Do you know a people pleaser? Someone who isn’t happy unless everyone else is happy with them? Someone who just CAN’T be at peace if someone is mad at them or snubs them or is critical?

Yeah. We all do.

Life is difficult for people like that. For reasons too deep and varied to explore here, people pleasers have given others tremendous power to affect their well being and peace. It’s a dangerous game to play because, as we’ve all experienced, you can’t please everyone.

Our staff met this morning for some devotional time and we opened up to Galatians 2 and read some interesting stuff about the Apostle Peter. If you’re not familiar with ol’ Petey, he was the loudmouth of the 12 apostles. You’ve heard the phrase “Open mouth, insert foot?” With Peter it was more like “Open mouth, insert Buick.” Peter has several entries in the list of “Most Embarrassing Moments in the Bible.” The kind of stuff borne of insecurity and a need to be accepted.

But that’s all before Jesus restores him. It’s right there in the gospels: Peter, having denied Him three times, is eye to eye with Jesus. And it’s obvious that Jesus really loves him. And it’s obvious that Peter has a HUGE part to play in the story. And it’s obvious that all is forgiven.

One might think that after Jesus identifies Petere as the rock upon which He will build His church, he might struggle less with insecurity. Need the approval of others less. But one would be wrong.

Check out what’s-a-happening in Galatians 2:

11 But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. 12 When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile Christians, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. 13 As a result, other Jewish Christians followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

Peter understands grace and knows full well that we are not saved by our works. He is free and feels free to hang out with and share table fellowship with Gentile Christians (converts who did not keep to the old Jewish codes). But when some Jewish friends came to visit, Peter kicked his new buddies to the curb for fear that he would be judged.

Peter, it seems, still struggles. Even after a moment of affirmation that would turn Rick Moranis into William Wallace, Peter is still a people pleaser. And maybe, so are you. It doesn’t have to be your defining characteristic to affect you. We all have streaks of this running deep under the surface.

And you know what fixes it? Finding your identity in Christ. Letting your ‘OK-ness’ come not from the approval of others, but from the approval of God. And this approval – this right standing with God, as Paul goes on to explain (go ahead! Read the rest of Galatians 2!) is given freely. Not because of what we’ve done, but because of what Jesus has done for us.

Today, let’s remember that God’s grace is given – not earned. The only one we have to please – is Him.

I recall an instance from several years ago while Jen and I were still living in our first home. I was in my kitchen and I heard a loud ‘bang’ followed by what appeared to be flashes of light seen through the front window. It was daytime so I knew it had to be a significant light source.

I walked out of my house and saw a full size tractor-trailor about 4 doors down from me. The roof of the container had snagged an electrical wire which had snapped and now lay beneath the truck, sparking on the wet ground and sending out some serious noise and light. I was the first person on the scene. The driver looked terrified. Like, this was maybe the most scared human being I had ever seen. He warned me to stay clear and to go call 911. Which I did with all due haste.

The downed line quit arcing after a few minutes and the fire trucks were on the site even before then. All ended well. But I learned a pretty powerful lesson that day about how powerful electricity is.

Right now there are a LOT of people on Long Island without it, thanks to Hurricane Irene. I went for a long walk through my neighborhood two nights ago and heard dozens of generators. Those without power are learning first hand how important it is to stay plugged in. How our lives are immediately affected and radically changed without power.

It’s like that for your soul too. You need to stay plugged in. Connected to your source. You don’t much think about the electricity in those sockets until your appliances stop working. And most people don’t think much about being disconnected from God until they find themselves in crisis.

There’s some irony in this analogy. Those without electricity find themselves spending a lot of time in stillness, which is very conducive to connecting to God. Those with electricity are constantly fighting the battle of noise and busyness and have a harder time plugging in to the more important power source.

So where are you on the spectrum? Are you grateful for the electricity now powering that computer you’re using? That’s good. Gratitude is a huge part of this equation. But maybe while so many others are praying for the juice to start flowing again, it might be a good idea for us to unplug from the craziness of our lives and sit still with Him for a while.

Food for thought.

“Be still, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world.” Psalm 46:10

So we at True North are all pretty bummed about not being able to have church tomorrow. We had Pastor Dan O’Leary of Arise Community Church in the hopper to bring the message and I’m pretty disappointed about not being able to hear him.

Maybe you’re feeling some of the same, or maybe (to be honest) you’re a little relieved and are looking forward to a long Sunday in your pajamas. Rock on. I totally understand.

Here’s a couple of ideas for keeping the sabbath holy right in your own living room. Call it a “Do it yourself” church kit. Maybe it’ll serve as a little reminder that ‘church’ isn’t a building. It’s people. You don’t need a brick and mortar facility to connect with God. All you need to do is talk to Him!

You don’t really NEED any help with any of this. I’m sure you’re smart enough to figure out how to honor God with your time tomorrow. But just in case you’re looking for a couple of ideas for your family, here’s a couple of resources that might help you re-create a little ‘True North’ in your home:




You can download some great worship music from our band here:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/volume-one/id274921986

Watch a message that you missed or just listen to one:

http://www.ustream.tv/user/truenorthcc/videos?page=1

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/true-north-community-church/id81600961

And honor God with your finances and give your offering right here:
http://www.truenorthchurch.net/give

** This is one of those Sundays when we really appreciate your generosity as True North is primarily funded by the offerings we receive on Sundays.


Close your service by praying for those who may have been displaced by the storm and ask God to watch over the police officers, firemen, EMT’s and hospital workers who are serving others during this crisis.




And you can do the whole thing in your pajamas!! Pretty cool, no?

Hope you have a great sabbath day. Be safe, and enjoy the time with your family.

See you soon.

Bert

Thanks so much!! May the Lord bless you and keep you safe.

Gang, saw this article from CNN earlier today and thought it was really worth sharing. Enjoy.

“Bitterness is a nasty solvent that erodes every good thing,” an Emory associate professor of psychiatry told CNN.

(CNN) — Kevin Benton had every reason to feel bitter.

During his sophomore year in college, he says, white students harassed him and the only other African-American living on the floor in his dorm in order to get them to move out.

The white students spat on their doors, tore their posters off the wall, and banged on their door at four in the morning. When Benton brought up the problems at a dorm meeting, the other students snickered.

“I felt like I was being bullied, being targeted,” he says now of his college experience 19 years ago. “I knew I couldn’t retaliate in any way or I’d lose my basketball scholarship.”

This was the first time in his life Benton had encountered racism and it hit him hard. He had trouble sleeping, and then over the next several months he suffered panic attacks. Admitted to the hospital, he was found to have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or thickening of the muscles in the heart. The disease is the leading cause of heart-related sudden death in people under 30.

So sick he couldn’t walk, Benton lay in his hospital bed bitter and resentful.

“I thought to myself, ‘I’ve never hurt anybody. I serve in the community. I work with youth. I wrestled with God — why did this happen to me?’” he remembers.

Read More…