Deeper Still by phil mccallum | Archive

Would Jesus Do the Moonwalk?

No Comments 06 July 2009

Scripture
Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; He was faithful to Him who appointed Him….Hebrews 3:1-2

Observation
This week the world has been rehearsing the moonwalk, ala Jackson style. On YouTube a prison yard of men in orange jumpsuits have scored over 27 million hits with their imitation Michael Jackson rendition. Where there is a master there will be mimics. But the risk for the impersonator is that he will forget the sound of his own voice.

I had this thought the other day. Am I living my own life or someone else’s? There are stars I respect who walk on stages that I watch. Before long I can be mimicking their moonwalk.

The fulfillment of life is to have a life calling fully explored. I’m to be metamorphasising, letting the Jesus in me out naturally. The way to find my call is to consider Jesus’ call and his faithfulness. There were moments that Jesus waded up Niagara Falls of expectations to move to the source of his call. Into the roar of the waves, Jesus spoke words like this that parted the waters and let him move closer to the Father:
Father forgive them
Not my will but yours be done
I am willing, be clean
Son your sins are forgiven
The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath
You don’t understand what I’m doing

Application
The message is simple: stay close to Jesus. While the world is telling you who to be like, listen as Jesus reminds who we are. Calling costs. Just consider Jesus. Calling also pays. Consider Jesus again.

Prayer
Father, today, I look to Jesus for instruction so I never have to be reminded how to act. Instead, let Jesus live himself out through me. Amen.

God's Call, Simplicity

Clutter Free Life

No Comments 13 June 2009

Scripture
I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:13-14

Observation
The older we get the more storage space we need because we gather more and throw less away. Like layers of fossil record, tie-die shirts from the 70′s, Cabbage Patch dolls from the 80′s, to monochrome monitors from the 90′s pile up the story of our life. We don’t throw enough away and life slows down under the load.

Today I see that I’ve read Philipiians 3:13 wrongly for the past 48 years. I used to think that Paul was trying to forget bad things so he could move onto better things. But that’s not so. It’s clear from the context that he could remember many good things, proud deeds of days gone by that would swell his chest with pride. Forgetting the past for Paul meant dumping the attic and garage and starting life each day with a swept-clean perspective. He would not live in old glory days. He would not put hope in past treasures. Instead, he would look forward to what was next.

Application
It isn’t just regrets of the past that slow me down. It’s also all of the wonderful accomplishments that fill a resume. Landfill is all that stuff is. Leslie and I are on the verge of downsizing. Levi’s almost gone. We don’t need a 5 bedroom house anymore. We’re thinking small and sparse. I think that Spartan outlook needs to clean deeper than our closets. I need to clear out in my mind a lot of extraneous good things from the past and get on to what is immediately at hand. The prize is ahead.

Prayer
Father, show me how to clutter-free my life. Amen.

Direction, God's Call, God's Will

Yada Yada Yada

No Comments 26 May 2009

Press the arrow to listen to 10th Avenue North “By Your Side” as you read today’s devotion about God’s direction.

Scripture
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Observation
This Post-It note sized verse was one of my mother’s favourites. As a child it seemed simple. But now life is complex. It’s tempting to look for more complicated things. However, this simplicity is just what we need.

Here’s my paraphrase:

Instead of trusting your instincts and distrusting God, totally lean into everything he says with every part of your willing and choosing. Hold your own opinion with skepticism, because you don’t know best.

Don’t worry about knowing what to do, instead just know God and then you will know what to do. Strive for the deep knowing between friends that is wordless but deep. Sitting in a silent room both know the others thoughts. As you fall into that friendship with the Lord you will know what is on his mind.

The blessing is not so much that God will take you to the right road, but that he will bring the good road up to meet you. He will straighten the kinks and bumps.

Application
The choice word in this is “acknowledge”. The Hebrew word is one we all know. “Yada”, made famous by Jerry Sienfeld, “Yada, yada, yada.” The word means more than “to know” as if God’s direction were just information. The word means more like “knowing”, because through deep relationship we know what is on the mind of a friend even without words. Life is confusing and requires direction not so that I will get directions and make my way, but so that through all the bewilderment I will come to really know the Lord.

