Some new readers have asked where the name "Spiritual Avulsion" on the blog comes from. Good question.
SA is a somewhat personal term I've used to describe the tearing of the soul when I went through a very bad time in life that is indescribable. At that time, the experience was so intense that I could sense a separation (of sorts) of the parts of my being - body, mind, and spirit. It was difficult to describe, let alone have anyone relate to, unless the listener had a similar experience.
If you look at the medical term for the word avulsion, you'll find it described as a forceable tearing of tissue, leaving jagged edges that are difficult to repair (suture), usually leaving nasty scars and disfigurement. It seemed appropriate to apply the term to the spiritual to describe an intense tearing on a deeper level than the physical.
In a sense, I've had a similar experience when I asked God to make me the man He wants me to be. If you've ever read C. S. Lewis's Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, one of the characters (can't recall his name, but it was the bratty cousin) was turned into a dragon and desparately wanted to be turned back into a boy. The scales couldn't be scraped off, as hard as he tried to rid himself of them.
The only thing that saved him was a painful avulsion of his being, and when he turned back into a boy, he was truly transformed.
Over the past several months, Kimberly and I have commited ourselves to living our faith to the best of our ability each day. Preparing for Nicaragua, I must say, has not been smooth. Planning itself with the team has been great, but personally, many doubts have crept in and exuses keep hammering away as additional life tasks continue to add up. Don Graffam described this as conviction rather than guilt or lack of faith.
So, in the past SA related to the tearing of the events that led to "the desert" times. Most recently, the spiritual avulsion has been in God removing the scales from me, and it's not been painless, and attacks come from the bad guy. But, I am putting on the full armor of God each day and thanking God for sending me to do the work he has for me.
JH
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Current Events, Part 2
Three posts were made in the past 2 days, so please be sure to check the archive below for other recent content.
In light of the violence in Libya in the past 24 hours, I thought I'd post this from "40 Days With Dietrich Bonhoffer," available from Biblegateway.com, which was sent just a few days ago. Admittedly, this is tough to post as my first reaction was to go after the enemies rather than do what we've (I've) been commanded, and those of you who know me know I'm not a pacifist. Yet I ask myself, "am I American or a Christ-follower first?"
Dr. Bonhoffer was martyred for his faith and opposition to the Nazis in WWII. (Content below entirely from Biblegateway)
In light of the violence in Libya in the past 24 hours, I thought I'd post this from "40 Days With Dietrich Bonhoffer," available from Biblegateway.com, which was sent just a few days ago. Admittedly, this is tough to post as my first reaction was to go after the enemies rather than do what we've (I've) been commanded, and those of you who know me know I'm not a pacifist. Yet I ask myself, "am I American or a Christ-follower first?"
Dr. Bonhoffer was martyred for his faith and opposition to the Nazis in WWII. (Content below entirely from Biblegateway)
In prayer we go to our enemies, to stand at their side. We are with them, near them, for them before God. Jesus does not promise us that the enemy we love, we bless, to whom we do good, will not abuse and persecute us. They will do so. But even in doing so, they cannot harm and conquer us if we take this last step to them in intercessory prayer. Now we are taking up their neediness and poverty, their being guilty and lost, and interceding for them before God. We are doing for them in vicarious representative action what they cannot do for themselves. Every insult from our enemy will only bind us closer to God and to our enemy. Every persecution can only serve to bring the enemy closer to reconciliation with God, to make love more unconquerable.
How does love become unconquerable? By never asking what the enemy is doing to it, and only asking what Jesus has done. Loving one’s enemies leads disciples to the way of the cross and into communion with the crucified one.
Biblical Wisdom
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:44
Questions to Ponder
- Why should we․in intercessory prayer․do for our enemies what they cannot do for themselves? What can’t they do for themselves?
- Where does one get the strength to love, bless, and do good to their enemies knowing that they will most likely be abused and persecuted in response?
- Why would Bonhoeffer say that: “Loving one’s enemies leads disciples to the way of the cross and into communion with the crucified one”?
Psalm Fragment
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I am not afraid.
What can a mere mortal do to me?
My vows to you I must perform, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered my soul from death,
and my feet from falling,
so that I may walk before God
in the light of life. Psalm 56:10-13
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I am not afraid.
What can a mere mortal do to me?
