Upper Loft Meditation - Genesis 3

This past Easter week got me focused on how great God’s plan is for his creation. He knew before it all began that He would be suffering and dying on the cross for our sins, then rising again. It got me thinking about how it could be possible to divide the entire Bible into two parts. Genesis 1-2 and then Genesis 3 to the end of Revelation. Think about it. The first two chapters of Genesis speak of God’s amazing creation. Then Chapter 3 talks about the rebellion of man against God. And for the remainder of the Bible, God’s intricate and loving plan to redeem, restore and reconcile creation back to himself is described.

So what does this mean to those of us reading Chapter 3 of Genesis?

I guess there is no better way to begin to understand God’s message than to wrestle with and fully understand our separation from him because of sin and our desperate need for him to reconcile our relationship. We need to always be remembering this point in Scripture. The point that divides God’s creation from God… the point at which sin enters the picture.

And even though God knows everything, he still calls out to Adam asking “Where are you?” Why does he do this? Maybe it has to do with the concept of confession. Maybe God was wanting Adam to confess his sin, to come to God and desire reconciliation, to desire to remove his sin.

Yes, Adam responds out of fear and shame when he says that he hid and was afraid. We are all most tempted to hide from a situation when we will have to face punishment of a feeling of shame. We all desire to please others, and Adam felt like he let God down by his action and his inaction.

So each day, we all need to desire to pursue reconciliation… not waiting to be confronted with our sin… but to be proactive in seeking reconciliation.

Upper Loft Meditation - 2 Corinthians

“I’m writing this to you now so that when I come I won’t have to say another word on the subject. The authority the Master gave me is for putting people together, not taking them apart. I want to get on with it, and not spend time on reprimands.” (MSG) - 2 Corinthians 13:10 This past weekend I began reading a book on the history of the English settlement of Jamestown in Virginia back in the 1600s. The leadership style of Captain John Smith, hard driving and desirous of personal achievement, was a stark contrast to the leadership style I was reading about in another book. I also have been reading through 2 Corinthians, examining the leadership examples that come from Paul.

If you exercise leadership among other believers, your family, or co-workers, I encourage you to carefully study Paul’s view of his own authority. Like Captain John Smith and many of us, Paul liked to be in charge, and he felt frustrated when people failed to follow his lead, as the Corinthians had. As an apostle, he had spiritual authority over them, which at times led him to deal severely with them.

But it is important to notice how Paul exercised his authority, especially as he grew older in the faith. Unlike Captain John Smith, Paul didn’t lord it over others or try to use his authority for personal advantage. Nor did he abuse his power by using it to work out his own anger. Instead, he recognized that spiritual authority is given “for edification and not for destruction”, for building others up, not for tearing them down.

Is that how we use our position and authority? Are we more like Captain John Smith, just trying to survive a difficult situation? Do we exercise leadership in order to accomplish the best interests of those who follow us? As they carry out our directives, are they built up in Christ, or torn down?

Upper Loft Meditation - Luke 7

“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners’.” - Luke 7:34 For many people in the United States, today marks a day of protest and conflict. Today marks the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision enabling the legality of abortion. This is also a day of challenges. One challenge is… Are you a friend to sinners?

How many times when we talk with co-workers, people visiting our church or our home, or sinners does the discussion tone change from a mutual discussion to the “christian” talking TO or AT the sinner, trying to fix that sinner’s attitude about some type of sin. Christians around the world talk about loving the sinner, while hating the sin. The question today becomes… is the love actually coming through? Are you a “friend to sinners”?

Many people see believers as judgmental, prideful, and quick to fault others. Biblical Christians today have an image problem. Jesus had an image problem also. The early believers were upset because they thought he was too easy on sinners. They thought Jesus was too friendly with sinners. Jesus was repeatedly called a “friend to sinners”. How ironic, that in the current era of Christianity believers are seen in the opposite light. Are you a “friend to sinners”?

How can we become more of a friend to sinners?

1. Look within - Many times the things we ‘can’t stand’ in others are buried deep within us.
2. Look to Christ - Read how Luke portrays the relationship between Christ and sinners.
3. Stop avoiding the sinful people - Ask God to help you with hospitality towards sinners.