Prayer
Father, today I want to know you more than I want to know my way. That is the test of whether I’m leaning on my understanding or my own. I don’t want just information, I want an ever deepening relationship with you. Amen.

God's Call, Pastor, Preaching

Where is the 40th Book?

No Comments 13 June 2008

Press the arrow to listen to Kari Jobe sing “Pure” while reading today’s devotion.

Scripture
He said to him, “I also am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water ‘” But he lied to him. 1 Kings 13:18

Observation
The old prophet heard of a young prophet preaching in his territory, and he was threatened. So he invited the young prophet to his home for dinner. It would be a long and leisurely conversation with the aim of slowing the young man down.

The king had not heard the word of the Lord, because the old prophet had not spoken. So God sent in someone from the outside to speak. The old prophet was so accustomed to mixing his words with God’s word that it was not trouble for him to tell the young novice truth as lie. The result for the young prophet was tragic. He became a one sermon wonder.

One of the traps awaiting a young leader is an old leader whose life has been filled with compromise. Iron may sharpen iron, but dead wood only dulls.Â The old man’s half-heartedness cost the young man his life.

Application
Not all leaders weather well. I remember once being invited by an old pastor with whitened hair to preach on Sunday and to share lunch with his wife that afternoon. While we prayed together before the service, I kept having the thought the man was an adulterer. I shook off the thought thinking, “But he’s a kindly old man with decades of fruitful service.” Over lunch he sighed and said, “Ministry is necessary only because of the fall of Adam. Were it not for him, every man would be a priest of his own home. But because of his fall I must take care of the families of others.” I was young but disturbed. Something seemed askew in what he said.Â I wasn’t in ministry because of failure but with hope of success. I made a note to myself that I did not want to become pessimistic about ministry like him when I grew old. A year later the city paper paraded the old preacher’s story; not only was he an adulterer, but one twice over with two mistresses. He was trying to slow me down to his pace to comfort his own compromise.

There are half-hearted men along life’s way who are threatened by whole-hearted devotion to Christ. A young leader must learn to keep on walking to where God has him next to be. There are reasons why God gives commands, even when they are odd enough to cause us to walk home without dinner. If that young man had gone home hungry, God might have filled him with a message that could have become the 40th book of the Old Testament.

Prayer
Father, help me to deflect the discouragement of cynical leaders who have let their failures become their high water marks. Keep me walking on. Amen.

Discipleship, Evangelism, God's Call, Meaning of Life, Ministry, Relationships

Bait that Catches Fishermen

No Comments 17 April 2008

Press the arrow to listen to Casting Crowns sing Love Them Like Jesus while you read today’s devotion.

Scripture
Jesus called out to them, â€œCome, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!â€ And they left their nets at once and followed him. Matthew 4:19-20

Observation
What kind of bait will catch fishermen? With one sentence, Jesus managed to persuade small businessmen to shut up shop and trek with him. What kind of lure did he pull from his vest?

Jesus didn’t use the fly we’d expect. Something along the line of “follow-me-and-I’ll-make-you-the-best-you-that-you-can-be” I think would be very appealing. However, Jesus did not use any self-development pitch. He pulled a surprise from his fishin’ bag.

Jesus offered the disciples the secret of changing others. That was all it took; they were hooked. I’m left staggered by the simplicity and selflessness of the call of Jesus. The call to follow Christ isn’t about me, it’s about changing others through my life. Of course, I will be changed in the process, but improving my life is not what discipleship is about. The heart of discipling is to make a difference in the life of another human being for all eternity. If that doesn’t appeal to me, then I’m not worthy of Christ, yet why wouldn’t it be attractive?

Application
If I were to offer to the public an indelible writing surface, on which any message could be etched to endure for ages, many would be interested.
It would not weather like the Sphinx,
or burn like the library books of Alexandria,
or topple like tombstones,
or fade like pencil,
or bleed like ink,
or crash like a computer,
or erase like a memory stick,
or crack like a CD.
No graffiti artist can obscure it,
nor army can bomb it,
nor flood, storm or fire can remove its memory forever.
Whatever is written on this surface will make an author’s words immortal.

