17)

The Apostle John records the claim of Jesus that His teaching is not merely the teaching of another Rabbi coming down the pike.  His teaching is the teaching of God.  If we want to prove that, we must choose to do what He is teaching.  When we do it we will know it. The doing leads to the knowing according to Jesus.  The intellectually sophisticated person usually claims: “When I know it I will do it.”  Jesus told us when we do it we will know it.

That profiles what we call “discipleship” and “apprenticeship.”  These two words are actually synonymous.  A disciple is literally “a learner who is doing what they’re learning and learning what they’re doing.”

I once heard the vice president of a large shipyard explain to the business community of Norfolk, Virginia how they had just been given another contract to build yet another large aircraft carrier.  He said he could answer their question in one word: “apprenticeship.”

He explained that a college student takes in huge amounts of information and then regurgitates that information periodically.  After doing that for four years they are given a piece of paper that says they’re an educated person.  But often they cannot actually do anything.  He explained that at the shipyard they put a person in the classroom for two weeks and in the shipyard for two weeks.  After five years the graduates of their apprenticeship school build large aircraft carriers.

Have you been apprenticed in your journey of faith?  Are you apprenticing others in their faith journey?

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Posted by Dick Woodward