The Sound of Scott

I’ve been reading a lot in the book of Hebrews lately and there are some amazing passages in which the author talks about the things of this world, and how they are merely a shadow of the things to come. Some of our most sacred, divine moments are merely a taste of Heaven. What a thought!

The book of Psalms says that Man is like a breath, and his days are like a fleeting shadow. Over and over again this thought is echoed throughout the scriptures. For some reason the other day I just couldn’t get this idea of shadows out of my head. A shadow is an interesting thing. A shadow shows the outline of an object but lacks the color, detail and depth of an object. A shadow can’t think for itself; it’s merely bound to the will of the one who casts it. And of course the shadow is generated from an object or person which is in the light. When we talk about the concept of foreshadowing it’s the idea that you get a small glimpse of the thing to come. Often times in movies we get to see a character’s shadow before we actually see them. But the shadow itself isn’t enough; we want to see the character fully illumined so we wait and watch in suspense.

While we’re here on earth we can’t see God in his fullness, but we do get glimpses of Him as we grow in our awareness of his presence. It’s as if we live in his shadow, anticipating the fullness of his glory to come. In his shadow we find rest and protection. (Psalm 91, Psalm 17) In his shadow we sing. (Psalm 63) The shadow is not God himself, but merely a rough outline of who he is. Unfortunately many people ignore God’s shadow and instead embrace the darkness of sin and the world. A shadow in the dark cannot be seen, but God sent us a light so that we may illuminate the world to reveal His shadow. Matthew 4:16 says, “the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

The Light of Lights has descended from realms of endless day to illumine and guide us. So may you run away from the shadow of death and run towards the Light of our Savior. And as you run towards the light may you also find yourself resting in the shadow of His wings.

I have a notebook…

In it I keep my thoughts, desires, revelations, invitations, prayers and emotions. My notebook gives me glimpses into my life and reminds me of the ways that God speaks to me. When I write down a thought it usually starts out simple but as I let it saturate in my mind it begins to grow and develop. Every now and then I take something from my notebook and share it here on my blog. Here we go:

I have found that the times when I am most prone to sin are those moments when I’m feeling fragile and tired. When I’m tired I usually can’t think straight and I find myself worrying about tomorrow instead of breathing in today. My heart becomes hard and I can’t hear anything that God is saying. All I hear are my problems, and I pass by God on my left and my right, but never even see him. As a great inspiration of mine once said, “What you look for, you will find.” If all I look at is my problems how will I ever see God? If I want to see God I need to look for him. King David said, “Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.” Always… even when I feel fragile and tired. The interesting thing about being tired is that for the most part it is avoidable. We simply have to find time to rest.

The writer of the book of Hebrews seems to suggest that there is a correlation between resting andhearing God. Rest (Sabbath) is something we don’t talk about very much, but it’s so important. From the Sabbath of eternity God created the universe. On the seventh day I believe that God not only rested from the work he did, but also for the work he had to do. I believe that out of Sabbath we find ourselves renewed, refreshed and ready for anything to come our way. In Hebrews chapter four, the author talks about God resting and says that we who believe can enter into his rest. At the same time the author also quotes a passage from Psalm 95 which says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” This same passage gets quoted three times. The author is trying to get a point across. Already there seems to be some parallels being drawn, although not clear at first.

The author also reminds us about Israel in the dessert. They were disobedient and did not enter into God’s rest, and because of it their hearts were hard. The Israelites turned away from the living God and instead lived in sin and unbelief. But then we get this encouragement in verse nine that says, “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.” If we enter God’s rest we will not fall! We will not be fragile and tired we will be renewed and filled with the shalom (peace) of God. When we rest in God he softens our hearts and gives us a child like faith so that we can hear him when he speaks.

But like every other aspect of our faith we can’t do it alone. We need others to come alongside us to help us. Hebrews 3:12-13 says this: “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” I love it, because it’s always Today!

So may you seek the living God this week. May you see that he is here with us on our left and on our right to renew us and make us strong. May your heart be softened to his as you rest in him. And may you encourage others to rest in God as long as it is called Today!

In the 4th Century Church a beautiful Greek liturgy emerged from the pen of St. James, and in 1864 it was translated to English. As we approach the Easter weekend I can’t think of any better words to meditate on than these:

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
Our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
In the body and the blood;
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of light descendeth
From the realms of endless day,
That the powers of hell may vanish
As the darkness clears away.