Where is a permanent surface like this to be found? It is on the human heart, of course. Any word spoken for Christ and received by a child of God will last forever. Any change in a human life for Christ will be taken to heaven for eternity. This is why becoming a follower of Christ is so alluring, for only Christ-followers can do works that last forever.

Prayer
Father, this sounds like a very good deal. I’ll follow you Jesus into to crowd; let’s get going. Amen.

Anointing, Blessing, Children, Dreams, God's Call, God's Favor, Small Beginnings, Youth

Do Something Interesting

No Comments 12 April 2008

Press the arrow to listen to Aaron Shust sing “Give Me Words to Speak” while you read today’s devotion.

Scripture
Jesseâ€™s first son was Eliab, his second was Abinadab, his third was Shimea, his fourth was Nethanel, his fifth was Raddai, his sixth was Ozem, and his seventh was David. 2 Chronicles 2:13-15

Observation
Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon and John all had one thing in common: they were the youngest in their families. Even the Apostle Paul was something of the last born among the disciples. It wasn’t kosher for God to do much with the youngest, that was legally left to the eldest brother. But occasionally, when God wants to do something unique, he starts at the bottom.

So many expectations lay at the feet of the oldest child–from getting teeth, to losing them, from first steps to first days of school–everything must be done first and best. The other children all take their place and fit well into the family norm.

Just when life becomes predictable in comes the youngest child. He frustrates the oldest with his carefree jaunt through life. He colors outside the lines and marches to a different drummer. Occasionally this tag-a-long child catches the fancy of God and miracles happen.

Why does it surprise us when God behaves like God? Sovereignty means that God is full of surprises. Had it been up to the nitpickers it would have been King Eliab. Doesn’t that sound safe and boring! King David was a shocker at the time, but God liked it so much he had it written as the last human name mentioned in the Bible. God is unpredictable.

Application
If a man of God could be made of the baby of the family, then there is hope that God can use any of our lives for things unexpected. We should never let the yawning predictability of life keep us from the extraordinary. The Lord who led nations with little brothers has surprises in store for our days as well.

Prayer
Father, take my life and do something interesting. Amen.

Courage, Crisis, Disappointment, Endurance, Fear, God's Call, Overcoming, Problems, Setbacks, Small Beginnings, Troubles, Uncategorized

Fugutive of Futility

No Comments 29 March 2008

Press the arrow to listen to Chris Tomlin sing Amazing Grace while you read today’s devotion.

Scripture
“Sir,â€ Gideon replied, â€œif the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?

Then the Lord turned to him and said, â€œGo with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!â€ Judges 6:13-14

Observation
The greatest obstacle to answered prayer can be me. The problem is not with God. He wants to rescue. The problem instead is with my skewed view of reality.

Gideon had a head problem. He had a faultless chain of logic that was totally wrong but made perfect sense. Bad things were happening, therefore he assumed that God was against his people. The difficulty of his logic was that it exonerated Gideon from attempting anything to challenge the status quo. He felt perfectly justified to hide like a fugitive in his own land, choking on chaff dust, because God was against them all.

We too block answers to prayer when we see God as the source of our problems instead of the beginning of our solutions. If we think life’s problems are God’s fault why try to change things?

There is a higher, heavenly perspective that the angel brought into Gideon’s life. This heavenly logic is like a gust of fresh air in a stuffy room. Here’s the new logic: assess your personal strengths and use them and God will use you. The presence of potential in Gideon’s life was proof that God was with him. He later proved himself as a leader, strategist and warrior. Once unpackaged the problem was solved.

Application
Answers to prayer require as much a change in my heart as in God’s heart. We must exchange faulty thinking for fresh perspective. Instead of asking, “What does God have against me” we should instead ask, “What do I have going for me?” The answer to prayer is not external, it is internal. Inside of me God has placed the potential for the answer. I have to change my outlook so God can use what he has given me to change the world around me.

Prayer
Father, give me a clearer and clearer understanding of what you have invested into my life so that you can work through my life. Amen.

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