Amos

This week I have been reading through the book of Amos and for those who know me you know I have a 4 year old ball of energy named Amos. My Amos gets his name from the Bible Amos. And this morning I would like to share why, but in order to do that I need to set the stage a bit...

The Bible Amos was a prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam, and like most other prophets, no one wanted to hear what he had to say, especially the religious establishment of his day. In Amos 7:10, Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, had this to say to King Jeroboam, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words." Isn't that a great phrase, "The land is not able to bear all his words." (But I must stay focused!).

Amaziah then turns his attention to Amos saying, "O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom." Basically he says, "Get out of here, we do not want to hear any more from you!" (note the blatant absence of God in Amaziah's words)

What Amos says in the next 3 verses encourages my faith and provides the reason I chose to name my son after this obscure prophet. In verse 14, I can see Amos looking squarley at Amaziah and responding to his threat, "I was not prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.' Now therefore hear the word of the LORD."

Did you get that? Did you catch the last phrase? It gives me goosebumps he says, "Now hear the word of the LORD..." These powerful men just told Amos to get out of town and stop prophesying and his answer to them, "Now hear the word of the LORD..."

It is that faith and boldness that I respect, but it is also important to note that his faith and boldness is clothed in humility. In his response Amos confesses his profession: herdsman and fig dresser (basically a confession of his poverty)...But the LORD took him and made him a prophet and he obviously takes his calling seriously. Amos admits that he is a nobody that God has chosen to use and because God has called him, he will not refuse, nor compromise...but he will, as he does, continue to speak the word of the LORD.

My hope is that I will model this faith and boldness, clothed in humility to my Amos and to the world around me.

Losing Our Faith

Have you ever lost your keys?

Normally we realize they are gone in the moment we need them. You know, all of the sudden there is a crisis: We are in need of some dessert, which means a late night run to Wal-mart to get something sweet to eat before bed. So, you go to get your keys and they are not in "the spot." So you look in another "spot" and another and even another, in a matter of minutes you have dug through the couch cushions, through the kids toys, and maybe even looked in the refrigerator (for the record I have never left my keys in the refrigerator). All you can do is think about cheesecake, brownies, and ice-cream, then in an instant you realize if you don't get to Wal-mart the economy will not be stimulated, but in order to save wall street and the weakening dollar, you need your keys.

Alright, that might be a stretch, but I also hope you can see yourself in that silly story. All of us have at some point lost something important (keys, phone, check, child, etc.) and in desperation we searched, because life couldn't go on unless we found what we needed.

Here lately I've needed faith; you know the believing without seeing kind of faith. The Hebrews 11 kind of faith. The Peter walking on water kind of faith. In certain moments over the past several weeks I've turned to cling to my faith, joy, love, patience, self-control and I couldn't find them. If you have every experienced this, as a Christian, it is quite terrifying. Initially we are prone to think that God has left or moved away, writing Ichabod on our soul. But the truth is He hasn't gone anywhere; His Spirit is still alive and well. Didn't He promise that He would never leave us or forsake us, that he would be with us always to the end of the age? That he did! So what's the problem? Where is my faith? Where is my joy? It has been neglected, it has been ignored, it has been covered up and is overgrown with other weeds. Today, John Owen helped me to see this, i encourage you to read on as he writes...

"...as you may see in a garden, let there be a precious herb planted, and let the ground be untilled, and weeds grow about it; perhaps it will live still, but be a poor, withering, unuseful thing. You must look and search for it, and sometimes you can scarce find it; and when you do, you can scarce know it, whether it be the plant you look for or no: and suppose it be, you can make no use of it at all. Whereas, let another of the same kind be set in ground naturally as barren and bad as the other, but let it be well weeded and every thing that is noxious and hurtful removed from it, it flourishes and thrives; you may see it at first look into the garden, and have it for your use when you please.
So it is with the graces [fruits] of the Spirit that are planted in our hearts. That is true, that they are still, they abide, in a heart where there is some neglect of mortification; but they are ready to die, they are withering and decaying. The heart is like the sluggard's field, so overgrown with weeds that you can scarce see the good corn. Such as man may search for faith, love and zeal, and scarce be able to find any; and if he do discover that these graces are there, still alive and sincere, yet they are so weak, so clogged with lusts, that they are of very little use; they remain indeed, but are ready to die. But now let the heart be cleansed by mortification; the weeds of lust constantly and daily rooted up, as they spring daily, nature being their proper soil; let room be made for grace to thrive and flourish; how will every grace act its part, and be ready for every use and purpose!

John Owen - The Mortification of Sin

Friends, let us root up the weeds of lust continually, so that when we need love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23); or simply put, when we need the Spirit to assure us and work through us, nothing will be growing in the way.

First Post

I do believe it is fitting that 2 hours before writing my first official blog-post i was reading in the gospel of Luke and came across Jesus parable of the wedding feast. You know the one where he suggests that the guest to a party start in the cheap seats and if they get invited to sit in a seat of honor all the better and all the more honor - the conclusion: "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

I don't write this to claim that I have mastered humility or that "I've written the book on it" (just a side note C. J. Mahaney actually did write the book on it and i highly recommend it if you don't own it). No, i point out this passage because my intent in starting a blog isn't to highlight me in anyway, and if I ever do begin to highlight me, I invite those 2 readers (that may be a stretch) to lovingly remind me of this initial blog.

So what is my purpose in starting a blog? In one word: Grace. I want this blog to be about God who is gracious, Christ who graciously took my sin and punishment, the Spirit who by grace patiently continues to shape me into the image of Christ. Yes, I want this blog to communicate gracious words that will build you the reader up in the faith.