At His feet the six winged seraph,
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry:
Alleluia, Alleluia
Alleluia, Lord Most High!

I was reminded tonight that often the things we love we don’t love because of what they are but because of what they mean. I was watching a show on television recently and one of the characters had a Chinese tattoo on his arm. Another character told him what it translated to in English. His response was, “That’s what it says, but it’s not what it means.” I asked someone who travels a lot where his favorite place in the world was. He said, “It’s hard to detach a geographical location from your actual experience there.” The experiences we have shape the meanings that we give the things around us. Someone once said that, “Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning.” There’s a song that I absolutely love, and maybe it’s not because of the music or the lyrics, but perhaps it’s because of the meaning it has had in my life. It’s a simple song with simple lyrics by Shane and Shane called Bad Days Better. If you need some encouragement in your life, then maybe it’s not coincidence that you’re reading this right now…

You have made my day
Even in stormy weather
I’m dancing in all the rain
Cause you make bad days…

Great is the way
When you come to mind
I am smiling ear to ear
Sweet thoughts of you
I’m always in the mood
To twirl around with you
While it’s raining
Even if it’s a dream

Great is the way
That I am unafraid
When I see you
All my fear goes away

Bad days are coming
Rainy days are always around
But if I can see you
One glance upon you
The sun comes out

I’m dancing in all the rain
Cause you make bad days better

This is an article I wrote for the Spring
Issue of Community magazine put out
by Big Valley Grace Community Church:

It is evident throughout Scripture that God is in the business of restoration. Our God is a God who redeems the worthless, heals the broken and calls the unrighteous to join Him in His work. As workers in the Kingdom of God, it is easy to get into routines where we focus only on the work we have to do rather than the one who gave us the work. In these moments our work becomes old, stale, dry and tiresome. We find ourselves living mundane lives as we experience these “spiritual slumps.” But God doesn’t invite us into a static ordinary life. He invites us into an exciting extraordinary life–a life abundant. Remember the words of the Psalmist in chapter 51 when he says, “restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.” This joy, this life abundant is one that we are trying to spread in the xrds community. But how do we do it? How do we make the transition from ordinary to extraordinary? How do we renew our faith, and what is this mysterious process of transformation? This has been a challenge for us, but we’ve done some creative brainstorming and here’s what we’ve come up with.

We’ve begun the process of creating a video series called (re)new. It works like this: We’ve asked ten people to work on a specific spiritual discipline for a week and talk about it on video. Some of the disciplines we’ll explore include prayer, silence, solitude and fasting. Through the help of a website, each person has a detailed description of what to do each day, what to talk about, and how to film themselves. Each day XRDers spend a significant amount of time practicing their discipline. At the end of the day they record their thoughts. On the video, participants share their experiences while practicing the discipline and ways in which they are being stretched. They talk about ways in which the exercise was difficult or uncomfortable and the ways they are growing in Christ. At the end of the week their video undergoes a two week process of post production, including editing, scoring and other final touches. The finished videos are put on the website and will eventually be released on DVD. During xrds, the finished video is shown along with a personal interview highlighting how the experience changed the participant’s walk with God. One person, one week, one goal: renewal. Our hope is that these videos will be a valuable tool for the Big Valley Grace family, encouraging the joy of Christ’s renewal. Join us as we learn to hear God and practice His presence. Perhaps you, too, will undergo the mysterious process of transformation.

The other day I was thinking about a few different things… First the complexity of the Trinity and second, the duality of man and our choice between good and evil. I began to wonder if maybe man had a certain “three-in-one-ness” also. This of course wouldn’t be anywhere near the complete triune nature of God, but I still wondered if there was any similarities or even a human equivalent. As I was pondering this my mind led me down an interesting path and I came up with a few thoughts. Part I wont actually explore any of this, but it is necessary to have Part I to reference later.

Let me begin with some scripture as groundwork. I will begin to explain the fullness of my observations and thoughts later.

God: God
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
(Genesis 1:1)
First we see that there is a God and that this God likes to create things.

God: Man
“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
(Genesis 1:3)
When this God creates, he does so by speaking things into existence.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”
(John 1:1-5)
God created the universe with words. The Word itself is also God. The Word gives life.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
(John 1:14)
The life giving Word became a man full of grace and truth.

