theological ramblings
Category Archives: theological ramblings
spiritual formation theological ramblings
Graduation Sunday 2012
May 21, 2012 – 9:21 am
Sunday was our Graduation Sunday at Western Hills. We do it a bit different. Instead of listening to the graduates, they have to listen to us. We tell them how we have seen God use them and change them over their time at Western Hills.
It’s pretty humbling hearing these stories, seeing the impact of a teenage life invested in serving.
Then we talked about lollipops. You’ll have to head over to whillschurch.org to listen to that part.
Hospitals and Altar Moments
May 19, 2012 – 11:38 am
This originally appeared as a weekly evo for Western Hills.
I don’t particularly enjoy hospitals. I think I can actually feel the germs crawl on me when I enter the hospital. Those little cans on the wall for hand sanitizer? I run from canister to canister, treating them like dispensers of hope. The foam reminds me of whip cream and instantly takes me to a happy place.
I’m also pretty much the world’s worst small-talker. I’m not anti-small-talk. I know that it is often necessary to go through the small-talk to get to the big stuff. I just wish I was better at it.
And then of course are the feelings of helplessness and inadequacy. How many times have I heard the doctor’s report and just cringed, knowing there wasn’t a thing I could do for them?
All of this can make a trip to the hospital incredibly awkward and exhausting.
However, I’m pretty sure none of that really matters. I’m learning that whatever awkwardness I’m feeling, the folks I’m seeing are oblivious to. They are consumed by something much larger and more important at the moment: that huge STOP sign that life has just thrown in the middle of their world.
Cancer, surgery, sickness, pain, disease – it comes in many different names but with the same stunning result. It has the power to stop everything else that we THOUGHT was so important moments before. It can be the wake-up call for some, the valley of the shadow of death for others.
All of this can make a trip to the hospital an altar moment.
It doesn’t always happen this way, but sometimes that room becomes an altar. Not the false god/idol kind of altar but an Abraham kind of altar. A marker to remember the faithfulness of God. Could be a healing, could be a moment of insight and change. Could be a surrender point. I’ve seen it be a place of reconciliation for wounds long suffered. At times it’s a homecoming, the kind that those of us on earth have to mourn through.
A place of deep, profound worship
Ironically enough, these are the moments I enjoy. “Enjoy” isn’t exactly the word I’m looking for. The moment itself is normally not very fun or enjoyable at all. It does have profound meaning, though. Full of raw, unvarnished emotion and heart. There is no mask of “I’m okay” nor the comfortable distractions of grocery lists or bills or errands. It’s just them and God.
When I get to be in these moments, there is joy. Not the cheerleader, rah-rah joy. That’s not joy anyway. But a “in-the-now” sense of peace. Not that everything will be alright but that everything will be with Him.
It’s hard to explain, maybe impossible. But it’s real and probably it was that kind of experience that inspired David to write Psalm 34:18.
God is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18
Just Another Reason Why We Love Our Life Group
May 15, 2012 – 7:20 am
Sunday night, the guys in the group attempted to pull off dinner for the wives/moms in our life group. We had lasagna, garlic bread, salads, and all kinds of dessert – chocolate, strawberries, cheesecake. We did have to call in the ladies for help on a couple of things but all in all – very nice effort by the fellas.
We had two couples in our group do the baby dedication in the services that morning at church. It was nice – very cool slide show and I never want to underestimate the significance of those moments. But at life group, I wanted to do something a bit different.
We went around the room and each of us gave the parents a nugget that we thought would be helpful on their journey in raising their kids under the authority of Jesus. Here is what was said:
Enjoy the time with them. It will go by very fast.
Create an environment in your home where they love being home and what to bring their friends over. Be that house for your kids.
Say “no” to your kids. And mean it. And when they get in trouble, let them feel the consequences while they are still small. It just gets harder the older they get.
What your kids want most from you is you. Not your insight or knowledge or even stuff. Just you. So say yes to that as much as you can even when you are tired, cranky, and lazy.
Pray for your kids, pray over your kids, and pray WITH your kids.
Listen to your kids. You will learn great spiritual truths from them, more than any sermon from Grant.
Don’t ever be afraid to apologize to your kids when you’ve messed up. It won’t undermine your authority, they won’t take advantage of it. They forgive quickly, it shows them true humility, they’ll grow up respecting you more for it.
What would you add?
