Brennan Manning

The Funeral of Your Own Independence

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“The things that are right, noble, and good from the natural standpoint are the very things that keep us from being God’s best. Once we come to understand that natural moral excellence opposes or counteracts surrender to God, we bring our soul into the center of its greatest battle. The cost to your natural life is not just one or two things, but everything. Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest).

A lot of what passes for Christianity is simply behavior modification. Back in the day, there were a lot of don’ts. Don’t drink, don’t gamble, don’t play cards, don’t dance, etc. As one pastor put it, we’d get to church on Sunday and celebrate that we hadn’t done anything.

But Christianity is a lot more than being moral. If you want to play that game, the standard is impossibly high, as in be perfect as God in heaven is perfect. Simply put, you can’t be good enough. But Jesus could. And Jesus was.

Christianity is not behaving better. It’s not being an upstanding citizen or a good moral human being. It’s about surrender. It’s about dying to self. It’s about letting God form the Christ-life within you and make you more like Jesus.

As my friend says, it’s not about making bad people good. It’s about making dead people alive. It’s about being transformed rather than just upgraded. And Christmas is the season where we celebrate the hope that means that we can be better or more improved but made brand new.

A Wild Ending to My Weekend

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Basically, tonight started off wacky, then worshipful, then wet. In that order.

To give a little context, I drove to downtown Nashville for the Behold the Lamb of God concert at the Ryman, hosted by Andrew Peterson. It’s a yearly Christmas tradition that never disappoints.

On the way, I parked at the Music City Center because it’s cheap and close. When I stopped to get the ticket for parking, I went to drive into the garage and my car wouldn’t budge. I yelled and screamed at my car and it would not go. It was running, but refused to go. I was about at my wits’ end.

Then I realized that my door wasn’t shut. That was all. I closed the door and drove in. I think in this case my car was smarter than I was. At least in that moment.

The concert was as good or better than any of the previous ones I’ve seen. Jill Phillips singing Labor of Love is alone worth the price of admission. That line about “the baby in her womb He was as the maker of the moon He was the author of the faith That could make the mountains move” still gives me the good chills.

We closed singing the doxology and then I stepped out into pouring rain. By the time I got back to my car, I was soaked, even with my rain jacket. The drive home was mostly uneventful, even if driving in the rain at night is probably my least favorite pastime.

But I made a friend tonight. Her name is Jodi and she drove in from Colorado Springs for the concert, which makes me feel not so bad about driving from Brentwood. She said they were driving back tonight. I don’t envy her that trip in the rain, but I’m praying for safe travels.

I was reminded of someone who also made a journey much further than mine. He came not from Brentwood or Colorado Springs, but from very heaven itself to a tiny town called Bethlehem, all for the love of you and me. All the songs tonight were about that God incarnate, Emmanuel. Once again, that gives me a little more perspective and gratitude.

I hope to do it all again this time next year. Well, most of it, anyway. Maybe not the car thing.

Fall On Your Knees

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Tonight is a post from a sort of guest blogger. Basically, I saw something in a post that I knew needed to be shared and copied and pasted. It’s from three years ago and it spoke to my heart, so I hope it will speak to yours:

The words ‘the weary world rejoices’ have been on a constant replay in my mind today. I finally stopped long enough to figure out what song it comes from … ‘O Holy Night’. It’s not necessarily one of my most favorite Christmas songs to sing simply because as an alto I don’t prefer the key it’s often played in. I try to avoid making my vocal cords bleed from trying to sing notes I can’t hit! Nevertheless, I love hearing the song sung by sopranos and tenors. 😊

Once I remembered where the lyrics came from, I thought about the first words of the chorus … ‘fall on your knees’ … I’ve always interpreted those words to mean we should bow in reverence and awe to the Lord. I believe that’s what the author meant but I was struck by another thought. What if ‘fall on your knees’ is also an invitation for the weary soul to rest?

All is well. Our Salvation has come in the form of a baby. He is the One who will restore what has been broken. He is the only One who can offer “a thrill of hope” in a world full of “sin and error pining”. We no longer must strive to make things right. He has come to make all things new. We can fall on our knees in rest, worship, and restful worship.

Only then from that place of restful worship, will we be able to “hear the angels sing”. We will live from a place of Gospel-bought peace and live out His ‘law of love’. As Ann Voskamp says, ‘Peace is not the absence of problems, but the presence of God.’ Through His presence and peace, we can break the bondages we have been living in and join with fellow believers to “praise His holy name”.

Whether you are in a place of deep pain, all-encompassing grief, soul-weariness, or great joy, I am praying you can find the time to receive His invitation to rest, worship, and “praise His holy name”.

‘Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light’. Matthew 11:28-30

Just a thought for this Tuesday in December” (Melody Amason).

Check this version out of “O Holy Night (Hear the Gospel Story)”. I love what they did with the other two verses and choruses. It’s incredible!

(Also from her post).

What Rocking Chair is This?

