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Do all you do with love or it’s just noise

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This is from my book, Devotions for Church Communicators, but it has value for everyone so I’m sharing some excerpts on this site:

Do all you do with love or it’s just noise

If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth but didn’t love others, I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I knew all the mysteries of the future and knew everything about everything, but didn’t love others, what good would I be? And if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love I would be no good to anybody. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would be of no value whatsoever. (1 Cor. 13:1-3 NLT)

Words without love are just noise is Rick Warren’s commentary on these verses from one message in his 40 Days of Community. Though these words apply in every interaction we have in  life, I think they are especially true in the world of church communications.

I’ve often said in my seminars that I can tell when I look at publication samples if the person who was doing them was having a grumpy day or not. People often laugh. But it really isn’t a joke.

Who we are, the mood we are in, and how much we care for the people for whom we are creating the print or digital piece comes through loud and clear in church     communications.Continue Reading

Just because it’s God’s will, doesn’t mean it will be easy–about book of Joshua

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After forty years of wandering in the desert, when it came time to go into the Promised Land, I can’t help but wonder if there were times when Joshua might have wished that God could have brought a terrible plague on the inhabitants of the land and in an act of divine wrath, blotted them out.

God could have done that, but he didn’t.

God gave the Israelites the land, but they had to fight ugly, bloody battles for every inch of it.

A pattern here for us to remember

We have a plaque in our home that says, “Faith makes all things possible, but not easy.” That is a sentiment Joshua would have understood.

On our own, we cannot conquer anything. For the children of Israel there were giants in the land; the cities were strong and fortified; there were armies that would not give up without a fight. In our lives we may have destructive habits, challenging relationships, and difficult life circumstances—situations that seem impossible to conquer.

We desperately need God’s help. At the same time, he expects us to participate in the fight.Continue Reading

Verses on Servanthood

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Servant, bond-slave, one with no rights of our own, one whose purpose in life is to serve another—that is our core identity as church communicators. Just reading those words, how our human nature wants to fight it. We want to be recognized for our brilliance and creativity and sometimes we grouse in private that we “aren’t appreciated.”

We probably aren’t—not being appreciated is what being a servant means. We can’t change that reality, but when we stop fighting it, when we submit and serve, we find peace and satisfaction in our work.Continue Reading

What does God expect of us?

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When reading the Old Testament, one of the most frequent questions people ask is “Why?”

Why does God judge so harshly?

Why does he command entire groups of people to be killed?

Why does he allow his own people to suffer and go into captivity?

These are all valid questions and similar to many we might ask today. To help answer these questions and before we completely leave Deuteronomy (though I realize you’ve probably already finished it in the yearly reading plan), it’s important to remember as you read the rest of the Old Testament a key teaching in the book and that is: the importance of God’s covenant with his people.

A covenant has two sides

It’s easy to forget that God’s covenants, his agreements with his people to care for and save them are not one-sided.  God’s love, grace, and saving power are unconditional in that once you are one of his people, either his chosen nation or as a believer in Jesus today, you will always be his. However, as a child of God, he has certain expectations of what your behavior should be.

There are also consequences if your behavior does not follow this commands. This is the reality that answers many of the questions we have.Continue Reading

You are an ambassador in enemy occupied territory; be prepared to be misunderstood

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All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared  a city for them. (Heb.  11:13-16)

We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. (2 Cor 5:20, KJV)

 I often feel sorry for the government spokesmen on the evening news. They are attempting to explain government policies and actions to a frequently hostile  audience.

Though often obviously uncomfortable and frustrated at their inability to communicate as well as they would like, the government spokesmen don’t condemn the press, or shout unkind judgments. With professionalism they explain their positions, answer questions, and offer sources for more  information.

We’re in a similar situation—spokesmen for a heavenly kingdom no one can see and many don’t believe  exists.

In communicating truth about this kingdom, if we feel out of place, if we feel our values have little to do with the values of the world around us, if we feel our perspective is wildly at odds with that of  our audience, there isn’t anything wrong with us. It is the proper assessment of reality. We are out of sync; we are out of place.

Like the old hymn says, “this world is not our home.” But just because it isn’t home doesn’t mean we don’t have a job to do in it.

As C.S. Lewis reminded us in Mere Christianity, “Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and  is calling us all to take part in a great  campaign of sabotage.”

Our sabotage work, as it is for any resistance army, is to create communications that let people know the rightful king is coming back and that this world will not always be under the present deteriorating management of sin and sadness. The early Christians were known as people whose faces were turned toward the dawn. Our communications should reflect that perspective as we look for  the public return of our   king.

As we speak and write for the “rightful king,” pray to do it as an ambassador worthy of his calling, someone with whom God is not ashamed to be called your  God.

 

God as your only inheritance

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The past few weeks  as we read through Numbers and Deuteronomy, you’ve seen how God progressively called the priests from the tribe of Levi, how he gave them specific tasks, specific clothes to wear, and ways to act. After all of this he consecrated them for their work at the tabernacle. They were honored above the other tribes in their service to the Tabernacle.

Like all the other tribes they were no doubt looking ahead to the promised land, to having a place of their own after being slaves for generations. Trekking across the dusty desert, maybe they dreamed of a little patch of land with a home that they didn’t have to take down and move and maybe a little garden or vineyard.

Then God told them something they probably didn’t want to hear.Continue Reading