Do we care enough to reach out to others, without an agenda? Are you a “friend to sinners”?

Read the Spanish Version. [Read more]

Upper Loft Meditation - 2 Corinthians 12

My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
(2 Corinthians 12:9 MSG)

Last week I wrote about how overwhelmed many of us are in our daily lives, but how UNDERwhelmed we are when it comes to God. Reflecting on this understanding, we need to come to the realization that there will never be enough time in this day, the next day or all your days to accomplish everything. Never enough money or workers or prayer breakthroughs or miracles or revivals or impact or strength or wisdom or vision, to name a few - at least not from where we are standing.

Yet we do know what Scripture says… we do know enough of how God works to know that God knows — and he tells Paul that “My strength is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”

Paul — has weakness?

Yes, like all of us, even Paul had weakness. And this hope he had in God’s sufficiency should be the message emblazoned on the banner that each of us hoists high. “Once I hear that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size - abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

When we become overwhelmed with our mounting to-do lists, appointments and concerns with life, ask God to show you his strength so that we all might be overwhelmed by God’s grace and mercy in our daily life.

Upper Loft Meditation - Romans 7

“I do not understand what I do,” cries out Paul in Romans 7:15. “For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate to do I do”.

This is a constant human predicament with seemingly unlimited mileage! We use this passage to peer deep into our soul’s closet, as we should, but it also sometimes taints and colors our nobler intentions.

How many of us have been overwhelmed by the sheer daily nature of life or the seeming impossibility of the Great Commission ? We’re constantly overwhelmed by the stubbornness of broken relationships, destructive lifestyle choices, and the downright raw human decay of society we see every day. Those of us in the office, and the many volunteers who took the time to help judge this year’s essay contest on “Compassion and the Working Child” were able to get a an eye-full huge gaping window view into the depravity that is child labor. Yet, many of us still are very adept and skillful at distancing ourselves from the victims of such destruction.

It is overwhelming to accept that judgment is righteous upon crass indifference, self-centeredness and a weak display of spirituality in our daily lives. We’re overwhelmed when it seems that our years spent in passionate and sacrificial commitment to a cause - the kingdom of God - barely warrants two minutes in the pulpit of a church or only two lines in the back of the bulletin.

We’re overwhelmed to realize that we ourselves blame this ’cause’ for anemic commitments as friends, spouses and parents. Forget stopping to smell the roses; with our utilitarian eyes we don’t even see the roses. Utterly focused on doing, we have lost touch with being. In these areas and more, it’s easy to be overwhelmed.

Why then are we so seldom overwhelmed with all that God is?

“What I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do.” We’ve nailed it when preaching or singing about Him but, mano a mano, when it all comes down to it, with all that weighs us down in life, something is lost in translation. That something just might be what Francis Schaeffer called “the mannish-ness of man”: our humanity. If only we all could, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer urged, “give up the foolish task of trying to be saints, and get on with the more important task of trying to be human.”

Upper Loft Meditation - Matthew 27

Matthew 27:22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked.

John Stott is retiring this week. It is amazing to look back on his life and marvel at the way God worked so faithfully through him. During the time he was in school, Stott talks about a preacher named “Bash” who came and challenged the students with a quote from Pilate: “What then shall I do with Jesus, who is called the Christ?”

Stott recalls: “That I needed to do anything with Jesus was an entirely novel idea to me, for I had imagined that somehow he had done whatever needed to be done, and that my part was only to acquiesce. However, this preacher was quietly but powerfully insisting that everybody had to do something about Jesus, and that nobody could remain neutral. Either we copy Pilate and weakly reject him, or we accept him personally and follow him.”

There were times in John Stott’s life when he would actively “do things” for Christ and not just be neutral in his relationship. I think of the stories of disguising himself as homeless and sleeping on the streets in order to find out what it was like and how his congregation would react. He worked hard at remembering names and faces while continuously praying for those people he met. I remember reading that whenever John Stott was thinking about the work of the church he had two key words in his vocabulary: integration & penetration. These two words have lots of action in them. Continue Reading Devotional

As John Stott retires, I find myself thinking… “What am I doing with Christ? What action am I taking? Or am I just sitting back with a neutral attitude like Pilate?”