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I had a bit of a surreal, random moment earlier today. I was at one of my favorite places in Nashville, the Rabbit Room. I was sitting in a rocking chair on the wraparound porch, basking in the blazing sun on a wintry day.

Suddenly, I heard a sound as if it were coming from a distance. It took me a while to place the melody — Greensleeves, or as it is more commonly known, What Child is This. Whatever it was sounded like either a trumpet playing low or a trombone playing high. I sat there and let the words fill my mind as the music played:

“What Child is this who, laid to rest
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While the good shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud
The Babe, the Son of Mary

So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh
Come peasant, king to own Him
The King of kings salvation brings
Let loving hearts enthrone Him

This, this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud
The Babe, the Son of Mary

Raise, oh raise, the song on high
His mother sings her lullaby
Joy, oh joy, for Christ is born
The Babe, the Son of Mary

What Child is this
What Child is this (what Child is this)

This, this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud
The Babe, the Son of Mary” (William Chatterton Dix).

Advent needs to be a time of reflection rather than a time of rushing around. I get that people are busy, but if there’s no margin for marveling at the mystery of the incarnation, then we’re too busy. We’ve let too many unimportant things get in the way of the main thing.

So let us come and adore the Christ child this Advent season in the midst of all the buying and wrapping and decorating and baking. Let us remember He’s why we’re celebrating.

Overwhelmed

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That’s the best and greatest gift you can give anyone is not anything that can be bought at a store or online. It’s not something you can wrap up in a pretty package with a bow on it. It’s not something sparkly or shiny or anything that lights up or makes sounds.

The greatest gift you can give anyone is the gift of Emmanuel, God with us, and you can only give as you have encountered the presence of the risen Christ in your own life. That doesn’t come by rushing around like crazy to all the stores in all the traffic, but by finding margin in your schedule to be alone and be still, savoring the gift of the Christ child.

I have my Christmas list like everyone else does, but honestly there’s nothing that I really need there. I can think of years past when I was dying to get a particular toy or computer game or gadget for Christmas only to grow tired of it a few weeks later. I can’t imagine how many of my Christmas gifts eventually got sold in garage sales or donated to Goodwill.

But the gift of Emmanuel is one that only grows dearer with each passing day. It only gets better and richer and deeper as the months and years go by. That’s probably the best example of regifting where you don’t have to feel guilty because this gift is meant to be given away just as God in Jesus freely gave Himself away for us.

Season’s Greetings?

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A few years ago, it seemed like everybody was getting bent out of shape over retail workers not saying Merry Christmas to every customer. It was a thing.

Apparently, life was a lot easier then so that there weren’t more pressing issues or more dire problems to deal with other than people who may or may not know about the Christ of Christmas getting the semantics right.

Don’t get me wrong. I love hearing Merry Christmas. I sometimes even remember to say it. Sometimes I just say, “Have a good day” and then walk away wondering why I didn’t say Merry Christmas.

But I do think that believers have been known to expect lost people who don’t have a regenerated heart and mind to act saved when people who are supposed to be the ones who know Jesus are the most obnoxious and rude customers. There’s a reason why people at restaurants hate working on Sunday.

I still think that just possibly instead of expecting to hear Merry Christmas everywhere we go, we should instead exhibit the qualities of the Christ in Christmas. Maybe we need to be a little kinder or a little more patient. Perhaps instead of forcing someone to parrot Merry Christmas, we do our part to make their Christmas a little merrier by how we live out Jesus in front of them.

People might want to know Jesus if they saw Him lived out by the people who profess to know Him. They might want to follow Jesus if they saw a real difference in the lives of those who go to church every Sunday. What turns them off isn’t Jesus, but people who profess Jesus with their lips and deny Him by their lifestyle (thanks to Brennan Manning for that one).

Oh, and don’t get me started on the whole Xmas thing. By the way, you do know that X is also a Greek letter and can be used as an abbreviation for Christ, right? Just checkin’.

A Little Spurgeon

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“DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Oh Lord Jesus, deepen in us our knowledge of you. You have made the first lines of your likeness upon our character; go on with this work of sacred art until we shall be like you in all respects. We wish that we had greater power in private prayer, that we were more often wrestling with the covenant angel. We long for the Word of God to be more sweet to us, more intensely precious—that we had a deeper hunger and thirst after it. Oh, that our knowledge of the truth was more clear and our grip of it more steadfast.
Teach us, oh Lord, to know the reason of the hope that is in us, and to be able to defend the faith against all objections. Plow deep in us, great Lord; and let the roots of your grace strike into the roots of our being, until it shall be no longer I who live, but “Christ that who in me.”
Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

‘But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.’ (2 Peter 3:18)

There cannot be any grace at all except as we know Christ, and there can be no growth in grace except as we grow in our knowledge of Christ. We may always test whether we are growing by this question: Do I know more of Christ today than I did yesterday? Do I live nearer to Christ today than I did a little while ago? For increase in the knowledge of Christ is the evidence as well as the cause of true growth in grace.”

