Bye, Bye, Francis

So Francis Chan of Cornerstone, Simi Valley, is leaving for an indefinite period of time, too! Just like John Piper. All the sudden these two great interpreters of scripture are leaving the airways, podcasts, pulpits. Will there be a vacuum? A dearth? It's all I can do to hang on sometimes just to hear what they have to unpack. Chan and Piper dissect, analyze, and bring one deeper into the text than any other pastors I have ever heard...including Mark Driscoll - who is an amazing teacher, but still runs a close third to these two...seems to be a student of these two - even though he is a heavy-duty teacher.

I don't go to their churches. Never have seen them. I just hang on their every word, every week, the minute their techies upload the recent sermons to itunes. I am a podcast member of their churches. Do they even know their reach? Do they know about their virtual congregation?

Well, I just lied. I saw a picture of Frances Chan recently on a brochure for some conference and I hated that I saw him. From his voice, I always pictured him as some kind of Teddy Bear type of guy. You know, kind of soft and lulling, like the voice of someone reading a bedtime story out load. He's not like that visually. He has sharper angular features on his face - there's no 'cuddly' about him.

I have never seen John Piper. But I am still reeling that he has left the pulpit, too. This man is the most gifted, intense scholar of scripture. It seems insane to me that God would send him away from a broadcast arena...but God's plans seem so counter-intuitive to someone like me....a person struggling to get deeper into Him. One week feeling like I know Him, the next week falling right into the arms of the Enemy...and not knowing it, till it's too late.

With the help of Piper, Chan, and Driscoll, I have delved deep into my sin behavior in a study I started on myself in January of this year. I discovered what my sin spirits are, where they came from, and what triggers them. Every week, these scholars talked about something that directly hit me right between the eyes and was so relevant to my own self-search - even though they were not talking about sin at all...they were unpacking other things, delivering amazing knowledge and insight in kind of unrelated topics, but always I had some treasure that directly affected my interrogation, challenged me, and gave me courage.

I can't help but miss Piper and Chan while they are gone. I guess it will be a good measure of my ability to stand on my own two feet and unpack scripture as deeply or as intensely without them. After all, if I relied on them so much - isn't that a smack of idolatry? Just like churches that worship Mary, Paul or Peter? I don't want to forget that Jesus is at the center here - not John Piper, Francis Chan or anyone else - especially not me.

So, with a sad heart for the separation, but with an open heart for the light that will fill me, I stand ready. I stand ready with all the tools these great men have given me through my ear buds into my ipod, through my computer and over all the servers...right from their AV panels that feed through the microphones from their lips... I have been equipped. And oh how I wait for what discoveries I might make on my own.

Why They Say, "Careful What You Pray For"

Seems like when I pray for help with something I usually end up saying, "God answered, but....Ouch! That was painful!"

God gauges with me - for my sake - just how much I need help. He does like this kind of dipstick to obtain a measurement of where my starting point would be for the help I need.

For example, I prayed that he would help me be a good parent to my sons, who by the way are on track to be greater than I could ever dream of being. I want that. I don't want my lack of wisdom to hold my sons back or to be a cloaking device for their human development. Anyway, so I pray for God's help. Pretty standard, right?

No sooner do I pray for that when I get into a super big argument with one of my kids. I let anger completely get the best of me, and from an emotionally self-centered place, I give all kinds of over the top mandates....you know, to maintain 'parental power'. Which is a good thing to have, but you don't develop it with anger, trust me.

So, I realize God was presenting me with an opportunity to 1. rely on Him and 2. to understand where I fall on the scale for needing help. It's like if I were in a well and prayed for help getting out - God's answer, in addition to reaching down to help me out, revealed to me just how deep I was in the well. I know where I stand after I pray for help because a painful experience showing me just how bad I am always follows my pleas for help. I come away with a point of departure for learning.

And once I realize my measure, I open up. He will fill me up with the wisdom I need to succeed.

Took a while for me to figure this out. It's hard but good. So if you pray for help to be a good parent, perfect spouse, sober, good at finances, good at whatever... be careful. Because God may just answer with an experience that gives you an opportunity to measure the depth of your weakness before he strengthens you in that area. Praying for help isn't just a bail-out.

John Piper

What's up with John Piper leaving for a while? He said that he needs to tend to his family relationships - which I understand, but can't help to think the enemy is LOL'ing somewhere in victory. What do you think?