Now That The Closet Is Open
May 14, 2012 – 8:15 am
This past week, President Obama finally made clear and public his thoughts on same-sex marriage. It is not all that huge of a surprise. Much will be said by all sides as to why he chose now to do this. The politics involved at that level are beyond me.
There are so many different ways to process all of this. Our culture’s current addiction to twitter and soundbites will not be helpful at all. The reality is that it isn’t going away. More and more states are passing laws that define marriage and these political wars are getting harsher and harsher.
Stating The Obvious
Let me get the obvious out of the way. As a Christ-follower, I can’t in anyway be faithful to the scriptures and condone homosexuality or gay marriage or civil unions. It is a sin. One man, one woman, for life is the scriptural standard for marriage.
However – and I had this argument with a local politician last month – I am not prepared to hang the future of the entire civilization on ‘family values.’ Making gay marriage illegal is NOT going to fix our country. It’s just a symptom of a larger problem – the insatiable selfishness of people. That is the sin problem killing our world. I’m fairly certain that no legislation will ever cure that.
Dual Citizenship
The larger point is this – as a Christ-follower, I have dual citizenship. In the Kingdom and in the USA. Sometimes they coexist peacefully, other times they do not.
As a citizen of the USA, I have the right and responsibility to vote and participate in government informed by my values. And I do so. In our system of government, I can vote, argue and challenge to get laws that confirm my understanding of truth and right. We chose this way over civil war. It’s not perfect but it’s better than the alternatives.
As a Christ-follower, I have another citizenship. One to the Kingdom. It’s not a democracy. There is one King. It’s here and I am already a part of it AND it is not yet fulfilled, not yet complete. I have no voice in what is right and wrong.
My Kingdom citizenship WILL prevail eventually, in the long run. It must prevail inside my own life. But I understand that more than likely, it will NOT prevail in the short-term. In fact, it will be persecuted and challenged. Jesus told us as much.
So while I will vote my conscious, my other citizenship tells me to expect persecution and hardship. Christ tells me to love my ‘enemies’ and be a blessing to those who curse me.
I do not want lying, cheating, or slander legal. I don’t approve of divorce or adultery or gossip or greed. However, I still hang out with ‘those’ kind of people. Some days, I am those kind of people. I still love them. ‘They’ still come to our church, worship in our church and serve. They are welcomed in our church.
Just as I can’t compromise the clarity of scriptures on issues such as homosexuality, I can’t compromise the clarity of scripture on how I am supposed to treat all people.
I will vote my beliefs as will the rest of the country. But we Christ-followers were told how the world would really come to know Jesus – and it wasn’t by how we vote.
Church and the Government
April 24, 2012 – 2:16 pm
What a conversation I had this morning. There’s an invitation to me to join a group of churches that are coming together to research and discover a ‘justice’ need for the city of Topeka. Then have a focus group that will next come up with a plan of action. Then they move to garner support from the community to implement that action. The examples that were given consisted of holding rallies to support the cause then lobbying the government to make changes in favor of that cause.
But here’s the conflict of the American church experience. As an American citizen, I have a right and responsibility to participate in government. That includes voting, debating, standing up for the things I am for, standing against the things I am against. That’s the system we work with. We are not a monarchy or dictatorship – we are a democracy. As a citizen, I have the responsibility to petition and lean on my government when they are leading in a way I do not agree with or spending money on stuff I don’t want. I get that on an individual level.
But this sounds a lot like what lobbyists do, doesn’t it? Common interest with a common agenda form a group that tries to influence policy and decision makers. Is this what Jesus intended for the church to be involved in?
I do understand the intent – one church might be able to help 25 but a whole community of churches can multiply that by thousands. Add in the political sway to change the system and the influence could be limitless.
However, I wrestle with two HUGE issues.
ISSUE 1: Identity Confusion
Reality paints a different picture when church and politics mix. It seldom goes well. The Religious Right may have won a lot of battles for morality but it could be argued that it did just as much damage as it healed. Folks don’t look at those kind of churches as places of hope and healing, but of moral judgement and condemnation. In the effort to afford some kind of political power and leverage, the church sold out on the opportunity to minister to real people with real hurts.
Is it the church’s role to influence policy? Civil Rights don’t happen without the church involvement, slavery doesn’t end without church involvement. Those are great examples of the church doing what is right versus what is just politics. But there are also the examples of the Salem Witch Trials, Women’s Rights, and Prohibition to counter that.
