Author Archives: Brook Fonceca

Many Strands Strong

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“He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. His purpose was to equip God’s people for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ until we all reach the unity of faith and knowledge of God’s Son. God’s goal is for us to become mature adults-to be fully grown, measured by the standard of the fullness of Christ.” ( Ephesians 4:11-13)

 

This week I had the chance to talk with a brother in our church. He was expressing a desire to be a pastor, even though he is currently in the business world. Through our conversation I got to share that being a pastor is a gift from the Lord to his church, not just a position within the organization of the church. I was able to affirm his desire to be a pastor based on how I’ve seen him live out his faith, mainly caring for people. He is using God’s gift to him to the benefit of others and the glory of God.

 

Why am I sharing this story? It comes out of my preparation for this Sunday’s conversation – The Culture of Joy.

 

An aspect of the culture of joy is celebrating diversity. This is something I think we do well as a faith community. I’ve always appreciated that we strive for unity over uniformity, and the manifold way God uses us for the expansion of his kingdom.

 

If, as we discovered last Sunday, that joy is an expression of God’s character and we rejoice in God’s gift of ministers then we can find strength in the many strands of his people standing together in love for him and one another. Let’s continue to celebrate who God has made us to be in his family!

 

Grace and peace,

Brook

Occasions for Joy

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“My brothers and sisters, think of the various tests you encounter as occasions for joy. After all, you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let this endurance complete its work so that you may be fully mature, complete, and lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4)

 

Last Sunday I had the privilege of sharing the morning’s message at the worship gathering at VLC. I talked about joy. In the preparation for that talk (and for the next two weeks as well) I had the above passage rolling through my thoughts. It often comes to mind when I experience difficult situations. This week was no exception.

 

Pastors often joke that they are “tested” according to what they are sharing. I made the same quip to Pastor Stuart before he left for Guatemala. He understood. 

 

The “testing” that I’ve been experiencing reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the soils in Luke 8. While listening to Pastor Stuart’s talk on this recently, I began to see the different soils as progressive instead of qualitative, as levels of faith and/or maturity instead of good or bad. 

 

The soils are as follows: the pathway of hard packed dirt, rocky shallow soil, weed-choked soil, and cultivated soil. The seed is not only the word of God but ideas, thoughts, dreams, etc. The pathway soil is the introduction to the seed. We can take it or leave it. The rocky soil is where acquaintance and understanding develop. It’s exciting, but short lived. The weed-choked soil is the place of testing. The life of the seed it challenged. It’s at this place that the plant can gain strength or be overcome. The cultivated soil is where the life of the seed is reproduced in fruit, which perpetuates the cycle. 

 

As I have been working through joy the last few weeks I feel like I am living out the passage I quoted above in James. Through the testing I’m not afraid of losing faith or joy, but I am assured that I will come through with a deeper understanding of joy and a stronger faith to persevere. I pray this encourages you in whatever you are experiencing. “I’m sure about this: the one who started a good work in you will stay with you to complete the job by the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)

 

Grace and peace,

Brook

 

Calling It Like It Is

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Everything is marketed and spun for our allegiance. It’s all about the brand. It’s all about me. This week I was reminded that the church is not immune to this, either.

 

I rarely post comments to blogs I read, but this week I thought I had something to add the that conversation. I won’t get into the details, (If you’re interested, here’s a link to that blog post.) but the issue was embracing a doctrinal “brand” of theology and then qualifying and defining it in such a way that the original label ceased to make sense. The point of the blog was that theologians are at times more interested in keeping the label of a specific doctrine because it is seen as a qualification in order to belong  to a certain branch of Christianity. My comment to the blog was that I agreed with the definition of the doctrine, I just wouldn’t use that brand name anymore. I would call it like it is, then I gave some suggestions.

 

Why am I telling you this story?

 

In recent weeks I’ve been challenged in my view of the church. I’ve found that I’m more willing to hold on to what tradition has taught me than to call it like it is.