My vows to you I must perform, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered my soul from death,
and my feet from falling,
so that I may walk before God
in the light of life. Psalm 56:10-13
Journal Reflections
- What emotions surface within you when you think of interceding on behalf of your enemies?
- Does your community of faith actively seek to love, bless, and do good for enemies? If so, how? If not, how could you encourage the practice?
Intercessions
Name your enemies, picture them in your mind, “stand at their side” before God, pray for them.
Prayer for Today
Lord of peace and justice, let me not so much want victory over my enemies as true and mutual reconciliation with them.
Current Events
We are living in a time of great upheaval in the world. No matter what, our faith is in God and His saving grace in Christ. A couple things came to mind tonight I thought I'd share:
1) We need to pray for Israel. That the power of God is not only with them, but that His glory will protect His people. That we, as Christ-followers stand with Israel. And that God would use this opportunity to reach non-believers to bring them to Him. This is not an American-thing; it's where we stand.
2) I'm reminded of the blood of Christ washing away our sins. One of my "best" pairs of shorts were the ones I wore the day we got muddy. I mean, these shorts are 5.11 brand, cotton/ripstop, water-resistant, and wore well over the past two summers. In fact, they stayed somewhat stiff the whole time.
Enter the mud. There are no regrets from this end getting dirty -- filthy, actually. In fact, I wrote the shorts off as stained forever, dark, unclean, wrecked. When I got the shorts back from the Casa ladies who washed my shorts, they were better than new! In fact, they're softer, look newer (really), and more comfortable than ever. They're even more "usable," like a great pair of broken in shoes.
Do you ever think about what Christ's death on the cross means? I'm reminded by David Platt in his book Radical, that Christ didn't sweat blood because of his fear of the cross, or of the punishment of the Romans, or even the betrayal of Judas. Not the denials of Peter. Not the nails.
He sweat blood because God's wrath against the world was upon him - the sins of all the world, from the beginning of time to the end. The wrath that I was entitled to receive. The condemnation I earned in my old life. The emptiness and separation from God I deserved.
Multiply that by cosmic proportions.
The cross isn't a piece of jewelry. It's where my eternal life was earned and saved by God's Son Himself, Jesus who is the Christ; The Messiah.
I've done my best and it's not enough. But I don't have to earn His love. I'm surrounded by the truth that He loves me, so now I see that my life is ALL His.
He washed my sins away when I was filth. Excrement actually. Now better than ever and the best is yet to come.
יהונתן
1) We need to pray for Israel. That the power of God is not only with them, but that His glory will protect His people. That we, as Christ-followers stand with Israel. And that God would use this opportunity to reach non-believers to bring them to Him. This is not an American-thing; it's where we stand.
2) I'm reminded of the blood of Christ washing away our sins. One of my "best" pairs of shorts were the ones I wore the day we got muddy. I mean, these shorts are 5.11 brand, cotton/ripstop, water-resistant, and wore well over the past two summers. In fact, they stayed somewhat stiff the whole time.
Enter the mud. There are no regrets from this end getting dirty -- filthy, actually. In fact, I wrote the shorts off as stained forever, dark, unclean, wrecked. When I got the shorts back from the Casa ladies who washed my shorts, they were better than new! In fact, they're softer, look newer (really), and more comfortable than ever. They're even more "usable," like a great pair of broken in shoes.
Do you ever think about what Christ's death on the cross means? I'm reminded by David Platt in his book Radical, that Christ didn't sweat blood because of his fear of the cross, or of the punishment of the Romans, or even the betrayal of Judas. Not the denials of Peter. Not the nails.
He sweat blood because God's wrath against the world was upon him - the sins of all the world, from the beginning of time to the end. The wrath that I was entitled to receive. The condemnation I earned in my old life. The emptiness and separation from God I deserved.
Multiply that by cosmic proportions.
The cross isn't a piece of jewelry. It's where my eternal life was earned and saved by God's Son Himself, Jesus who is the Christ; The Messiah.
I've done my best and it's not enough. But I don't have to earn His love. I'm surrounded by the truth that He loves me, so now I see that my life is ALL His.
He washed my sins away when I was filth. Excrement actually. Now better than ever and the best is yet to come.
יהונתן
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Restlessness
In different times and in different ways, our heavenly Father offers us a simple proposition: Follow me beyond what you can control, beyond where your own strength and competencies can take you, and beyond what is affirmed or risked by the crowd -- and you will experience me and my power and my wisdom and my love.