What are you DOING for Jesus today?

Upper Loft Meditation - Colossians 3

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” - Colossians 3:15

Being thankful is not a choice for a Christian. Many people think it is impossible to be thankful at all times. Yet, if it were not possible, God would not have told us to do it. So, why are people not thankful?

Gratitude is a mark of maturity. Ingratitude is a mark of immaturity.

People who are proud cannot be thankful. Why? Because their mindset is focused on the understanding that they deserve not just everything they have, but even better. “Why be thankful for something less than what you deserve?” is what proud people are thinking. An interesting observation: have you ever seen an unthankful person who is always happy?

Being an unthankful person can become a very bad habit. How can we overcome the bad habit of ingratitude? We must change our core beliefs. As long as you believe you are getting a raw deal, or less than you deserve, you will never become a thankful person.

But if you realize that you deserved punishment and eternal separation from God, yet in His mercy God instead gave you what He deserved, and EVERYTHING you have, including every breath you breathe, is a gift — then you will become a thankful person.

I challenge you to become a person of gratitude, not just because it will make you a more mature and happy person. But because God instructs us to be thankful, and following God’s word is always for our benefit. Thank someone today.

Friday Tech Talk

Ok, I know what you are saying.  Hey this Friday Tech Talk is happening on a Thursday.  You are correct and your calendar is not deceiving you.  The reason why the Friday Tech Talk is happening on a Thursday is that I’m going out of town for the next week.  I’ll be in North Dakota at my wife’s sister’s wedding.  This picture to the right is the beautiful North Dakota landscape… EXCEPT that at this time of the year, it is cold, cold, cold and snow is on the ground.  I’m not sure if there is another way to put it.  North Dakota is cold.  But I thought by posting a summer picture of North Dakota to make me think it will be warmer.

Anyway, Late last night… at around 12:45 in the morning, I finally finished the transfer of the Oakseed website to a brand new server.  With this new server, the Oakseed website will be able to grow and not be hindered by technology.  Over the past month we’ve had some issues with an older server, so it is good to be on a solid server.  If you happen to notice anything “funny” going on with the website, just shoot me an email at benjamin@oakseed.org and I’ll check it out.

I did add a cool little feature to the website.  It’s a feature called SNAP.  Now, whenever you hover your mouse over a link to another website or picture, a preview window will pop up and you’ll be able to see the image of the website link.

Try it out, just hover your mouse over the name of the ministry:

ESAF - One of our ministry partners in India focused on job training among the poor

PACANET - One of our ministry partners working with AIDS Awareness

Roblealto - One of our ministry partners working with children at risk.

Enjoy the next week, and I’ll stop in a few times over the next week.

Friday Tech Talk

We’ve come a long way. That’s right, I recently was sorting through a bunch of my old backup files and found some of the Oakseed Ministries’ website history… going back to around 1998 (Nine Years Ago).  So, I thought I would share this history with you.

There are a bunch of photos, so if you have a slow connection you may need to wait for everything to load.

The year was somewhere between 1998 and 1999:

It was big news that Oakseed Ministries was getting a website. Realizing that a major portion of our readership at the time was from all around the world, we decided to make a very simple, text-heavy website.

Mid to Late 1999:

This was a huge update to the website.  Now users could choose (from the below splash screen) to visit the low-bandwidth style website, or to the amazing graphical website that required users to have Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher.

 

And then once you were inside you were greeted by an amazing website (with a table and clipart)

The year 2000:

Wow, a major facelift, with no more clipart.  Users were now able to navigate the site and see some of the faces of the children associated with Oakseed Ministries. (Hmmm.. what is that 3D Virtual World… a very crazy attempt to have people walk through the Oakseed Ministries World. I believe only 4 people at the time had the computer power and internet speed to be able to visit that section.)

 

Then later in the year the main table was resized to better fit browsers.

The Middle of 2001:

The next major rewrite of the Oakseed Ministries website. This time the site contains a navigation system so that now, people will always be able to click to different areas of the site, regardless of where they were located.

