Monthly Archives: September 2015

"But we have this treasures in earthen vessels to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us." 2 Corinthians 4:7

When you enter the business of ministry, that is, you study and go to seminary, you take on a few role-models, people you really look up to. I have many all-time favorites, but one of them in particular illustrates Paul's point in this verse: J. B. Phillips.Phillips was an outstanding Christian leader, a scholar of the first rank, and a marvelous author.

Years after I began to admire and learn from him I ran across a book called The Wounded Healer. It is a compilation of letters and journal entries. I was surprised to find out that this supernova in the Christian galaxy was possessed of a dark depression he fought all his life. At one point he wrote "It is only in the last few weeks that I have been seriously assaulted by the thought that it isn't worth trying any more, I am too tired to make further effort and I really do not see the slightest ray of hope at the end of this very long tunnel" (p. 80). Or in another place, "Take away my performance and the facade of my defenses and I am nothing. I am frightened and would do anything to feel safe" (p. 17).

How different that is from the great Christian models I had grown to expect. Rev. Joe, Christian superstar, will tell you that he has a great prayer life, has a profound spiritual encounter while pouring his Cheerios in the morning, he has a slick brochure that pictures him speaking to huge crowds. His marriage is a bonfire of commitment. He's even still got all of his hair. These kinds of testimonies leave the impression that we should all be this way.

We do well to learn early that the ministry entrusted to all Christians is carried around by a lot of earthen vessels. Each one of us is chipped and flawed in some way. It is something we all share. But instead of thinking that your brokenness somehow disqualifies you from fulfilling service and growth in the name of the Lord, think again.

Actually it's a fairly common attitude among many Christians I talk to. "Damaged goods" is the term I have heard many times. They feel God could better spend His time on people with a stronger résumé, work experience, and unbroken success. They believe they have been disqualified by some brokenness in their lives.

Paul probably considered it. In the two verses that follow our text for this week he listed four sets of trying circumstances that threatened to undermine him completely. He was afflicted, perplexed, persecuted and struck down. He had experienced each one of them. His was not a charmed life. He suffered. He was broken.

However, Paul persevered, and in so doing learned that through all he faced he was not crushed, driven to despair, crushed, or forsaken. God was stronger than all of his brokenness.

Grace is resilient. Your brokenness becomes an opportunity for God's grace to fill in and heal the cracks. Peter, Mary Magdalene, Paul, John, etc. were all inadequate, but through God's grace raised to glory. In fact, God does not waste a single experience in shaping you. If you open your life more deeply to His grace, and transparently kneel before Him, then God redeems and restores and enables you to carry the ministry to other people. Nothing renders you beyond God's grace and service. He does not throw away the broken vessels. Here we meet grace in its greatest power and beauty.

J. B. Phillips was able to continue an impressive ministry not because he was able to conquer his depression but because he allowed God to use him. In his writings you can see that the real strength, the real spirit of insight is not due to Phillips, but God. Phillips was an earthen vessel, a broken vessel, chipped and flawed, that God was able to use. God demonstrated His transcendent power in him, in the same way He wants to demonstrate it in you.

When Paul wrote 2 Corinthians he was by many measures an unimpressive man who simply recognized his earthiness. God would use him to inspire millions. At the time he was an unheralded hero. Now we look to his letters and find the fingerprints of God.
And we learn God loves chipped and flawed sons and daughters.

Where might we look for the next inspiring example? Well, the way God uses broken vessels the next one is in your mirror.

And then miracle of miracles, you don't even worry about hiding the cracks.

Grace,
Dr. Terry Ellis
September 27, 2015

"Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." Colossians 3:2

I lived in Murray, Kentucky for three years, as pastor of First Baptist. Murray is a great town. The pace of life there is a bit slower, and you don't have to put up with bad traffic. The winters were not harsh, the summers not too long. We had a lovely house and a loving church. It is a very nice place to live.

But not everyone thought so. My first night there, I went to the grocery store. It was late, only one line was open, so I began to make small talk with the lady behind me about being new in the community. The young cashier overheard me and asked, "How long have you been here?" Got here today, I explained. Then, with a kind of disgusted look on her face she said, "why would you come to a place like Murray?"

