In this E-pistle

Before the Throne of God Above

A breakout year

The devil is in the details

Simply Christian – another take

One of the hymns that has become a favorite of many Park people is Before the Throne of God Above, an old Irish hymn recently rediscovered and set to a marvelous new tune with a Celtic feel to it. Before the throne of God above I have a strong and perfect plea. A great high Priest whose Name is Love Who ever lives and pleads for me. My name is graven on His hands, My name is written on His heart. I know that while in Heaven He stands No tongue can bid me thence depart. Click here to listen The image used in the hymn is from Hebrews 7 and it is powerful. Our prayers are not sent into the cosmic ether or to some indifferent divinity, but to one who knows and calls us by name. What are your prayer concerns? We may pray for peace in Iraq and in our homes and for the victims of the AIDS epidemic in Africa and our friend’s impending surgery with equal confidence. “Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you,” Peter writes (1 Peter 5:7) As you watch the bowl games, one of the trite phrases used too often is about a player who has had a “breakout year.” My guess is that it is an image from long distance running when a runner breaks out of the pack and begins to move ahead of the others. Football players have a breakout year when they go from being one of many to being a superstar, a “go to man,” to use another cliché. Maybe breakout years just happen, but I am praying that 2007 will be a breakout year for many Park people and for Park Presbyterian Church. So, what will it take for us to separate ourselves from the pack? What will it take you to separate yourself from the mediocre to the meteoric? Let me suggest seven habits for a breakout year: 1. Worship – I’m reading a book entitled “The Incomparable Christ” by John Stott. Christ deserves our worship and we need to worship him – lest we worship something far less worthy 2. Study – We have the Word. What a gift! How foolish not to use it. Find a good Bible study group! (Sunday School and ABC begin this week!) 3. Service – We pray each week that the Kingdom might come. The Kingdom comes not just at the end of time, but day by day as we give away that which the world tells us is ours to grasp – time, talent, treasure. (Is Brazil, West Virginia, the Gulf Coast or Club 1440 calling you?) 4. Relationship – The church is not an option, it is a mandate, and the church is not a building, it is a people. How well do you know your family at Park? (Lenten Small groups begin the last week of February) 5. Prayer – Prayer is not so much asking God to do for us as it is asking what we might do for God. Prayer is an amazing gift. Are you using it? 6. Risk – If the Christian life is about anything, it is about risk. You got to give up in order to gain. Risk a little time in worship, study, service, relationship and prayer! 7. Joy – Is joy a habit? I don’t know, but it is a gift of the Spirit and you can tell the difference in the lives of those who use it. The devil is in the details, so they say. Did you read the story of Tobi Gott, the young German who wanted to visit his girlfriend in Sydney, Australia, but ended up in Sidney, Montana? Click here. Some folks argue that in travel and theology all paths lead to the same destination. Ask Tobi Gott about that. Jesus may have meant it when he said, “I am the way…” Last week I mentioned the book Simply Christian. Here’s how it ends: Made for spirituality, we wallow in introspection. Made for joy, we settle for pleasure. Made for justice, we clamor for vengeance. Made for relationship, we insist on our own way. Made for beauty, we are satisfied with sentiment. But new creation has already begun. The sun has begun to rise. Christians are called to leave behind, in the tomb of Jesus, all that belongs to the brokenness and incompleteness of the present world. It is time, in the power of the Spirit, to take our proper role, our fully human role, as agents, heralds, and stewards of the new day that is dawning. This, quite simply, is what it means to be Christian: to follow Jesus Christ into the new world, God’s new world, which he has thrown open before us. This is wise writing. See you Sunday!