But even these examples aren’t that clear cut. There were Christ-followers that fell on both sides of all of those issues. Who was right? That’s not exactly an easy question to answer. We can tell you who WON but that’s a different question than who was right.
As a pastor, I know that my ultimate hope for healing and life change is in Christ. And the organization that God chose to work through is the church. He loves the church, gifts the church for this purpose. So no government agency or policy – as well-intended as it may be – will ever completely solve any of our social problems. And to be fair – our governments were never designed to function in this role. That’s a whole other conversation.
I’ve heard the rhetoric that if God’s people would tithe – the church would have so much money to minister to the world, governments would have no need for social services. I’m not really sure how accurate that is – but it’s a well known fact that over 75% of churchgoers do NOT tithe. Of course not all churches think to minister to those outside their walls. So the church is flawed in her delivery system of social ministry as well.
My point is this – it is clear in scriptures the church is a light house, a house of prayer, a place for healing and restoration. The question becomes does a church’s involvement in politics hinders her from accomplishing her first mission, her first calling? Or is her involvement in politics because she is being hindered by the government to do them?
ISSUE 2: Core Solutions
There is also the whole sin nature problem. No matter what the issue is, we are all sinners with a HUGE selfish streak in us. No program or system can solve that. Only Christ. The backsnacks program we do is great but…that program in and of itself is not bringing anyone to Christ. We don’t have a stack of cards with decisions for Christ because of the BackSnacks program.
So why do it? Why not just join a focus group and start holding rallies and leveraging our government to start spending money and passing policy on social justice issues?
I think one of the reasons God calls us to serve is that there are some areas in our character that He can only change in the lab of serving others. To not serve would be to miss out on our own spiritual transformation journey.
I also think that when the Church serves, she is showing the culture the true heart of God. It does more than thousands of sermons.
__________
So I’ll go to a couple of meetings. I’ll listen and ask questions. I’ll listen some more. But this is where I am today.
My Talk at Sterling College
April 19, 2012 – 8:03 pm
This is the talk – or at least what I had in my notes – that I gave at Sterling College yesterday.
I had one thing in my notes that I forgot to say. I hate it when I do that…
Here’s the line I wish I had remembered to say –
“Beauty without truth is Hollywood. Truth without beauty is hollow religion.”
Oh well….next time, maybe.
God has a wicked sense of humor. I realize that most speakers will say to you that they once sat where you are sitting. I can actually say to you that where you sit, I spent an enormous amount of energy in college to NOT sit.
I started really following Jesus in college. This was after spending a year trying to disprove the authenticity and reliability of the Bible while attending a Christian university. We were required to get 128 chapel credits before you graduated.
There was an ongoing battle between the administration and some of us students concerning attendance in chapel. They started with assigned seats. I showed up my first week and someone was sitting in my seat so I let him…the whole semester and got credit for chapel having never attended.
The next semester they took attendance at the door by scanning our ID cards. That made things really easy – just step in the north door, get it scanned, go out the south door.
Next they scanned up at the front of the stage. Made sneaking out a little bit harder – but we figured out a way. Then they waited till chapel was over to scan. That was shut down by the professors as it made the whole university late to their 11 o’clock classes.
So it’s pretty ironic that this is my first time that I’m speaking on a Christian college in required chapel. And after that introduction, it just may be my last as well.
I’d like for you to turn to Isaiah 41 in your scriptures. How many of you have ever heard a talk on Isaiah 41? Yeah, this will be my first one as well. Let’s just get into it…
Read Isaiah 41:21-29
It’s pretty easy to hear the sarcasm. It’s pretty obvious that the Lord is basically verbally spanking the Israelites for exchanging a real, personal relationship with the Creator for a convenient, hand-made false idol.
God is calling out their “gods.” Do something. Do anything. It doesn’t even have to be good or great or bold – just anything so that a decision can be made. And verse 24 is one of the pinnacle verses here:
“But you are less than nothing and your works are utterly worthless;
whoever chooses you is detestable.”
As well as verse 29:
“See, they are all false! Their deeds amount to nothing;
their images are but wind and confusion.”
What a great definition of an idol – it does nothing, it’s an image, it’s wind and confusion. And it’s easy to sit here in 2012 and look there 700 to 800 BC with a bit of arrogance. It’s easy to ask the question how could they get that confused to think that those statues and trinkets were gods? It’s so easy to look back and see the frailty of it all.
