. . . take this cup of suffering away from me . . .

I read this quote this morning in my devotion:

"It is said of God that no one can behold God's face and live. I always thought this meant that no one can see his splendor and live. A friend said perhaps this meant that no one could see his sorrow and live. Or perhaps his sorrow is splendor."*

I was stumped by this quote. Sorrow is splendor? We can't see his sorrow and live?
It's perplexing, I'm not sure exactly what he means, but here are two ideas I have about it.

1. The only way we see God's heart actually breaking is when we enter fully into the realm of heaven. As a Wesleyan, I believe fully that the kingdom of God has come near and is being realized as we speak. So, we live partially in this world and in heaven. We see those things that would cause God sorrow, but we don't actually see his heart breaking. When we enter into the realm fully, we may be able to see it. I'm not too sure about this one. I think that when God works on a different timeline and when we die we enter into the realm fully, meaning that the kingdom is already restored in some metaphysical way. OR!

2. Perhaps it means when Jesus fully redeems the world to its original intention, we will no longer see God's sorrow since we are living fully at that point. To live fully in my mind means living fully with God. To live fully with God means the actualization of the kingdom of God. Because we live in this life, we only know that God's heart breaks for the violence and harm we as humans put on each other. So when we see God's face, his sorrow will be over and we'll see the full splendor of God's radiance.

However, that leaves the question, is God's sorrow splendor? I don't think so. I think God's splendor will be fully revealed when God no longer suffers. I could be wrong though!


What are your thoughts?


Pete Scazzero quoting Nicholos Wolterstorff. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day: A 40 Day Journey with Daily Office (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2018), 100.

It's a FORraytown Friday!

Yesterday as I was looking over my blog, I realized that I still have a blog called, Angie in Raytown. A few years ago... about 12, I used to hang out at Benetti's... A LOT! I was involved in local politics, I was more of a quiet participant, but I did do phone calls and go door to door. This was not my strength, though. It probably had something to do with the fact that I just wasn't into politics, or that God had other plans for me. There was a guy there who was the editor for one of the local papers and he had asked me to write opinion pieces about the school district. I couldn't tell you his name or the paper's name anymore.

One thing has remained strong over these years, I still have a HUGE heart for Raytown. This is the city I grew up in. It is the school district that formed me until fifth grade. It is the city that I know God is doing something new in. Over the next couple of months, I will share my story of why I feel called by God to be a pastor in Raytown. I've always thought it came from when I worked at a church in Lee's Summit, but after finding my old blog, I realize God's been calling me a lot longer.

For today though, I want to talk about the parks.

Some might say this is old news, but I think our hearts harden when we forget. Early in the morning on June 15, Rayauna Hill, a beautiful young girl, who had a life of opportunity ahead of her, lost her life in an act of senseless violence. That morning was supposed to be a community beautification and building day. Jennifer Perkins and a group of Raytown citizens had been organizing a city-wide clean-up (which by the way was amazing! Such great work), but it was a somber morning as we all gathered at City Hall. You could tell that people were trying to be strong and positive. It's hard to focus on community building when your city is suffering.

In the following days, people shared their varying opinions about what to do with the parks. Should we put gates around them? Lock them up after a certain time of night? Hire more police? Stop going to the parks because they are dangerous? I don't think any of these things are the full answer. They may provide temporary relief, but I think there is something deeper going on.

The parks are not dangerous. A place can never, by itself, be dangerous. One reason they become dangerous is when people with extreme degrees of opinion get together and cannot figure out how to handle conflict.

I think the most important thing we can do is identify the root of the violence and address it at the core level. What are those roots? Single parent homes? Parents working two to three jobs to ensure children can sleep at night? Undiagnosed mental health issues? Homelessness? Lack of economic opportunity? Systemic racism? Social media bullying?

The list goes on and on. There is not one particular cause for the increase in violence we have experienced.

However, there is something that each of us can do to address at least one of those issues. At Raytown Chapel Church, we are exploring where we can make an impact. We trust that God, through Jesus Christ, has offered us a life of abundance, and we want to make sure all know they have an opportunity at it. It is freely given. \

So, this isn't simply an opinion today, this is a challenge: what will you do to build this community? What will you do counter negative with positive? We all have a role. Mine this week is to listen; to join the Mayor's Ad Hoc Violent Crime Reduction group to hear what our leaders are thinking.

. . . make a joyful noise to the Lord . . .

I saw this meme this morning on one of my Christian pages and I immediately thought about all the times when people have criticized worship for one reason or another. I think modern Christian society has forgotten that we truly worship God when we enter into our houses of worship. It's not about perfect worship with fog, awesome lights, a flawless praise band, or amazing organist. Those things definitely create atmosphere and engage the senses in a variety of ways, but it's not what makes worship great.

I wanted to post this on my timeline, but I know that many would be offended by it, so I brought it to my blog so those interested could see my thoughts. Facebook tends to create such enmity over simple things.

One thing difficult to balance is how to speak hard truths in a grace-filled manner. I really enjoy Francis Chan's Bible studies and his preaching, but I wonder if he ever actually said this to someone. It's one thing to say it in a Bible study, where the observer can't talk back (I imagine heads nodding in agreement), but how would a person react if he said this, exactly as it's written, to someone's face? I wonder.

So often we hear how the church has harmed people, and to me, this meme harms - even though I agree with it. We want people to worship with us, but when we post stuff like this I think it alienates those in our church from wanting to participate. They leave and go to a different church. That's why I didn't readily share it on my Facebook timeline. I love my congregation, even when I hear criticism about worship or the way I minister. However, I think there is a better, more balanced way so we can help grow the kingdom more effectively.

One of those ways I've found most helpful comes from John Wesley, the founder of the Wesleyan denominations, like the United Methodist Church. Here is what it says in our hymnals from point seven:

VII. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.*

When we come into our houses of worship, we are to sing to the Lord. True, the sound shouldn't overwhelm and cause our eardrums pain, but we should sing with all our hearts to God.
When people tell me they can't sing, I tell them, God loves your singing no matter what. When people tell me they don't like the songs, I ask them whether they think God does or not.
Yes some songs are hard to sing, we may not like the lyrics to some songs, but I believe if we try our best then it will be pleasing to God.

And yes, what about those songs that are not theologically in line with our doctrine? That's why I'm a Pastor, I help identify those songs that speak contrary to the message with we want to share.

*The United Methodist Hymnal: Book of United Methodist Worship (Nashville, Tenn.: United Methodist Pub. House, 1989), vii.