God: Spirit 
“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
(Genesis 1:2)
This God who speaks life is also spirit.

Man: Created
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’”
(Genesis 1:26)
So this creative God who speaks words and is spirit is one yet many. And so He makes man in his own image.

“the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
(Genesis 2:7)
The God who spoke the dust of the earth into existence decided to breathe life into it.

Man: Fallen
“but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
(James 1:14-15)
The God breathed man, if he gives into his desires, will die.

“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”
(Genesis 3:6-7)
We chose death.

“So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.”
(Genesis 3:23)
Now we face the consequences.

Man: Redeemed
“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”
(Colossians 2:13-14)
God took upon himself the death that we gave birth to, and now we have life again.

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”
(Titus 3:4-7)
The God of grace and truth demonstrated his mercy and gave us life and His Spirit.

Biological Man and God the Creator
The First Level of Connection
I think that at the core of every human being is an internal connection to the God who made us. He made the dust of the earth and from it he breathed life into us. God’s fingerprints are all over our DNA. Some people choose to ignore those fingerprints and pass them off as chance or evolution, but I see intent and design. And then there is this concept that we are made in His image. What does that mean really? I think it is something embedded in the nature of who we are… a desire to do good and know what is right. At any moment any person can choose to act on this or turn away. I think this is where we get this idea of a sort of “universal” moral code. Most people in the world would agree that it is wrong to murder someone. These morals I believe are programmed into us by God, and when we act on them we have a natural connection to God that draws us to him. This is how I see people connecting to God though other faiths. A Jew, for example, was made by God and imprinted with His image. When a Jew does what is right and worships God I think that there is a connection there, not salvation, but a connection of a different kind. This part of us that contains the breath of life I would call the soul. The soul is a strange thing. Many people have written books trying to define it and scientists and psychologists have tried to find it, yet it remains a mystery. I believe that everyone has divine a connection to God through our soul whether or not they know it. The problem is that this connection is not enough. In fact our connection has been severed, and we are separated from him. His imprint is still there and we can see his image in us at times but it takes more to renew our connection fully. This is where the second connection between God and Man comes into play… Man the God meets God the Man.

Man the “God” meets God the Man
The Second Level of Connection
I often refer to the duality of man. We have in us the divine spark, a soul, a conscience that tells us to do what is right. Yet despite our best efforts we fail. We give into our own desires and as a result we have let sin come betweens us and God. As I’ve written about before, I believe that our sin has come from a desire to be God and make decisions on our own rather than trusting in him. So we have this flesh part of us driven by desire and we have a spirit part of us driven by our divinely engineered code. Over time some people like Enoch (Genesis 5, Hebrews 11) have proven that they could overcome their fleshly desires, and yet most of us fail and are inevitably doomed to die. While we continued to play God, the true God came to earth as a man. God revealed himself as a man so that we might connect with him in a physical reality here on earth. We chose death over life and then we chose death for the One who gave us life. Yet through his death he once again gave us life, making it possible for us to reconnect with God in both a spiritual and physical sense. But the story doesn’t stop there. Our connection continues…

Saved by God to God
The Third Connection
So God, to connect us to him in the most intimate way sent us His Spirit, to guide us, and to mark us with a seal as a promise of a future life spent eternally connected to God. (Ephesians 1:13-14) I really don’t think I could sum it up better than this beautiful passage I quoted before…

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”
(Titus 3:4-7)

We have been redeemed and reconnected to God! But all of this was just the back story behind the observation I made the other day regarding the Trinity and Man…

Are you curious?

I often think about what it means to be a hero. To be the person that everyone cheers for even when they don’t know your name.I’ve always had a fascination with heroes in books and movies and in real life.I don’t know what it is about them that they grip me so much.They’re often alone, hurt, and torn between two worlds. Living two lives, they take no credit for their work and pass people on the streets unnoticed. On one side they’re normal, trying to balance the lives of the people they love while on the other side of things they stand as the only means of salvation for countless others they don’t even know. A hero sacrifices himself for the greater good. A hero fights for truth and love at any cost.

A lot of people tell you that anyone can be a hero, and we all have a roll to play, and that even the little things matter. I’m pretty sure I’ve blogged much of the same myself. But there are still those heroes who stand out because they do something big.

