This week I wanted to share with you the lyrics to one of my favorite songs! Solution (written and sung by Hillsong) is an incredibly powerful song that outlines our call to help those in need, through Jesus Christ. Click here to play the song: 10 Solution 1

It is not a human right to stare not fight
While broken nations dream
Open up our eyes, so blind
That we might find the Mercy for the need

(Pre-Chorus)

Singing, hey now. Fill our hearts with your compassion.
Hey now, as we hold to our confession. Yeah

It is not too far a cry, too much to try
To help the least of these
Politics will not decide if we should rise
And be your hands and feet

(Pre-Chorus)

(Chorus)
Woah-oh-oh, God be the solution
Woah-oh-oh, We will be Your hands and be Your feet.
Yeah, yeah

Higher than a circumstance, your promise stands,
Your love for all to see
Higher than protest line and dollar signs, Your love is all we need

(Pre-Chorus)

(Chorus)

Only You can mend the broken heart, and cause the blind to see
Erase complete the sinners past, and set the captives free
Only You can take the widows cry, and cause her heart to sing
Be a Father to the fatherless; Our Savior and our King

(Bridge)

We will be Your hands, we will be Your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place, we will be Your light
We will be Your light

(x2)

(Chorus x2)

(Bridge)

If the music link doesn’t work, here’s a YouTube video of Hillsong performing Solution.

“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

This brief passage was recently discussed at the cell group I attend. The part of the verse that struck me the most was where we’re commanded to act justly. Naturally, this begs the question, “What does it mean to act justly?”

My understanding of justice is rather simple. But in order to fully comprehend…we have to go back to the beginning. Genesis 1 tells us that God created the heavens and earth; He spoke light into existence; He produced living creatures; He created man. Verse 31 tells us, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”

Unfortunately, things didn’t stay the way God created them. Genesis 3 tells us about the fall of man and the curses brought upon humankind as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin. Those of us who are alive today don’t know the world as God intended it to be; we only know a world that has been corrupted by sin.

So there’s a way that things were supposed to be. And then there’s the way that things actually are. Justice, then, is restoring things that have been twisted and defiled by sin back to their original, God-intended state.

God did not intend the world to include poverty, hunger, suffering, inequality, abuse, pollution, or people taking advantage of one another…all of those are a result of sin. Therefore, erradicating poverty, feeding the hungry, banishing inequality, preventing abuses, stewarding our environment, and loving one another are all forms of justice. They are all actions that bring us closer to the way things were meant to be. Closer to bringing heaven to earth.

When I was little I had a pink Precious Moments Bible. I loved this Bible dearly and considered it a prized possession–not so much because I liked to read it…but more because of the pictures! On Sundays (generally during the pastor’s sermon) I would flip through my little pink Bible and find my favorite pictures.

Naturally, these pictures corresponded to verses (brilliant work, Precious Moments), so I decided my favorite verse was 2 Corinthians 9:7, which reads:

“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

I’m not gonna lie…I think it was my favorite simply because the picture had puppies (see above), but nonetheless this verse has really stuck with me throughout the years.

The other night I was thinking of this verse and had a slight epiphany. If I may be so bold, I would like to assert that the verse should continue to read, “God also loves a cheerful receiver.”

This may seem a little counter-intuitive, or perhaps a little like, “Why would God need to love a cheerful receiver? Doesn’t everyone like to receive?” But to that I would answer that there can be a real sense of humility when you’re on the receiving end of a blessing. Giving feels good. Giving helps you feel like you’re part of the solution. And don’t we always maintain that “it’s better to give than to receive?”

Receiving can be a whole different beast. Receiving can take the humility to say, “God I need you. I can’t do this without you. Please help me and provide for me.” Personally, I think it can be hard to receive with a joyful heart–to receive and not feel in some way inadequate. With that being said, if we become “cheerful receivers” I think God will delight in our humble hearts and relish our faithfulness.

“And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father is also merciful.” Luke 6:33-36

Reading this verse recently really challenged me. Jesus totally calls us out here… It’s not hard to be nice to someone who’s always nice to you. Where is the love in that? Where is the grace in that? But being nice to someone who is continually mean to you–or disingenuous with you–now that’s a totally different story. That takes patience. That takes love. That takes God.

And while we definitely hope that people pay us back for our microloans…we don’t want them to pay us back for our sake. We want them to be able to repay for their sake. Repayment is a sign that their business is growing; it’s a sign that they’re able to manage their cash-flow. Of course, the more capital they pay back, the more we are able to lend out to others, but the most important lessons are those of honoring a commitment and learning to plan for the future.

“God is easy to please, but hard to satisfy.” –C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

A few months ago I read C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. I love the way Lewis is able to distill seemingly convoluted theological ideas into easily understood analogies. I really enjoyed the book and found his analysis both refreshing and insightful. The above quote is one that really challenged me. At first it sounded like a bit of an oxymoron, but the more I thought about it…the more it made sense.

God is easy to please. Simple, but well said. God’s greatest desire is to be in relationship with us. Easy enough, right? He delights in the little things we do–in the small ways we earnestly seek Him. He rejoices over every battle won (big or small). He’s cheering us on. He’s in our corner. He wants us to succeed, and He takes great pleasure in every step we take toward Him.

But God is hard to satisfy. Here’s the catch…He created us. He knows our true potential. He knows the possibilities that lay within us, and he’s unwilling to settle or compromise. It’s impossible to say to God, ‘I’m not good enough,’ ‘I’m not strong enough,’ ‘I’m not smart enough,’ ‘I’m not talented enough,’ ‘I’m not bold enough.’ He knows us better than we can ever hope to know ourselves and He can’t be satisfied with anything less than our best.

