William Knelsen As I wait in hope for the Lord.

Archive for May 2008

The Discipline of Service: Part 1 of 2

May 19, 2008

This is such a broad discipline, it’s hard to summarize it in one post, so I will be using two posts for the discipline of service.

First, I would like to distinguish the difference between self-righteous service and true service. I will be using references from Richard J. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline as well as my own notes.

  • Self righteous service is mostly concerned with acts of service that will get noticed and are a big deal. It enjoys serving, especially when the service is titanic.
  • True service does not concern itself with acknowledgment or the size of the act.
  • Self righteous service acts based on moods and whims.
  • True service acts faithfully because there is a need, despite it’s mood.
  • Self righteous service is concerned about the glorification of an individual, fracturing community.
  • True service builds community. It quietly goes about caring for the needs of others without concerning itself with the glorification of any person.
  • Self righteous service comes through human effort and eventually wears out.
  • True service comes from a Divine Source and does not tire or grow weary of doing good.

When I first wanted to get involved in ministry, I wanted to do the things that were at the forefront of the ministry, that people would notice and give me praise for. I wanted people to notice that I was serving. I soon realized that I was not getting the acknowledgment I was seeking and quit serving altogether.

As I grow deeper in my understanding of Christian service, I try not to concern myself with anything but simply caring for others and pleasing God. Of course, I am not even close to having achieved this perfectly, but I keep trying and in doing so, God blesses me with more opportunities to serve in a way that will bring blessings to both myself and others.

In the next post I will write about humility and door mats.

The Discipline of Submission

May 15, 2008

Anyone who knows me well will probably laugh if they see that I am writing on the topic of the discipline of submission. I am not exactly known for how well I submit to others. However, the purpose of writing is not necessarily to tell others how to live, rather, to explain the discipline and, in turn, reminding myself of how I should be living.

I would like to focus on what Foster calls the seven acts of submission:

  1. Submission to the Triune God.
    We surrender our body, mind, and spirit into the hands of God to do with us what he pleases.
  2. Submission to the Scripture.
    We yield ourselves first to hear the Word, second to receive the Word, and thrid to obey the Word.
  3. Submission to our family.
    The primary deed of submission is a commitment to listen to the other family members.
  4. Submission to our neighbors and those we meet in the course of our daily lives.
    No task is too small, too trifling, for each one is an opportunity to live in submission.
  5. Submission to the believing community, the body of Christ.
    Most frequently, acts of submission are spontaneous opportunities for little tasks of service.
  6. Submission to the broken and despised
    Our first responsibility is to be among the “widows and orphans”.
  7. Submission to the world.
    Our act of submission is a determination to live as a responsible member of an increasingly irresponsible world

Please Note: I would strongly encourage you to read Richard J. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline to get the full message of these disciplines.

When A Son Helps His Father

May 14, 2008

We were doing some yard work, and I had a wheel barrow full of branches and leaves that I needed to bring to the burn pile. No help was needed, but I asked Caleb to help me, and he thought it was the greatest thing ever to help his dad. He worked and worked, grunted and fell and, with my help, he got right back up and continued to work. Although he was absolutely no help to me whatsoever, I was pleased to see him try, and he thought he was doing all the work.

In the same way, our Heavenly Father does not need our help. He is fully capable of doing everything himself. However, that is not the point. The point is to have a relationship with His children, to involve us in His work. We sometimes think we are doing all the work ourselves, we grunt and fall and, with our Fathers help, we get right back up and continue the work he invites us to do.

I am proud of my son, and the enthusiasm he has to help me. I pray that his enthusiasm will one day be directed towards helping his Heavenly Father. But for now, I must be the closest thing to his Heavenly Father I can possibly be, so that when the time comes for the Lord to make Himself known to Caleb, he will have already got to know Him through me.

The Discipline of Solitude

May 13, 2008

The disciplined person is the person who can do what needs to be done when it needs to be done… most of us can get the ball into the hoop eventually, but we can’t do it when it is needed. Likewise, a person who is under the Discipline of silence is a person who can say what needs to be said when it needs to be said… if we speak when we should be silent, we miss the mark.

Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline

I chose to focus on speech when it comes to the Discipline of silence because that is an area of particular struggle for me. I find myself talking when I know I should be silent, and often get myself into a situation I could have easily avoided by simply remaining quiet. Keeping out of trouble is just one benefit of remaining silent. Another benefit is simply being disciplined. A disciplined person in one area often becomes disciplined in other areas of life more easily, especially if a person is disciplined in speech.

What a marvelous companion is one who listens and shows genuine interest in other people’s lives. Solitude requires me to hear before being heard and an attitude of gratefulness for every opportunity to be silent before God and others.

Busy

May 6, 2008

I have neglected spending time on my Blog in the past several days, as I have encountered quite a busy time at work right now.

I will be posting once again as soon as work returns to a normal pace. In the mean time, I have one quote from a book I am reading called The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton.

…the prehistoric period need not mean the primitive period, in the sense of the barbaric or bestial period… It simply means the time before any connected narratives that we can read.

This is quite an interesting book that I have just started to read. From what I gather, Chesterton’s purpose is to provide a contrast between secular history and biblical history. I will provide a correction later if I discover otherwise. Either way, so far it is quite an interesting read.