 

What do you think of when you hear the word “church?” Immediately I think of two things. 1) The people of God. 2) A localized gathering of that people. The second thought is where I need to call it like it is. I often view this gathering in terms of Sunday morning, and this gathering being the primary entrance into the people of God. This would make us, the local church, the door to the universal church. Jesus said, though, that he is the door (gate) and all who enter through him are saved. (John 10:7-9) If I am honest I will realize that the local church doesn’t house Jesus. He takes up residence in the hearts of people. Wherever these people gather that is the church. This is truer to the meaning of the Greek word that is translated “church,” ekklesia: those called out for the purpose of gathering. I have to constantly remind myself that the church isn’t called into the four walls of a building somewhere, but called out into the world, bringing the presence of Jesus with them as they go. It is not about a brand or about me. It is the people of God loving people that God loves.

 

So what is the Sunday morning worship gathering? It is still vitally important to the life of the Christian for worship, encouragement, discovery, and fellowship. It is a gathering that empowers for its scattering, a calling together for the purpose of sending out.

 

Grace and peace,

Brook

Naked and Unashamed

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No, I’m not referring to the Emperor’s new clothes! As the creation story concludes we read that “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” (Genesis 2:25, NIV) This is, of course, before the fall, and it gives us a picture of what it looks like to be in a relationship with God and others without the interference sin and self-centeredness. This is also a picture of what it looks like to be in Christ. The Apostle Paul writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NKJV) Anyone who has been a Christian longer than ten minutes knows that this promise needs to be contended for. I want to propose that contending for this promise is a response to grace rather than a labor of love. 

 

I’ll explain it through an issue I’m working through. I struggle with the need to be validated. I find that one motivation, among many, for a lot of things I do is personal validation, to prove I’m ok. But through some conversations and meditations this week that validation is like Adam and Eve’s fig leaves. The more validation I seek, the more I prove to be broken. Through his saving work, Jesus heals us from the effects of sin, making us whole and bestowing himself upon us. Here there is no room for personal validation, nothing can be earned. It is all a work of his love and grace. We can stand upon him, naked and unashamed.

 

This explanation is just from my perspective. I encourage you to run this through your experience and see how it is that you can find his grace and experience his wholeness.

 

Grace and peace,

Brook

Destination or Journey? How Do You See Your Christian Walk?

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I read a great article this week on a blog I frequent, Jesus Creed. This article posed the same question, Journey or Destination? Essentially, I want to pass this conversation on to you.

 

As I see it, the Christian life is a journey. We understand that the personhood of Jesus enables us to have a relationship with God. If we see our spirituality as a relationship then we will more easily embrace the journey, because Jesus is with us. 

 

I have the pleasure of gathering with Valley Life Center.  I sense that we at VLC are on the same page with this, since our gatherings have a feeling of process to them. This is a journey I am glad to be on, not only with them, but also with you.

 

I would also like to leave you with this passage from Philippians.

 

The righteousness that I have comes from knowing Christ, the power of his resurrection, and the participation in his sufferings. It includes being conformed to his death so that I may perhaps reach the goal of the resurrection of the dead.

     It’s not that I have already reached this goal or have already been perfected, but I pursue it, so that I may grab hold of it because Christ grabbed hold of me for just this purpose. Brothers and sisters, I myself don’t think I’ve reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me. The goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 3:10-14

 

Grace and peace,

Brook

 

Turning a Blessing Inside-out

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I concluded last week’s devotional with this verse.

 

This is how we know love: Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:16)

 

In theological circles they have a term to describe this type of living. They call it cruciform (a life formed by the cross of Christ). It is a concept I use regularly as a filter to assess my thoughts and actions.

 

The other day I was praying through the Priestly Blessing in Numbers 6:24-26.

 

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. 

The Lord lift up his face to you and grant you peace. 

 

I realized that this blessing wasn’t to stop with the first recipient, but in turn be re-appropriated as an outflow of being blessed. This is a covenantal blessing that can be extended to include others in the covenant with God through a life lived sacrificially. 

 

I will try to unpack this passage to illustrate what I mean in a concise manner. 

 

The Lord bless you and keep you. 

The word bless has two meanings that create a word picture. It means to kneel and to speak well of. The way I see it is when we humble ourselves before the Lord he is then able to speak well of us and extend his covering of keeping grace over us. In turning this blessing inside-out we see that by submitting our lives to King Jesus we are better equipped to not only bless others but to extend keeping grace to our brothers and sister.

 

The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. 

