prayer request update

My boss, Daniel, with the finger that doesn't work because all the tendons ruptured playing basketball got some awesome news today. The surgeon not only thinks it will heal but he thinks it will heal without surgery! That's a major shift from when it happened and there were fears he would be stuck with a limp ring finger from here on out. Pretty cool answer to prayer. He gets to wear a splint thing for a while and it should heal just fine.

If God is so burning bush how can he be dancing like that?

I think I think a lot.

I lead worship all the time; seems like I'm always using music as a tool to help people connect with Jesus. So I'm thinking about worship in light of several conversations I've had lately about Calvinism and Arminianism, centered around how it seems like the Free Will crowd (Arminians) don't really pay much attention to how upset the Predestiantion crowd (Calvin) seem to be over the Free Will crowd's seeming lack of interest in the Sovereignty of God (They are very interested by the way) and how that seems to make the Calvin crowd even more upset. Complicated? Like I said, I think a lot. And it's not my point so I don't want you to hang out there very long. Here's my deal. I think it's "both and", meaning I think people who insist on God only predestining people to know him or folks who go the other way and say it's all free will both miss the point. It's both. Try looking at both sides of a quarter at the same time. Pretty much can't and see each side clearly, right?

But I digress. I was talking about worship. I think. Or quantum mechanics.

Anyway, God describes Himself in different places in the Bible as Sovereign Lord and King of kings. He is Ruler and Judge and Creator. Mighty and Powerful. From everlasting to everlasting. The first and the last. The one at whose throne every knee will bow. And that's just a few of them off the top of my head. But you get the idea. He is wholly different from us, which is what Holiness means. Righteous. Just. Jealous. Victorious. Warrior. A strong tower.

That sounds pretty harsh. Like a King should be. Immense and powerful. Kings are standoffish. Common people don't get to meet the King. At least not normally. Those who do must enter with reverence and awe and often had a specific way to show respect as they came into the Throne room. Maybe kneeling or bowing or something. You were definitely reverent and on your best behavior in your best clothes. If you didn't the King might just kill you for it.

I think a lot of people see God like this. Unapproachable. So not like us. So burning bush and fire and brimstone.

But then God describes Himself as a Father. Intimate and kind. Compassionate. Slow to anger and abounding in love. Rich in mercy. Prince of Peace. Loving. Full of Grace. Forgiving. Gentle. He sings and dances for joy over you and I. His thoughts about just one person outnumber the grains of sand on the beach. He is all about reconciliation - He is in the business of fixing relationships. Jesus got right down into the dirt of life with his friends. So not like a King. Yet so like a Father. Where it's safe to be yourself, faults and all. To be honest about how you feel and what you think - like you can with family.

I think a lot of people see God like this. Wholly approachable. Like us because Jesus lived on earth like us. So perfect yet so accepting and approachable for the rest of us who are completely not.

So which is it?

Both and.

Which raises my question for worship. How do you lead people to meet and spend time with Jesus and do it in a way that includes all of who God describes Himself to be? The Incredibly Holy and Perfect King of kings and Lord of lords who is truly beyond our comprehension but who is also a loving, intimate Savior who tells us to come as we are boldly before the Throne of Grace.

I think your perspective on the first confusing bit influences how you answer this confusing bit. Calvinists seem to love the Old Testament flair for Holiness and Judgment while Arminians seem to be all about Grace and Love. And both seem to think the other side is missing out because they lack what they have. And they're both right. Both are missing out and it comes out in how we do worship. We end up lopsided in how we represent Jesus and that impedes our understanding of God and that messes with how we connect with Jesus.

So what is worship about? I think it's not just an experience of something. If all we have is an experience that feels spiritual we don't have much. I felt spiritual once just from being up for too many hours in a row. I love a quote by James Torrence and just cannot get away from it - "More important than your experience of Christ is the Christ of your experience." So what happens if we include both sides, as it were, of God; both sides of the quarter? Few bridge the dichotomy. But if we don't we risk misrepresenting Jesus by not revealing in worship as many facets of Him as we possibly can.

Both and.

That's why I'm curious what you think because maybe I just think too much.

But I doubt it.

Strange gift for injury

So a good friend of mine, who happens to also be my boss, walked in to my living room last night with a splint on his ring finger. He has a rare gift for strange injury. Apparently he was playing basketball and kept asking the other players to check the ball because something was wrong with it - the leather had ripped or it was deformed or something. After asking a couple different times, Daniel looked at his hand and realized his finger was dangling limp and he couldn't move it. The ball was fine. His hand wasn't.

Trade you a cheap plastic splint for your wedding ring?

Daniel goes in soon to have his finger looked at but talking with his MD Dad it sounds bad. Potentially the kind of injury there is no treatment for. The live with it kind. There may be new treatments out there but from what his Dad knows, if it is what he thinks it is, there's not much hope for surgery or therapy to fix it.

Being in full time ministry, Daniel uses his fingers a lot writing and typing and all. Having a bum finger is more than just an annoyance for him. It's a career impediment. I believe Jesus is in the business of healing people. Would you pray with me that Jesus would heal Daniel's finger? Thanks.