american idols

a silversmith named demetrius, who made silver shrines of artemis, brought in no little business for the craftsmen. he called them together, along with the workmen in related trades, and said: "men, you know we receive a good income from this business. and you see and hear how this fellow paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in ephesus and in practically the whole province of asia. he says that man-made gods are no gods at all. there is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty." when they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: "great is artemis of the ephesians!" (acts 19.24-28)

sometime in the mid-50's AD (not 1950's, just 50's), paul - while traveling around the mediterranean sea starting churches - visited ephesus, one of the great cities of the ancient world, complete with its temple to artemis, one of the 7 wonders of the world. while there, he called people out for worshiping and serving idols - gods that don't exist. this really hacked off demetrius, who made his living through the idolatry of others. he made little silver relics that represented artemis, the city's official 'deity' and number one tourist attraction. paul saw their obsession with artemis and let them know boldly that there was no artemis, only Jesus.  it was a gutsy move, as it led to a riot and citywide confusion, in which the angry people of ephesus dragged paul before an official, seeking to get him killed or at least tossed out of town.

2000 years later, things are much the same. here we are, having had the truth of the gospel taught throughout our land for well over 200 years, and yet you and i still have our idols - our non-gods who we allow to be god over us - and we can still get pretty bent out of the frame when someone challenges us on them.

but paul was right. they are not gods. there are no other gods. only Jesus.

this story needs to challenge us today to identify our idols, and to get rid of them. angry defense of things in our lives that rank above god have no place in the lives of Christ-followers. this isn't to say that material things, or relationships, or goals or aspirations, or education, or fun are evil. but if they are our obsession; if they take first place in our lives - or better put, if our relationship with and service to God is lessened because of them - then they are idols. plain and simple. if they have achieved some kind of divine status in our lives, they are robbing God of his rightful place.

i encourage you to go back and read through the entire story: acts 19. put yourself in the place of demetrius and his customers. then identify your own idols. pray that God would lessen their force in your life. and start cleaning them out if you need to.

memorize this verse this week...

"I am the Lord; that is my name!
      I will not give my glory to anyone else,
      nor share my praise with idols."   (isaiah 42.8)

risk. restore. repeat.

church signs typically have one of two affects on me. they either make me laugh - out loud - or they make me cringe, wanting to get to the sign and strip it of its message, which too often is condemning or judgmental. frankly, i hope THRESHOLD never has one of those change-the-message signs. they're just plain tacky.

at the same time, i love words. i love using words, studying words, sometimes thinking of just the right words to convey what needs to be said. so i sometimes also find myself wondering, if we DID have a church sign... hmmmmm.....

i've been reading the gospel according to luke recently, trying once more to get a better understanding of this man whose name i bear, who i aim to follow most closely. as i read through luke's rendition of Jesus, vis-a-vis the whole church sign idea, i find myself contemplating some words. they might not land on a church sign, but i think they convey what Jesus was about...

RISK.

one of the first things Jesus does in his public ministry is to go to his home church to preach. it doesn't go real well. in fact, by the time he says 'amen,' the congregation is ready to throw him over a cliff. whoa. can't say i've ever had THAT kind of reaction (if you ever have felt that way, thanks for keeping it to yourself. really.). following that, he begins aggravating the religious leaders by seemingly violating their rules, to the point that by the early verses of chapter 6, they are already wondering how to get rid of him.

didn't Jesus realize how risky these things were? i think he did. in fact, i'm certain of it. Jesus knew - as should we - that living according to the directives of God's kingdom is risky.  it won't be well-received by some people. but Jesus, and his followers, do it anyway.

RESTORE.

another thing i noticed in the opening chapters of Jesus' ministry is that he seemed to have one focus - to restore people. according to the dictionary, restore can mean to bring back to an original condition, or to bring to a state of health, soundness or vigor. for some, it was physical healing - restoring one's body to a healthy state. for others, it was psychological or psychiatric - driving out the demons that plagued them. for still others, it was spiritual - forgiving sins as only God can do.

i love this about Jesus, and am passionate about being a church of people who seeks to do the same. the recent challenge to be out there blessing people is all about this, all about saying or doing things that make people more whole. things that bring restoration. this is the goal of both Jesus and his followers.

REPEAT.

when someone is on a mission, and they are accomplishing that mission, they keep on doing the same thing, over and over. Jesus went from place to place, healing people. period. sure he taught things along the way, but most often, those teaching were either about restoration, or in reaction to those who didn't like what he was doing. no matter. he repeated, over and over, words and acts of restoration. even as he hung dying on the cross - and this is only in luke's story - Jesus told the thief beside him that he would be in paradise by the end of the day. that is restoration in the most complete way.

RISK

RESTORE

REPEAT

if i had a church sign, i think that's what i would put on it. 

feeling like a dog?

so, 3 months in to the year, who's still at it? anybody out there still reading through or listening through the bible? if so, you're a quarter of the way home! that's awesome!

others of you feel like dogs for not reading as much as you want to or should - and usually because you just don't know how.

getting through the bible and having a fuller understanding of its overall story and message is life-changing. but so often, we either feel like we don't have the time or the know-how.

i want to use this week's post to teach you how to spend time with a small amount of text - just one chapter, or maybe even just one story - letting it sink in. drawing life from it. letting it permeate and transform you.

it's done by choosing just one chunk of the bible, and asking just three questions...

IMPORTANT: before you begin reading, pray and ask God to reveal to you answers to the questions you are going to ask.

1. WHAT IS TRUE ABOUT GOD?

as you read a chapter or a story, read it all the way through once. then go back and re-read it slowly, looking for answers to this question, what does this tell me about God? if you are reading stories in the gospels, the question might be, what does this tell me about God in or through the words/actions of Jesus?

2. WHAT IS TRUE ABOUT ME?

what do you learn about yourself? what has God done for you? how ought you to live? again, if reading stories where God or Jesus interact with people, can you put yourself in their situation? if you were there, how would you feel? what might change? how would your relationship with God be informed or transformed?

3. WHAT NEXT?

after reading and considering the first two questions, close your bible and ask yourself, what should i do with this? is God calling me to think or live differently? be still and let God speak to you apart from the words on the page. close your eyes and just listen quietly. then end your time by thanking God for what he has taught you.

this is a simple yet powerful way to interact with God's word as Christ-followers have for centuries. you don't need a class or a degree in bible or theology to interact with and hear from God in this way. and the blessings are fantastic.

hey, by the way - are you still out there blessing people? send me your stories!