I see this passage as subsequent to the first. The Lord rejoices over those he has blessed and makes himself available with mercy, grace, and help in times of trouble. When the joy of the Lord is our strength, we are more inclined to be gracious.

  

The Lord lift up his face to you and grant you peace.
The Lord longs for us to know him face to face, and it is in this close relationship that we find peace. In the Hebrew mindset, peace (shalom) is the highest form of blessing known to man. Jesus intends that through our earthly relationships we would make known him who is the source of our peace, and how he can be that source to them as well.

 

I pray that we find the grace to turn this blessing inside-out, to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your mind, and with all your strength …[and to] love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31)

 

Grace and peace,

Brook

 

On Dying Daily

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 Last week I shared on finding joy through expressing gratitude. This is completely backwards to our way of thinking. We usually give thanks for the things that make us happy. This happiness/joy experience is generally viewed as magical or serendipitous. Something we have no control over. My point in sharing this last week was two-fold. The first is that we are responsible for our own joy. The second is that genuine joy brings glory to God. 

 

What does this have to do with dying daily? 

 

Well, since I posted this last week, I have been personally challenged to be more grateful. And, through the testing I’ve learned that in choosing gratitude I needed to let go of something within, usually pride, in order to focus on someone else (spouse, child, co-worker, God). When Jesus calls us to be his disciple he is calling us to embrace the cross. Jesus died our death and rose to life that we might die his death and rise to life in him. 

 

As I opened my iPhone Bible reading app this morning, I was greeted with this Verse of the Day:

 

This is how we know love: Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:16)

 

My prayer for us (myself included) is that we will continue learning to love one another as Jesus loves us. 

 

Grace and peace,

Brook

A Journey into Joy

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Autumn shared a quote with me the other day from a book she is reading, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp. “While I may not always feel joy, God asks me to give thanks in all things, because He knows that the feeling of joy begins in the action of thanksgiving.” (p.176) 

 

This is timely for me, since lately I’ve been meditating on two passages of Scripture.

 

Philippians 2:13-16a

“God is the one who enables you both to want and to actually live out his good purposes. Do everything without grumbling and arguing so that you may be blameless and pure, innocent children of God surrounded by people who are crooked and corrupt. Among these people you shine like stars in the world because you hold on to the word of life.”


1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 

 

Even though those passages seem unattainable at times. It is a great reminder for me to take a step back and let gratitude lead me to joy.  

 

Grace and peace,

Brook

 

Jesus as Add-on

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“Adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus:

Though he was in the form of God, he did not consider being equal with God something to exploit.” Philippians 2:5-6

 

A few days ago I was reading Philippians 2 and the passage above correlated to something Pastor Stuart from Valley Life Center has been saying, “Jesus is not an add-on.” I will keep this short. If we live our lives as if Jesus were an add-on, then we make ourselves out to be greater than God. Jesus then becomes little more than a talisman of good luck on our pursuit of American Christian Spirituality. If Jesus didn’t do it, what makes us think we can? 

 

I’m glad for the opportunity to go to Family Camp this weekend and spend a little uncluttered time with God, family, and friends. My prayer is that God will show me where I’ve bought into the notion that “a little Jesus goes a long way” and in response lay my life before Jesus who is the only way.

 

Thanks for listening to my rant. 

 

Grace and peace,

Brook

 

Unexpected Destinations: Faithful Obedience through Uncharted Waters

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“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”  Ephesians 3:20-21, NIV

 

As most of you know, Autumn and I, along with our children, organize the Kids’ Club for our Tuesday Night Community Classes here at VLC. It has been on Autumn’s heart in increasing measure to reach a greater number of children in our neighborhood. We have also been encouraged by others to pursue this direction. To that end, we decided to run what we’re calling a Sports Clinic during Kids Club. The results outpaced our expectations. We had nearly 30 kids from the neighborhood last Tuesday (April 24). Blessed mayhem!

 

I refuse to analyze this for the purpose of divining a formula of success. All I know is that we were obedient in this new direction as we continued faithfully to serve our community, providing a Kids Club for our Tuesday Night Classes. The following is God’s grace, which leads us to praise. We are excited to see where we will end up. I do know this, though, we are making connections and building bridges into our community for the gospel of God’s kingdom. Any who wish to are free to join us. 

 

Grace and peace,

Brook