Uprooted

This morning in my quiet time I read Proverbs 12. Verse 3 of that chapter reads,
^"No one can be established through wickedness,
but the righteous cannot be uprooted."
By itself this verse is a great truth, but in perspective with my weekend, this verse was especially fitting. On Saturday afternoon my dad and I spent 4 painstaking hours trying to remove a tree stump from my front yard. Needless to say I'm moving a lot slower today as a result.

My brother and I cut the tree down earlier this summer, and over the past few weeks I have been digging the stump out and cutting its roots. I thought I had gotten all of them, but after chaining it up and trying to pull it out it was clear that we still had work to do. We dug deeper and deeper, kept chopping more roots, and enjoyed the encouragement and jokes from my neighbors. Finally as the sun disappeared the stump finally came out. We were dirty, stinky and dog-tired.

As I read Proverbs 12:3, that tree stump came to the forefront of my mind. It wasn't a huge tree. At its thickest point it was maybe 16 inches in diameter. The stump had been cut off from most of its roots and the rest of the tree for nearly 3 months. Still it wasn't going anywhere fast.

Colossians 2:6-7 says, "⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

God encouraged me with those words from Proverbs and Colossians this morning. As I think about how difficult it was to uproot that tree, I love to think about how soundly God roots us in faith and the righteousness He gives us. When we put our trust in Him, He is faithful, and nothing can seperate us from Him.

(I can't forget to thank Clayton for letting me borrow his truck, Kevin for letting me borrow his chains, and my dad for working hard even with two knee replacements. Thanks!)


Links:
Jodi's Blog in Haiti
This is the blog of the missionary family in the Mole St Nicolas in Northwest Haiti. Such a cool update. Be praying for them!

Google Energy
Have you ever wondered how much electricity a Google Search uses? This article tells you that and a lot more info on how much energy Google takes up. Pretty interesting.

Benefits of Teens Being in Small Groups
Veteran youth minister Doug Fields writes a post about Student Ministry from the perspective of a Dad. He has come up with a great list of benefits small groups have for families and students.

Engagement Photos
My Uncle Denver put this link on his facebook page. By far the most interesting Engagement photos I have ever seen. Is that a zombie coming over the hill?

Righteousness vs. Rightness

I have heard it said that early on in his political career, certain groups of Christians made Abraham Lincoln very uncomfortable. PBS's recent special God in America went into Lincoln's personal notes when discussing his uneasiness with the church. As the North and South became increasingly polarized it worried him that on both sides of the divide was the church. The North and the South were both made up of sincere and devout followers of God who both felt like the Bible agreed with them and their beliefs. The thing that scared Lincoln the most about Christians was their rightness. 

There is a difference, a huge one in fact, from righteousness and rightness. When Jesus gave his life for us all on the cross, he made available for us all the gift of grace. When we unwrap that gift we find that grace forgives our sin and makes us righteous in God's sight. Our criminal records have been expunged. We are upstanding citizens in God's Kingdom. What we won't find inside that gift of grace is rightness. The gift of grace doesn't come with all the answers or make all your answers the right one. 

Lincoln would later more fully embrace the Christian community after the death of his son. He saw how Christians had a peace and trust in God even in such turbulent times as losing a child. He would view the steps he took in the Civil War to abolish slavery as him playing a part in God's plan to bring justice on earth. Still, even after he came to that realization, he didn't think that the righteousness he received from God gave him rightness in any situation. He saw the difference and the danger of thinking that believing in God made you right in all situations.

I can't speak for you, but it scares me when people feel like God's gift of grace means that not only are they righteous, but they are also right about whatever they are talking about. There are some pretty adamant people out there who totally believe in what they are doing and think that God is 100% behind them. The only people it's not clear how wrong they are is themselves. (Do I even need to mention Westboro Baptist Church)?

Still, I don't think that most people struggle with that overall sense of rightness. Maybe I'm wrong about that. I know a lot of people who don't like being wrong, myself included, but I know most of us really have huge questions about life. We would love to know the answers even if we were wrong on some stuff.  The pitfall that I fall into with righteousness vs. rightness is that I forget about the amazing gift of grace I have received. 

Great gifts are meant to be shared. God's grace has changed my life and done incredible things in the lives of so many people around me. I make the mistake sometimes of not sharing God's gift of grace with other people because I know that I don't have all the answers. Even though I don't have all the answers I do have the most important answer and that is where the gift of grace comes from.  God has given us the most incredible gift; the hope of salvation. That gift doesn't give us free reign or make us right in every argument. It does however change our eternal situation and it is worth being incredibly passionate about. So be passionate about being made righteous by God's grace, but be a little less passionate about always being right.