Deep-End Discipleship

 “ Fear of the Lord is where wisdom begins;     sure knowledge is for all who keep God’s laws.         God’s praise lasts forever!” - Psalm 111:10 CEB - So if you have tuned in at all during this last summer’s Sunday night youth fellowship times, we have been looking at what does it take to be wise. (God pities the fool!) I admit that wisdom is one of those topics that just fascinates me about our faith and the call that God gives us as Christians. It feels like an embodiment of literally chasing after goodness. We are told to be wise, but what do we exactly do to make wisdom? We are told that wisdom is a virtue, but rarely do we get or gain wisdom instantly. We can’t just download an app, approve an update or change to a better wiser model. Even in our Scripture, we are told that wisdom begins with “fear of the Lord” but that easily seems like a phrase that is just tossed around in the Bible...

“David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.” - 2 Samuel 6:5 NRSV - “When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, 'Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.'” - Mark 6:22 NRSV - I’ll admit it. I’m not a dancer. I lived through the days of ballroom dancing, square dancing, disco, country-line dancing, creative dance, expressionist dance, jive, hip-hop, and grunge. I am not a dancer. My body moves to the rhythm of music in ways never intended by human beings. And yet, you will see my toe tapping in church, my head bobbing in the car, and hear my whispers singing along in with the choir. My one brush with liturgical dance in a worship service proved near disastrous and will never be spoken of in public. And yet, I love to dance. There is something about dance that is freei...

“ Answer me when I cry out, my righteous God! Set me free from my troubles! Have mercy on me! Listen to my prayer!” - Psalm 4:1 CEB - We so want to be seen, noticed and heard! I think about all the ways we put ourselves out there – from finding just the right Instagram photo, continually looking for a witty Twitter statement, and even the ways we work to maintain a Snapchat streak. There is something about knowing who has paid attention to us that feels so fulfilling. Even our phones tell us when someone has read our text message. The same goes with our connection and faith in God. We wonder if God hears us. We want to know when God will read our message. We wait for God to respond. The book of Psalms are filled with authors that express similar longing through the poems written down as Scripture. Many of the psalms are attributed to King David who both knew personal intimacy with God as well as the deep despair of separation and disconnection with God. Psalm 4 sta...