Jesus beckons me to follow him to that place of weakness where I risk the vulnerability of a child so that I might know how strong my Father is and how much he loves me.
But truth be told, I would rather be an adult. I'd rather be in a place where I can still pull things together if God doesn't show up, where I risk no ultimate humiliation, where I don't have to take the shallow breaths of desperation.
And as a result, my experience of my heavenly Father is simply impoverished. He says his power is made perfect in my weakness, not in my strength.
From Gary Haugen's book Just Courage
For those of you looking forward to this week's entry titled, "Jonathan picks a fight," I'm sorry to inform you that that message will be delayed! The fact is, Jonathan doesn't really feel like picking a fight right now.
Nonetheless, we are restless, aren't we, men?
I received a prayer request recently from a friend who's been irritable and impatient after witnessing the need for justice in the world. After all, as a man of action, engaged in life, we have a warrior who's willing to die to live inside. Yet, many of us (myself included!) find that life here is just full of suburban monotony and triviality that we're trapped in.
We need an outlet. We need to put our hands to work. Many of us have our own vision of what life should look like, but many times God has another path for us. As men of God, engaged in life,
- we worship God and provide for His church;
- we serve our wives and children, lovingly providing and caring for them;
- we work diligently in our careers with the abilities God has given us.
May I offer another? Fight injustice.
It's difficult having seen injustice in the world and not being actively engaged in fighting it. Honestly, more often than not, I imagine myself as some sort of warrior (not because I have too much time on my hands), when in reality, I seek safety in a personal weakness only to find spiritual atrophy, mediocrity, and boredom.
Jesus offers us another way. Let's explore that next time.
Until then...
"Father God, merciful Provider who I am privildeged to be called a son with my brother Jesus Christ, search my heart - my true heart - and show my how you want me to fight injustice for your glory. While you search me, I'm not going to sit around and wait for a sign. I will love and serve you, love and serve my precious family, and serve you at work. I will move in the direction of your will. I know as long as I move for your purpose and in your purpose, we, you and I, are of like mind. Steer me down the path you want me to go. I'm not waiting for a glorious sign, although you could show me one. I'm moving for your purposes. In Jesus name I pray, Amen."
Jesus beckons me to follow him to that place of weakness where I risk the vulnerability of a child so that I might know how strong my Father is and how much he loves me.
But truth be told, I would rather be an adult. I'd rather be in a place where I can still pull things together if God doesn't show up, where I risk no ultimate humiliation, where I don't have to take the shallow breaths of desperation.
And as a result, my experience of my heavenly Father is simply impoverished. He says his power is made perfect in my weakness, not in my strength.
From Gary Haugen's book Just Courage
For those of you looking forward to this week's entry titled, "Jonathan picks a fight," I'm sorry to inform you that that message will be delayed! The fact is, Jonathan doesn't really feel like picking a fight right now.
Nonetheless, we are restless, aren't we, men?
I received a prayer request recently from a friend who's been irritable and impatient after witnessing the need for justice in the world. After all, as a man of action, engaged in life, we have a warrior who's willing to die to live inside. Yet, many of us (myself included!) find that life here is just full of suburban monotony and triviality that we're trapped in.
We need an outlet. We need to put our hands to work. Many of us have our own vision of what life should look like, but many times God has another path for us. As men of God, engaged in life,
- we worship God and provide for His church;
- we serve our wives and children, lovingly providing and caring for them;
- we work diligently in our careers with the abilities God has given us.
May I offer another? Fight injustice.
It's difficult having seen injustice in the world and not being actively engaged in fighting it. Honestly, more often than not, I imagine myself as some sort of warrior (not because I have too much time on my hands), when in reality, I seek safety in a personal weakness only to find spiritual atrophy, mediocrity, and boredom.
Jesus offers us another way. Let's explore that next time.
Until then...
"Father God, merciful Provider who I am privildeged to be called a son with my brother Jesus Christ, search my heart - my true heart - and show my how you want me to fight injustice for your glory. While you search me, I'm not going to sit around and wait for a sign. I will love and serve you, love and serve my precious family, and serve you at work. I will move in the direction of your will. I know as long as I move for your purpose and in your purpose, we, you and I, are of like mind. Steer me down the path you want me to go. I'm not waiting for a glorious sign, although you could show me one. I'm moving for your purposes. In Jesus name I pray, Amen."
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