Over the last few years, I’ve had some incredible opportunities to travel to Eastern Europe, Croatia, Brazil and see some very different cultures and their past false gods and idols.
Porte Alegra, Brazil
This is Porto Alegre. 3.5 million people live in the city. I’m going there in a few months again but spiritism is huge in southern Brazil to this day.
Because of this building right here. This building was the first slave market in Brazil. The slaves brought with them their religious beliefs and practices – spiritism. After the slaves were set free, it was used as a Spiritist temple and now it is a public market. We buy coffee and there is a great ice cream shop in there. AND yes – there are a couple of spiritists shops in there as well.
Porec, Croatia
This is beautiful Porec, Croatia located on the Adriatic sea right across from Venice.
This was a Roman temple ruins. It’s so far gone – they don’t even know which god it was built for. It sits behind some apartments and you can just go play on them.
This is the coliseum just down the road from Porec. It’s actually larger and more intact than the one in Rome. It’s a monument to a culture and what was important to them back then. Over there on the far left is where they held the Christians before they sent them in the arena to face wild animals.
They were breaking down a concert they just had with Sting. How cool would that be? Listening to Sting in an ancient coliseum by the Adriatic sea?
This is what is left of a statue of one of the Roman gods – we think it was Mars. It would have been one time a central point of reverence and worship. You can see, it’s now covered in ivy.
Look where it is located. So many people just walk by eating ice cream, never even noticing it.
Most of you are pretty smart. So it’s fairly easy to see what’s next, right? 250 years from now – what will be our ruins that people look at us and think arrogantly – how did they get so distracted from the living and true God? You tell me – what will be some of those things?
Yeah – ipads, cars, houses, technology, achievement, fame…
Listen, I’m guessing that most of you get that. That’s a message you’ve probably heard before and will hear again. That’s not really my question or my point this morning.
When I see these ruins and I see our own culture’s capacity to create these beautiful false gods and idols to worship – I see something else. Something that I think the church is missing to her own detriment. There is an innate desire to worship inside humanity. And this desire also has with it this deep need or drive for beauty. That’s why they made all those temples and statues. It was beautiful. They needed something beautiful as well as “truthful” to worship.
So worship is not ONLY about TRUTH. It’s also about beauty. That desire is in every human – it’s why every generation, every century has ‘worshipped’ their artists sometimes more than their scholars. We need beauty in order for TRUTH to take root in the human soul.
The church for too long has abandoned it’s hunger and creation of beauty. She has forgotten to bring beauty alongside truth. My generation started a revolution in American church culture – one that was needed – but we are in no way close to finishing what we started. We’ve messed some things up just as much as we fixed some things. We are going to need your help in becoming a more wholistic expression of the Bride of the Christ.
Just an example of what this COULD look like. Our church in Topeka partnered with a group of artist on a series on Genesis. Gave them the text from Genesis 1-6, different artists – and had them put their thoughts on canvases. I want to show you two of these paintings this morning. Understand that a majority of these artists had never read the creation accounts in Genesis.
This was one done on Genesis 3. Take a moment and really look at it.
Let me point out a couple of things. Who does Eve look like? Farrah Fawcett. What do you notice about Adam? He is in shadows, doubt. What color are the people? Every color on the palette was used on them. Naked, unashamed but entering the shadows. Do you see the serpent? Hard to see but once you see him, impossible to miss. The branches…subtle. Sneaky. In the middle of the decision. This is the story — the whole story of Genesis 3. And it anchors truth in a meaningful way.
This was painted by an autistic guy who lives down the street from me. IT hangs in my office. The colors pop but have a glaze of mud or dirt over them. We are created in the image of God but we are damaged. That damage is real and deep but it will never totally blot out God’s image. That’s good stuff. That’s good theology.
Do you think I’m crazy? Think I’m off my rocker a bit? Think I’m stretching a bit to fit this into Isaiah? I don’t think so. Let’s look at God’s response to those who worship other idols, let’s read the first 10 verses of the next chapter, Isaiah 42.
Read Isaiah 42:1-10
God’s answer to the people who worshipped false gods was to send them one of his servants to show them both truth and beauty. The truth of who God is, the beauty that proves it. He is a sending, redeeming, chasing God that shows off true truth and true beauty to all so that some will choose to enter a relationship with Him. It’s in every story in this book. Beauty and truth.