It’s hard to believe Charles Spurgeon was only 57 when he entered into glory. He did so much in his abbreviated lifetime, more so than what most do who live way longer. But this is an example of why he is the prince of preachers.

May these words go deep into your heart and soul and resonate as they remind you of the hope that is yours in Christ Jesus.

Christian Celebrity

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“Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship with God that shows itself to be true even amid the seemingly unimportant aspects of human life. God’s purpose is not to perfect me to make me a trophy in His showcase; He is getting me to the place where He can use me. Let Him do what He wants” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest).

I heard something on a podcast that’s been living in my head rent-free ever since. Basically, we weren’t made to be famous. It’s not something that most of us can handle well. To put people on a pedestal because of the ability to sing or act or preach is contrary to what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about.

One thing we do is immediately upon finding out someone believes in Jesus and can sing is to put them in front of a lot of people without any kind of discipleship or even finding out what they actually believe. The result is a whole myriad of trainwrecks of people who derailed morally or have deconstructed to the point where they no longer believe anything or have watered down the faith to the point that it’s basically meaningless.

We weren’t called to be famous. We were called to be faithful. Maybe what we need are less singers and actors and dancers and people on a stage with a spotlight and more people behind the scenes serving and washing feet. We need less Christian celebrities and more servants.

Hopefully, this is not a bashing session. I hope it’s to get us to the point where we don’t seek to elevate people to the place that only God deserves and in the process put tremendous pressure on them to somehow be all things to all people and be perfect instead of allowing them to be human.

I still remember one year how I commented one year that so many celebrities were passing away. One friend wisely commented that every day a hero passes and very few people know about it. The real heroes are the ones who often go unnoticed and unacclaimed because they’re not seeking attention but to make the world better. So many are doing the faithful work of faith in secret and are themselves unaware of the eternal impact they’ve made.

I love that people get a chance to represent Jesus well in front of a camera or a crowd, but better yet is a live of sacrifice that that leads to the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Advent Time Is Here

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“Almighty God,
give us grace to cast away the works of darkness,
and put on the armor of light,
now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility;

that in the last day,
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;

through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God,
now and for ever.

Amen.”

It’s Advent season again. That means that Christmas is 24 days away.

It seems like it was Christmas a year ago that I blinked and suddenly it was February. I blinked again and it was summer. I blinked again and it was October. One more blink and here we are. Basically, time flies.

It’s my favorite time of the year. Everything is decorated and Christmas music is blasting out of just about every speaker everywhere you go. Artists who normally don’t go near Jesus or Christianity are suddenly singing about the birth of the Messiah in a little town of Bethlehem and all those angels we have heard on high.

It’s a time when my family gets out all the vintage ornaments and decorations and all the memories come flooding back. I remember both my grandmothers, my uncles, and all those who won’t be here this Christmas, and for a little while I can see all their faces and remember their voices.

Plus, this is a yearly reminder that God really did break through into history and become a baby. I listen to my favorite Christmas song, Labor of Love, and hear the words that it was not a silent night and there was blood on the ground, but that the baby in Mary’s womb was the maker of the moon and the author of the faith that could make the mountains move.

That line still gives me good chills even now.

But it’s easy to focus on all the gifts I haven’t bought yet or all the decorating still undone. I can even jump ahead to how depressing it will be to take it all down for another year in a few weeks. But maybe if I slow down and savor the season, I can hear the wordless cries of the infant in the manger who will bear my sins on a cross one day. I can see in my mind the spotless lamb who will one day be the conquering Lion of Judah.

I can remember that the real reason for Christmas doesn’t end on December 25 or even January 6, but is alive and well all the days of the year, well into 2025 and beyond.

Pet Sitting Guru

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Well, I don’t know if I’m a pet sitting guru or not, but I certainly got my share the last few days. I’ve been taking care of five dogs and four cats (and thankfully no other kinds of critters). It was hard work but worth it — and I have loved every minute of it.

I’m still a bit astonished that people trust me with their precious fur babies to look after them. I still wonder sometimes how I got to the point where people think I’m a mature responsible adult. Like when did that happen?

But I’m grateful. With Thanksgiving just past and this season of Advent starting, I can give thanks for opportunities to help out people who are traveling by providing a safe place for their pups and kitties. I make them feel at home by staying with them (sometimes overnight if needed) and making sure they get all their food and water and meds and treats and such.

It really is a blessing. This time, I’ve dealt with everything from a big ol’ dog that’s about the size of a small horse to a puppy with the energy of ten football players combined. They’re all so different with their own unique personalities. That’s what makes it so great.

I think all good things like this are truly a gift from God. I don’t take for granted any of it. I wouldn’t skip it even if it meant sleeping in a little later in the morning and having more free time. Seeing those contented puppy faces makes it all worth it.

Again, I’m grateful for this opportunity and hope there will be more in the future.