2002:

This site went back to full screen viewing, while trying to simplify the site and the navigation. (Side note: I’ve lost most of the graphics for this time period. So this was the best I had.)

2003:

Another huge rewrite and organization of the Oakseed Ministries website. This time there are multiple navigations (both on the header area and on the side bar). The multiple different ministries and activities were all brought into the Oakseed main site.

2005:

The website had stayed the same, with no major updates for the past year or two. In 2005, the next big update was done to the website. This update brought in a better functionality to adding content at a moments notice. (Like the rapidly updating status of the Huge Tsunami Flood Relief project.)

Late 2006:I finally came on staff at Oakseed Ministries as the Vice President of Communications and Development. This gave me a lot more time to devote to utilizing the internet as a valued communication tool. I rewrote the entire website starting with the backend database. This new database backend allows us to develop a very dynamic website. I started with a Content Management System called Drupal and I rewrote entire sections so that I could get things to work as I needed them.

Current Website:

The previous front end of the website was mainly to provide me with a solid testing ground for my database backend as we began to actively develop the site. And now the finished product is up. While the site may look like this for a while… it is a rapidly changing site with new content appearing every day. Plus, I’m constantly testing and adding new features.

Now I realize in the last Tech Talk, I mentioned something about the new Beta Testing Team. I’m gonna have to put that off till next week. But if you are EXTREMELY eager, just send me an email atbenjamin@oakseed.org.

Friday Tech Talk

In an effort to facilitate and create a more user friendly website, I’ve devoted some time for the next few Fridays to explain some of the new features that are on the Oakseed website.  Plus, I’ll spend some time giving you a sneak peak of some of the things that are upcoming.

First, why am I spending some time typing up a technology focused blog?  I firmly believe that God has called myself and called Oakseed to be a voice for the poor and to stand along side the poor so that people all around the world will be able to see the face of the poor.  I believe that once people can see the face of the poor, they will be unable to turn away without helping those that are less fortunate.

Secondly, technology is becoming a great medium in which to have interactive and meaningful conversations with many more people than was possible just a few years ago. 

For this purpose, (and probably now visible to those visiting the Oakseed Ministries website), we have completely rewritten the entire Oakseed website so that it now has a powerful database back-end with an extremely flexible front face.  So what does all this mean for you, the reader of this website?  Well, for starters:

1. It is now easier to find things on the Oakseed Ministries website with a completelyintegrated search engine that has been specifically designed for the Oakseed Ministries website.
2. The Upper Room Devotions are posted each Tuesday (around noon EST) so that you can meditate on the weekly devotion at any time, whether at work or at school, home or using your Blackberry on the bus.
3. Each of the Oakseed Ministries staff has their own blog where they share interesting stories and life experiences.  Get to know the staff here at Oakseed Ministries without having to live in the Washington, DC area.
4. The new website has an easy-to-use comment system that allows everyone to participate in the discussions and respond to articles and postings.
5. Plus, when we have special events, like the currently running Essay Contest, we’re able toreceive the essay submissions through a simple form the essay contestants fill out.

We’ve got lots of other things in store.  Once I get these features to a fully tested stage and we’re ready to turn them live on the full site, it will continue making Oakseed.org one of the easiest-to-use and user-friendly ministry website.

Ok, so I told you I had some sneak peaks at some upcoming features:

• A fully localized version of the Oakseed website.  (That’s right, you will soon be able to read the Oakseed website in Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and possible some additional languages.)
• The ability to personalize your own version of Oakseed.org
• Receive notifications when specific topics are being discussed on the Oakseed Ministries website.
• Plus so much more.

Anyway, if you’re excited about the Oakseed Ministries website and the changes that are happening, please let me know. (benjamin@oakseed.org)  If you would like to become part of the special beta testing team and get early access to some of the new features of the website, I would love to talk to you and get you involved in this exciting program.

Next week, I’ll be talking more about the Oakseed Beta Testing group and how you can get involved.  Till next time, get involved on the Oakseed Ministries website, post a comment, tell your friends, and enjoy your time here. 

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