Beauty without truth is dangerous. It’s Hollywood. Truth without beauty is hollow religion. It’s rules and Pharisees – setting us up to live as hard-hearted people disconnected from our soul. [missed this in actual delivery!]
We need both beauty and truth because God created in us a hunger for both and God presented himself as both – the beautiful true God.
As you prepare to be our leaders over the next few years – don’t compromise one for the other. Make the hard decision to embrace both. So that we can see this happen in our lifetime.
Isaiah 42:10
I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
Thank you for your time this morning. I’d like to pray for you.
Time-Share Holy Moment
April 5, 2012 – 9:02 am
Amy and I have been guilty of using time-share companies for a free weekend or two. Have you had the experience yet? They put you up in this great place for the weekend with some free meals or tickets to some show. In return you agree to sit through a “short” presentation.
Short is a relative term. Most of these presentations take anywhere from an hour to 90 minutes – most of it is full of the cheesy, cringing kind of self-promotion that just makes you want to throw up. It makes me wonder how few people actually stop and ask the question – if this is such a great deal, how come more people aren’t doing it? And why are you selling so hard?
The first couple of times we did it, it was easy to say no because we didn’t have any money. Easy peasy. We’d smile, nod, agree, drink the free cokes and walk out.
I have a buddy who went through one of these weekends. He calls me and says “Have you heard of this concept of time-share?” I asked him if he had stopped taking his medication.
“No, no, no…I didn’t buy one but these guys are incredible salesmen. I almost bought one!”
I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. He was one of the most successful businessmen I’d ever known. He was an incredible salesmen himself. I asked him “Are you serious? Did you really almost buy a time-share?”
He tells me the story…
“My wife and I get to the resort and it’s incredible, the nicest place we’ve ever been (it’s in Mexico somewhere). I start doing the math on vacations or vacation homes and it’s close to being a viable way to do vacations every year. And I thought – we could totally do this. A free place to stay for our families every year for vacation!”
I paused. I didn’t know how to ask my question without it getting completely awkward.
“So….you said….”we.” What does that mean?”
He kept talking…”I mean they totally get you if you change locations and want to trade your points to another place…” He talks in some kind of coded language that sounds like English but isn’t really English for the next 5 minutes. What I get out of it was basically this – you could get a different location but you’d have to pay the difference. How they knew what that was sounded complicated. Actually, it wasn’t complicated. Just figure you always have the lesser value and you have to pay the difference.
I ventured my question a bit more direction this time…
“Bro (I always called him ‘bro’ when I was annoyed with him), you said ‘we.’ Are you trying to sell me a time-share with money I don’t have and your big pitch to me is that I have to take vacation with you and your family every year? Because I gotta tell you — I love you and all but just not seeing that happening.”
“Dude — (he always called me DUDE when he was annoyed with me) you’re not listening. Wait for the whole story.”
He kept talking…
“So this salesman keeps selling the property to us and the program. The numbers add up, they make sense. I’m just nodding because even though I’m not buying one – I like this guys style and I can see how people would just fall over this. He gives his big ask and I look at him and I say – ‘Not interested.’ The salesman – like all good ones – still has a couple of pitches left.
He asks me – ‘tell me sir, you work hard. You earn your money, you deserve it. How else are you going to spend your time and your money?’
“Grant — I was floored. I was completely blown away. I couldn’t even take that kind of shot. I start crying right there in the stupid cubicle with the plastic pictures of timeshares with my wife. I mean the blubbering, slobber kind of crying. I can’t stop it.”
I very confused at this point. “So….you did buy a timeshare??”
“DUDE!! Did you hear the question the salesman asked? I mean did you really, really HEAR it? It’s a test question and I’m done failing it in my life.”
Long silence. “Bro, I’m going to level with you. I’m totally in the dark as to WHAT IN THE WORLD YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!!!!”
“Grant — it might be my time, but it’s a gift from God. It’s his gift to me to do with what I want BUT…it’s still a gift from God. It isn’t my money. It’s God’s money. He provides. I’m a steward of that money. When that guy asked me that question – how else are you going to spend your time and your money it was like the Lord was asking me the same question. I was hitting a wall in my walk with Jesus, just kind of getting distracted and discouraged and who knew that Jesus would show up on my vacation and wake me by trying to sell me a time-share.”