I didn't think, in her mood, she would really understand "God called me here" as an explanation, so I said I think Murray is a very nice city. "Well, I don't," she grumped. By now I could tell she wasn't past of the local chapter of Welcome Wagon. Suspecting that she had probably been raised there and knowing that young people tend to look down on their hometowns, I said you must be from Murray.

"Yeah, but I can't wait to leave," she cheerfully replied, dark clouds forming above her head. "I'm moving to Houston. It's gotta be better than this place."

She obviously had never driven in Houston traffic. I gathered up my bags and said I hoped she found what she was looking for.

Of course, that young woman will find what she's looking for. The problem is, she's developed the common habit of only seeing that which is disagreeable and irksome. It won't matter where she goes, because she will be taking herself with her. A place can't make you happy. She was young and had plenty of time to find out the truth. The sooner the better.

The real problem, of course, is that a great many adults who should have learned this never have. Happiness is not something you find, it's something you create by focusing on the right things. Christ promised joy and peace that transcends all circumstances. You can create happiness as a 19 year old cashier or a middle age teacher or a retired senior adult regardless of the place, and regardless of the circumstances, if you know where to look.

Surely that is what Paul had in mind when he exhorted us to set our minds on the things of heaven. He knew, had seen and heard, a strain of celestial music. He had discovered that he walked everywhere on the threshold of heaven.

A little boy and an old man sat on a dock in the late afternoon, fishing. They talked about many things—why sunsets are red, why the rain falls, why the seasons change, what life is like. Finally the boy looked up at the old man as he was baiting a hook for him, and asked "Does anybody ever see God?" The old man paused, looking out over the blue water, and replied, "Son it's getting so I hardly see anything else."

That's what I want.

So what are you looking at? Earthly things surround us with reasons for irritation and even despair. But God surrounds us with things that lift us above the fray and enable us to walk with quiet confidence and joy through any challenge.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis
September 20, 2015

"Surely now, God has worn me out." Job 16:7

Angry with God? It's not unusual.

To be honest, I can't say I have a lot of experience in this area, but that hardly makes me superior. My struggles with God have usually been along the lines of neglect or disappointment fueled by an eloquent self-pity. So there. If you're feeling angry with God right now, don't think that you're particularly bad. Take grace out of the equation and we're all in deep trouble.

Anger with God, though, is a special case. People often struggle not only with the anger itself, but the guilt or fear of feeling angry. Also, the anger itself, or the guilt of feeling it, prevents us from taking it out and looking at it honestly in a new light.

I've seen that happen with many adults. They nurse a grudge against God that dates back to their childhood or adolescence. Think about that for a moment. Do you really want to live the rest of your life based on your perceptions as a teenager? Or should you embrace with finality an anger you arrived at during an rash and impulsive moment?

Let's take out that anger and look at it calmly for a moment. We can't cover everything in a 600-700 word column, but I think I can make a couple of helpful points briefly.

The book of Job helps. Job was angry with God and felt God had mistreated him. He has harsh words for God and directly challenges Him repeatedly. "Surely now, God has worn me out" is a good example of how exasperated Job was. He was tired of dealing with this God who had repeatedly disappointed him.

And that brings us to the first point in handling our anger with God. Admit it. It's not like God doesn't know. The Bible is very helpful at this point. It does not present us with sanitized characters of sterling reputation and impeccable faith. Job was genuinely angry. So was Jeremiah. I think I can see it in Moses. Angry with God? You're not alone, and you can't hide it. Admit it to God. Start the conversation with Him.

Second point: God is not offended by your anger. This is a little tricky, for it sounds like anger doesn't matter. It does, of course, but not because it hurts or angers God. Anger with God has the very same effect as anger with other people. It's like taking poison and hoping the other guys gets sick.

God does want us to get over our anger, not because we keep hurting His feelings, but because it keeps us from getting better. God never makes it more difficult for us to draw close to Him. He's not matching our anger, degree by degree. He's always looking for a way for grace to soothe our souls.

