Crazy Thinking

My mom called the other day to share that my dad had awakened in the middle of the night convinced he had won a prize on a t.v. game show and needed to drive to the station to claim it. Obviously, this distressed my family and me greatly. While he had been confused before, this was the first time his thinking was delusional. It took quite a while for her to finally convince him to go back to bed. When he awakened, he was thinking clearly again. We have since learned that this episode was triggered by some medication he had recently begun taking. There are times, like this, when a person's thinking is obviously distorted and irrational. Unfortunately, distorted thinking can be not only distressing but destructive. Everyday the media shares stories of people whose thinking has led to tragedy--people committing suicide over financial stress, shooters opening fire in school hallways, teachers engaging in inappropriate behavior with students. We read such stories and shake our heads that someone's mind can get so far off track. When mental impairment shows up as a delusion or criminal behavior, it's easy to see. More difficult to spot are the crazy ideas we've normalized as a culture, mindsets like "money buys happiness" and "weapons make us safer. These principles get implanted deeply within us and cause a collective craziness. We get brainwashed into allowing materialism and violence to be normal components of our worldview. While such things seem normal in our culture, the Bible would issue a different judgment. In Romans 12:2, we are told not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. This renewal process is at the heart of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Being a Christian means living with an awareness of how the ways of culture and the ways of Christ are diametrically opposed. As we grow in spiritual maturity, we are given the grace not only to recognize the dichotomy but to live with the mind of Christ. We see the emptiness and destruction inherent in the world's thought patterns and the freedom and joy inherent in Christ. Christianity promises that when we follow Christ, we eventually get brought to a place where our thinking is no longer crazy or delusional, but holy and healthy. In this Easter season, let us invite the Spirit of Christ to transform our minds by the power of His Spirit so that we might live more deeply in His power, freedom, and love.

worship preview

Dear Saints:   We've been reading a lot recently about pirates off the coast of Somalia hijacking ships.  Despite the well publicized rescue of an American hostage last week by Navy snipers, the problem of piracy continues and ships continue to be in danger of being taken over by unwanted forces.   Ships, of course, aren't the only things that can be hijacked.  Faith and religion can be hijacked as well.  Indeed, the history of the Christian Church chronicles a great number of attempts by folks to hijack the gospel.  Beginning soon after the resurrection, various ideas and factions arose that sought to distort or change the essence of the good news.  Over the centuries the Church has been vigilant in fighting off these hijackings and affirming the true gospel of Christ.   This first Sunday after Easter we will take a look at one of the very first hijackings that was attempted.  The apostle John attempts to fight off this hijacking with a letter that we call First John.  In this letter, John seeks to affirm what the authentic gospel calls us to be and do.  Despite the passage of 20 centuries, his words are as significant and timely as they were when they were written.   As you prepared for worship, I would encourage you to reflect on these words from I John:   1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write this to make our joy complete.   5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.   In reading this, I invite you to reflect on these questions:  what is the essence of true Christianity, according to John?  how can you spot the fake versions?  what specific tasks might Christ be asking of us if we are to walk in the light?   My hope is that this Sunday we might commit more deeply not only to believing in the resurrection but to living it as well.   Blessings in Christ,   Bryan

Easter Sunday worship preview

Dear Saints:   Within a span of two days this past week, Spartan fans experienced both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.  They witnessed the stirring triumph of their men's basketball team over the University of Connecticut last Saturday.  Two nights later, the team was buried by the University of North Carolina.    As Christians, we will experience a couple of significant events within the span of two days as well.  In contrast to the experience of MSU players and fans, we will face the agony first and then the victory.  On Good Friday at 8 pm, we will recall once again how Jesus experienced the depth of human suffering in his death on a cross.  Readings from Scripture and responses both sung and spoken will unfold for us the events of Jesus' death.  And then two days later, on Easter Sunday, we will celebrate the greatest victory of all, the triumph of Jesus over the grave.   I hope you will join us as we worship in the context of these two central events of our faith.  To prepare for Easter, I invite you to read Matthew 28:1-15.  In the service we will focus specifically on the choice the guards made to take the hush money and deny the resurrection.  We will use that text as a way to think about how we are tempted to deny the reality of resurrection in our own lives and how we can open ourselves more fully to the depth of God's gift to us in Christ.   As you read the texts you might ask yourself: why were the leaders in Jesus' day so afraid of the truth of Christ's resurrection?  what did they have to lose if the word got out that Jesus was raised? in what ways are you tempted to deny the power of the resurrection in your life?  what would living a resurrected life in its fullness look like?   Don't forget we have three services on Easter at 7,9, and 11 am and a pancake breakfast that will take place from 7:45-10:45.   I look forward to worshiping with you in this most holy of weeks.   In Christ,   Bryan

Palm Sunday worship preview

Dear Saints:   This Sunday we begin Holy Week.  Our opportunity during this time is not just to remember the most important events in human history, but to enter into them in a way that changes our lives.  God doesn't just want to remind us of what He did, but to invite us into what He continues to do through the love and grace of Christ.   Our worship on Palm Sunday will be one that focuses on the invitation we have been given to have the same attitude as Christ.  This invitation is one that is key to us experiencing the kind of power, love, and freedom that God desires for us.  The apostle Paul describes and marvels at this attitude in his letter to the Philippians:    5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:  6Who, being in very nature God,       did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,  7but emptied himself,       taking the very nature of a servant,       being made in human likeness.  8And being found in appearance as a man,       he humbled himself       and became obedient to death—          even death on a cross!   We will focus on this aspect of Christ emptying himself.  It was this incredible choice that put in motion all the events that led to his death and resurrection.  Unless Jesus made the choice to empty himself, there would have been no possibility for us to be redeemed by the love of God.    As you prepare for worship, I would ask you to ponder and reflect on this passage.  You might ask yourself what it means that Jesus emptied himself.  What did he empty himself of?  Why was this so crucial to his mission?  What would having this attitude look like in your life?   I look forward to worshiping with you as we begin this sacred week together.   In Christ,   Bryan