My buddy loved the Lord, he’d given more money to missions and the church than I probably would ever make. He’d traveled the world telling others about Jesus, he’d volunteered with youth ministry for years. I’d put him on my top 5 Godly Men List OF All Time. I had no idea he was going through all of that but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to correct some bad theology.
“Bro – I don’t think Jesus was trying to sell you a time-share to wake you up. He may have used that but – ”
My friend interrupted me – “No, Grant. You are wrong. Jesus in fact DID try to sell me a time-share. That was the salesman’s name. I only noticed it at the end when he started pushing with the “your time” and “your money” comment. Is that not the most craziest thing ever???”
It’s up there. And I still have that lesson in my life — it’s my time as a gift, it’s his money on loan.
For the Kingdom.
My Story – Jorree S
April 3, 2012 – 1:59 pm
Jorree is a dear friend who has been attending our church for just a little under a year. Here is her story.
On September 5, 2011, Jorree receives news that her son is dead. Here is part of her story.
Tool Envy
March 15, 2012 – 9:30 am
This originally appeared as a weekly devo on whillschurch.org
There is a running joke at Western Hills – Grant is a good hand to have on a job. He can turn any 2 hour job into an all day job. I’ve also been asked if I have brought my Barbie tools from time to time. To be fair – I have a very nice 18 volt drill and saw. Plus two circular saws and even a jigsaw. I’m fairly adept at minor fixes and major demolition. I don’t have a table saw or a chain saw for reasons that will remain unsaid. I’m a quick study.
But every time I see Shane Koci’s toolbag or Terry Randall’s toolkit – it is painfully obvious that in the world of tools – I am Fisher Price, they are Craftsmen.
It’s not just they have more tools than I do…the tools they have are infinitely better than mine. They’ve had a lifetime to build that up. And when they buy a tool, they buy the best. And they know how to use those tools. We’ve been major blessed by their skills and knowledge of these tools. Watching these guys work, I want to be good like that at fixing things.
Ever been around someone like that?
That’s exactly the thinking behind our equipping classes that start this Sunday. We’ve been talking for over a month about the new change at Western Hills, new service times (8.30 and 11 am), and how this is a temporary fix buying us time until we can move down to the gym, and how the north side of our campus will now become all children and youth.
But one of the HUGE benefits to the changes are these equipping classes. It’s like being taught on a certain topic by someone who has an incredible tool kit in that area. And these classes give us an opportunity to improve our tool kits.
Life groups are core to who we are and who we want to be at Western Hills. We say it all the time – you won’t feel connected until you are in a life group because you aren’t connected. Life groups are the central life change, spiritual transformation agent of the church. It’s where we learn to apply and encourage and live out what we are learning in the scriptures. It’s where we serve all.
BUT we also need a place to get the basics of spirituality. There are times when we need focused attention on a specific topic with the help of an experienced “craftsman.” We need these times of learning (equipping class) so that we can then go to the lab (life group) to test it out.
I’m super excited about these classes. We’ll be offering new ones in another 8 weeks, some we will be repeating in case you missed the first offering.
But the equipping classes offer an unique opportunity to add some tools to your toolbelt in a way that a worship service or just a life group could never do.
Now, I’m off to the hardware store to work on my sin of envy.
The Laments in the Psalms
March 7, 2012 – 9:25 am
Here it is as promised in my message this past Sunday: a list of the laments in the Psalms. You’ll notice two different types of laments – the individual lament and the communal. Communal Laments were written for…wait for it…the entire community or nation. Normally about a national calamity or sin. The individual laments are – don’t get ahead of me, here – for the individual, written from the perspective of one person dealing with some sort of pain or loss.
In all seriousness, the Laments are powerful. They should make you uncomfortable, they should stretch you. But they should also give you some measure of comfort as well. They come from a place of deep hurt and often times deep confusion. But I think they are vital to anyone who wants to grow close to God. Because we all hurt and we all have to deal with that hurt.
Hope these help you! Need more information on this? Listen to the message from Sunday.
Individual Laments
Psalms 3-7, 9-10, 13-14, 17, 22, 25-28, 31-32, 35-36, 38-39, 40:12-17, 41-43, 51-57, 59, 61, 64, 69-71, 77, 86, 88-89, 102, 109, 120, 130, 137, 139-143.
Community Laments
Psalms 12, 44, 60, 74, 79-80, 83, 85, 90, 94, 123, 126, 129
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