So now having disposed of a bit of bad theology, what do we do? Pray. Just pray, and do your very best to relax in the rhythms of God's grace. Just for a moment, in prayer, try to unclench your fist. God will then take hold of your hand.

There is so much more to be said about this complicated topic. Anger almost always is an expression of fear. Someone told me, "if you want to see how fearful I am, watch how angry I get." That certainly applies to anger with God. We're fearful of something, and we need to be honest about what that is.

Job expected a life of ease because of his steady faith. Life doesn't work that way. And God is not a cruise ship director whose task is to make your life comfortable and pleasant at every turn.

The real solution, however, lies not in a blog, but in a conversation with God. Our heavenly Father loves us, even in our tantrums and pouts. Take that anger to God. He will steadily quiet it if you give Him the chance.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis
September 13, 2015

"Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will pay him back for his deeds." 2 Timothy 4:14

Last week's GraceWaves was "Dealing with Difficult People." The main points were that you cannot be surprised when people act according to their lower natures and you don't need to give up on anyone. I want to revisit the topic this week because I sense people struggle mightily in this area and need some practical support. Let's use Paul and his experience with Alexander the coppersmith as an example.

First, remember that all people are like an Olympic diving competition: they come with a degree of difficulty. Some people have a very high degree of difficulty and a well-established track record of broken relationships. A part of dealing with difficult people is coming to the point where you accept that this is their nature. You must accept the fact that people sometimes come with terrible flaws. They do things that are boorish, thoughtless, even vicious. They can disappoint and even hurt you. It is their degree of difficulty.

When you accept this it frees you to move on. It also relieves you from the fiction that you must change, alter, or improve them in some way. That is what we love to do. We harbor the notion that we can fix people. Don't waste your time trying to fix a highly difficult person. Besides, the scripture never calls on you to fix anyone. It does tell us to love and forgive, and that is hard enough. It also teaches us to focus on our own sins, and expressly prohibits judging or trying to fix others.Leave the fixing to God.

Second, Paul truly did leave the matter with the Lord, and that is precisely what you need to do with some high degree-of-difficulty people. I never get the impression from anything Paul wrote that he spent time moaning about what he could have done differently, or wondering why Alexander didn't like him. He had reached a point, and then moved on. That's a good strategy.

We often exert a great deal of time in repeatedly going over and over the incident, or series of incidents, that led to the broken relationship. We seem almost to feed on the hurt and anger. ("I hate him so much it gives me energy!"). This cycle of prosecution is exhausting and fruitless.

Often, we have been told repeatedly to leave it alone and move on. Sound familiar? Let me be the person this week who exhorts you to stop talking about the problem person and move on. We all need people to regularly remind us of the right way to go. Your hurt is real and your feelings are valid, but regularly reading over the transcript traps you in the past and harnesses you to the person that hurt you originally. Resentment (literally to feel again) is poison to the soul.

A third strategy involves the cardinal graces of the Christian faith. Paul probably never had to be around Alexander again. You may not have that option with your very difficult person. For example, we seldom have the option of completely removing ourselves from the ill-mannered family member or ex-spouse. Every time you see that person, you feel a rush of anger. What do you do?

Paul regularly wrote about forgiveness, and that certainly has a role here. What you might not have thought about is how long forgiveness sometimes takes. It is seldom instantaneous. Even when you have a row with someone close, you can forgive but it takes a few hours for the grace to really take hold! The length of time sometimes is proportional to the size of the offense.

You have probably been surprised by how angry you are about events that took place years or even decades ago. You may have thought you were done with it, but it rises up again. You want to forgive, but feel that you have failed and you're probably tired of trying.

Let me suggest that instead of focusing on the person, you instead pray the following, "Lord, please replace my anger with your grace." That's it. This prayer gives God free reign in your life. You admit the unhealthy presence of the anger, but also plead for more grace to grow. I'm sure God loves that kind of openness. By the way, you probably have realized that the higher graces take a lifetime to establish. Don't be in a rush, and don't be discouraged if you still struggle to share your grace.

One final quick closing piece of advice about turning someone over to the Lord: resist the urge to tell the person (or every other person who will listen) you have done this. You will sound hopelessly smug. Just keep it between yourself and God.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis
September 7, 2015