I’ve watched a few films recently that expanded my world view a bit and I found myself saying, “Man… I’m glad I was born in America.” I instantly stopped and thought about what I just said. I couldn’t believe I even thought that… how selfish of me. Tonight I was sitting in mar car in a grocery store parking lot looking out my window. I looked at a few people near by and listened to a police siren down the street. I sat there eating a piece of candy and I just felt convicted at the wealth of our country and the things we spend it on. We blind ourselves to the depravity of the world and the harsh realities that encompass us.How did it come to this? Where are all the heroes?

I’m such a hypocrite at times, spending more time talking about the theoretical rather than applying it, but nonetheless I still want to do something big. Not for pride’s sake, recognition or glory… but for truth. I want to make a lasting difference in the world. I could care less if anyone ever knows who I am. I just want my life to have a legacy. My dream is to partner with God in the restoration of this world. I don’ know how, when, or where, but I know I want it to happen. I might loose something or everything in the process but it will be worth it. But for now I wait, dream, think, wrestle, talk, write, and wait for the day I begin that journey.

Fill us up and send us out…

Here’s some crazy ideas I’ve been thinking about over the last few days.

I. God is busy…
According to the U.S. Census Bureau each minute roughly 105 people die and 253 people are born. Supposedly, from what I read online in statistics that were probably made up, one out of every three people who die are a Christian. Thats about 34 people every minute. So we could make a very rough guess that every other second someone is meeting God face to face. This would also mean that every second someone dies who rejected God. Now every second there are about four babies born. So in the span of two seconds God throws eight birthday parties two funerals and a homecoming party… busy guy. I’m glad that God is omnipresent and exists outside of time. Because if he didn’t then the average person would only be acknowledged by him 1/5th of a second in their lifetime. Pretty crazy huh?

II. God is a widdler…
Now here’s where it gets really fun… I’ve watched several films over the last few weeks that coincidentally all had to do with time travel and changing the coarse of history. Rob Bell pointed out with the “marker trick” how God can have a three dimensional view of time where ours is only a half dimension. Suppose for a moment that God views all of time as a rectangular block. The block itself is made up of many different atoms which are very small. The first atom was of course renamed Adam. But the block also has a grain embedded throughout. The grain gives it a natural beauty and unique design. Now imagine that God wanted to carve this block and make it into something else, which I’m sure he would. He’s so artistic you know. And imagine that God had an idea for this carving… a plan so to speak. God would begin to carve away at pieces here and there, intervening at just that right places in time to fit his master plan. When it is all finished God would have a beautiful carving. The interesting thing about this carving is all the atoms inside. You see, all of the atoms are made up of the same stuff. They all exist in the same sculpture and none of them can change that. Each atom however can move around as it pleases within this structure with out changing it. And inside it are millions and millions of microscopic collisions. Now along comes something bad and the wood begins to warp and rot. So God comes in at a specific point as a carpenter and begins to refurbish the sculpture and restore it to it’s glorious design. That’s the beauty of the story.

It’s crazy to think that Jesus came to earth roughly 2008 years ago… Thats so many years. I wonder if he ever made a new years resolution. “This year I’m going to heal thirty people. Next year I’m going to save the world…” He probably never had to make a resolution, because he probably never felt the need to start new. I think that’s what drives us to do this anyway. We somehow feel that because the earth completed another rotation around the sun that it some how clears us of our past and helps us with a fresh start. “This year is going to be different… I’ll really do it this time.” We mess things up for ourselves so much that the only alternative seems to start new. Why? Because we realize that if we keep living a certain way it will only lead to destruction. Maybe while the earth revolves around one sun our lives should be revolving around a different kind of son. Maybe instead of celebrating another new year to start over we could celebrate another year spent focused on Christ. Maybe our resolution this year should be for a faith centered on and revolving around Christ and then next year we can look at how He (re)newed our lives. There a some phrases from songs that have been sticking out to me lately, and I’d like to offer them up as a prayer of sorts… I’ve modified them and mixed them together a bit. I suppose that this would be my resolution…

Christ be the center of my life. Be the place we fix our eyes. Be the center of our lives. Be my everything. God in my living, breathing, waking, sleeping, resting, working, thinking, speaking, hoping, dreaming, watching, waiting, laughing, weeping, hurting and healing… be my everything.

Turn your ear to heaven and hear…