A few weeks ago during our weekly meeting at New Creation we hosted an Emmaus Road session on Worship. At that point, we had been with the Pioneer Loan Family for nearly 4 months and with the Masakhane Loan Family for nearly 3 months. Consequently, we have all grown exceptionally close–and we very much enjoy spending Tuesday evenings with one another.

The session was incredibly powerful. We discussed what worship is, what it means to worship and why we worship. We talked about worship being more than singing a song or going to church–but rather living a lifestyle of enjoying God, loving God and telling others about Him.

We encouraged the entrepreneurs to “think outside the box” in terms of worship. We emphasized that worship can be singing, dancing, clapping, shouting, playing an instrument…it can be creative, artistic, organic, individual, collective…you can worship through loving others, through serving others, or even through working : )

At the end of the evening we challenged the entrepreneurs to share with the group different reasons why they worship and different ways in which they worship. The energy in the room was joyous and thankful, and Gaby (one of our Life Coaches who was leading the session) suggested we all sing a song of worship together. Andisiwe (another one of our Life Coaches who happens to have an amazing voice) began singing an old Zulu/Xhosa praise song. To my astonishment, nearly every single person in the room knew the song and joined in at the appropriate times. It is by far one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. It’s a simple song, but the passion and sincerity behind the lyrics are undeniable. I begged Andisiwe to teach me the song, and I’ve had it stuck in my head ever since that Tuesday meeting! Watching our entrepreneurs (along with our volunteers) unabashedly worship God truly stirred my heart. It was definitely one of my favorite experiences in South Africa thus far…

The song features a sort of call-and-response structure, with one person leading and everyone else singing a type of chorus. I desperately tried to find a version on iTunes, but didn’t have any luck. The lyrics are as follows:

Igama leNkosi Malibongwe (The Name of the Lord be Praised)

UJesu’phakeme (Jesus is Lifted Up)

UJesu’mandla (Jesus is Powerful)

UJesu’yinkosi (Jesus is King)

Here’s my third (and final) post on Velvet Elvis:

“And now it is our turn. It is our turn to step up and take responsibility for who the church is going to be for a new generation. It is our turn to redefine and reshape and dream it all up again. It is our turn to rediscover the beautiful, dangerous, compelling idea that a group of people, surrendered to God and to each other, really can change the world.

…So what is a group of people living this way called? That’s the church. The church doesn’t exist for itself; it exists to serve the world. It is not ultimately about the church; it’s about all the people God wants to bless through the church. When the church loses sight of this, it loses heart… Why blame the dark for being dark? It is far more helpful to ask why the light isn’t as bright as it could be.”

In my mind, this passage sort of “piggy backs” on the passage in my last entry. Rob continues to encourage the church to be a “serving machine.” To bless people through the church, and to not expect anything in return. For me, this also emphasizes why the work we’re doing here with Paradigm Shift is so meaningful. Our goal is to empower local churches to serve the poor. We want to work ourselves out of a job and to help churches create sustainable ways of impacting the working poor in their communities. I am truly encouraged by our vision, and I pray that God continues to use us as a tool for His work. And as a tool to change the world. Why not dream big? : )

I enjoyed reading Velvet Elvis so much that I decided to write a few more entries on passages that held significance for me.

“When we choose God’s vision of who we are, we are living as God made us to live. We are living in the flow of how we are going to live forever. This is the life of heaven, here and now. And as we live this life, in harmony with God’s intentions for us, the life of heaven becomes more and more present in our lives. Heaven comes to earth… There is this place, this realm, heaven, where things are as God desires them to be. As we live this way, heaven comes here. To this place, this world, the one we’re living in.

…For Jesus, heaven and hell were present realities. Ways of living we can enter into here and now. He talked very little of the life beyond this one because he understood that the life beyond this one is a continuation of the kinds of choices we make here and now.

For Jesus, the question wasn’t, how do I get into heaven? but how do I bring heaven here?

The question wasn’t, how do I get in there? But how do I get there, here?

…Jesus’ desire for his followers is that they live in such a way that they bring heaven to earth.

What’s disturbing then is when people talk more about hell after this life than they do about hell here and now. As a Christian, I want to do what I can to resist hell coming to earth. Poverty, injustice, suffering–they are all hells on earth, and as Christians we oppose them with all our energies. Jesus told us to.”

In this brief passage, Rob reminds us that our role as Christians is to bring heaven to earth. He encourages us to lose any agenda we might have, or any ulterior motives…and to just love on people and to serve them. He tells us to do this for no other reason than the simple fact that it’s what Jesus would do. And it’s what He wants us to do. For me, this chapter in the book really reminded me of why I’m in South Africa. And it challenged me to continue trying to love and serve people in a real, authentic way.

A dear friend of mine recently loaned me Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. I had been wanting to read this book for at least 2 years, so I was really looking forward to diving in. Not surprisingly, the combination of no television and ‘unreliable’ access to the internet has provided me with an abundance of spare time to read. This is actually one of the things I’ve been most grateful for in my time here in South Africa.

As I was reading, one line in particular struck me. In a conversation Rob has with a Christian therapist, the therapist says, “Your job is the relentless pursuit of who God has made you to be. And anything else you do is sin and you need to repent of it.”

Wow. Powerful stuff, huh? My prayer for myself–and my prayer for our team–is that we all continue to relentlessly pursue who God has made us to be. In the spirit of honesty, I am really not quite sure what that will look like in my own life. But I am definitely excited to see where He leads me  : )