Good Question

The last post generated a great question that led me to some thinking and questioning... "Hey Rick... stopped by and saw this. I get where you are coming from, you made clear points about how to not go about "choosing" a church to attend. But how should we go about choosing a church to attend. No matter which one we attend, you are actually attend ONE church. That aside though, how should we go about choosing our "home base" if you will? I am asking not because I have a preset thought of this, I haven't really thought much about it at all and this blog got me thinking. So what are your thoughts?"

First, let me say that I wrote the last blog with the thought of how we currently attend a gathering of believers, I never really thought of the individual looking for a church. This has led me to these positions. First is this...Romans: 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
I see the first issue is the attitude we come into a relationship with the body with. On the micro (single believer) or macro (Larger body) we need to come into a relationship with humility, attitude of service, and grace. We cannot come to a person and expect them to meet our needs and evaluate if we will love them because they are funny or smart and on that outcome decide if we will enter into a brotherly relationship with them. So with a larger body we cannot be measuring it's performance and then concluding if it works for me. We often times evaluate with subjective measures that we value, not substantive measures like how many people are involved in ministry here. So what do we do? We attach ourselves as a limb to the body. Humility asks us to submit to the Theology and Practices of that church. The way the bible is taught is HUGE and how it is interpreted in the actions of the congregation and how they serve in their community is HUGE! If it is a charismatic church and you don't believe in the spiritual gifts, don't fight to change them, just because you like the people and the worship... find a Theological/ Philosophy of ministry fit (that said if God is asking you to stretch and learn and go to a place a bit different than you are used to- Shut up, Submit, learn and go with the vision). The bulletin tells the story, they want you to know what to do, so what is important to them will show up.

Second we go to church and ask the Lord what can I do here? Do they need help in setting chairs? Need help feeding the poor cleaning the Nursery? We need to use "sober judgment" about ourselves. We at our best think a little more of ourselves than we should. We often time come and say, but I can teach or lead worship that's my gift and I want to serve there, instead of waiting for the process and the affirmation from the body which confirms your call, beyond a "vetting" so to speak but an establishment of trust and bridge of relationship. It may very well be so, that you are gifted BUT to do those tasks you must first show yourself faithful there in the current church. We are all called to serve and it reveals your character; calling and character trump gifting every time!

Lastly - you must love and serve the people. Churches are made up of people and if you don't love them... well you won't really love the church. People are people and they will make mistakes. Can you give room for grace, and growth at the expense of your pain? Can you live with messy spirituality? Churches have a lot of great talkers and needs a lot of radical forgiver's. People that will boldly live out radical grace and radical forgiveness. Remember this too; you cannot be loyal to the church because they let you express your gifts. You use your gifts to serve those you love to impact a community with the Kingdom of God. I have heard people say that God has called them to a church; well if that is so then only God can call you away... NOT the failings of a program, Pastor, or person. If you are called out of a church... then, God, WILL call you into something else, not call you into limbo or church on your terms. It may take a bit of a process on your part to die to some of the things that may be toxic. In my experience, I had to stay away from church for a bit because my heart condition was not right and I would have hurt people in a body. Looking into my own heart was a great place for me to start.

He has a body, yes a huge global, a smaller congregation, and an even smaller group of people to do life with. He loves his bride deeply, and is preparing her, and in time will come for her. Church is NOT just you, for you, or operating on your own terms and expectations.

So happy hunting, and if you find the perfect church, well enter with a sacred, solemn care- you may very well be the one to ruin it!

Shalom

American Bandstand, American Idol, or American Idolatry?

American Bandstand was a great show to watch when I was a kid. If was the cool kids dancing around then they would come up and tell you what made the song cool. It had a good beat, you cold dance to it... I give it a 91! Well that's the music business and pleasing the consumer is what it's all about. American Idol has taken the evaluation of talent to a whole other level. It seems like people love to watch the auditions to see who can make the biggest fool out of themselves, and if that wasn't enough... to hear the pearls of encouragement come from no other than Simon Cowell! Now the fun begins to see contestants cry as their efforts get ripped to shreds for the sake of entertainment and a chance at a record contract. Now granted there are people who lack talent and have absolutely no business being there... sure, they asked for it. Yes I fully understand that they are putting themselves out there and taking a risk and that involves criticism, I mean after all it's TV right. You sign a contract and you get you fifteen minutes of fame.

Unfortunately we have no bounds when it comes to church. I have heard the innocent comments like bandstand... "It’s got good worship, stuff for my kids"... it's a 92; to the Simon Cowell level of... "The spirit is not here" or "I am not fed". As if it was just about the ministry I am involved with, no, this is being said about the house church movement, the emergent/ emerging movement, the mega-church, anything that your can think to have an opinion on, the gathering is never good enough. No. This is not going where you think! I believe in constructive feedback, no group or gathering of people is perfect and people need to speak out in constructive and clear ways to communicate the issues of heart and practice... I agree and invite that. Furthermore am in a great place of dialogue and interaction with people so this is not a rant, more like a narrated observation overheard in coffee shops and market lines. That being said my question is this. When did we become Simon Cowell judging an entity established by God? Why would I want to be that person? Worship was great this week but the message was a little off, last week the message was OK but the announcements... oh, too long, thereby quenching the Holy Spirit and releasing the spirit of entertainment. Really... is that what happens?

Did you ever notice Simon says, but never sings? He is like the trainer who never works out but knows how to get you in shape. I wonder how it would be different if those who weren't fed were feeding? Those who wanted deeper worship, simply worshipped? Maybe, John Wimber was right the meat is in the streets. Perhaps we should mind our attitudes and garden our hearts and look beyond the surface with some good questions, like.

If God is ever present, why am I not seeing what He is doing?

If God's word promises to not be void... why is it empty to me?

Why do I need to be right, better or know more than this other person?

It just seems that in our criticism we show the true problem, our insecurity, and lack of love and comittment.
Sure, Simon is often right, Paula just glosses over the truth and Randy, well, he's just cool... that's entertainment.
We are a people of love, hope and grace. Our world needs to see it radically lived out; that's transformation.

Shalom

Interesting Quote

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.

Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."

Calvin Coolidge

Indulgences...

I remember being in high school history and learning about the Roman Catholic indulgences, the practice of priests forgiving sins for money, or favors, and usually wealthy people thinking they are getting out of some punishment in purgatory or Hell. This practice was so offensive that it was one of the core reforms of the Protestant reformation. While today after five hundred or so years we look back and think of what a corrupt practice that was, yet we unknowingly practice our sort of private indulgence today. Think about it... what do you do to gain God's favor? I know we think we don't BUT how do we live and how do our words and actions line up to what we say, think, and do. Often times our actions betray us. For example... why do you serve or volunteer? Why do you read your bible? Because you have to? Because there is some horrible consequence that awaits you? A wrath too much to bear. That is a great system under law, but it is not the heart of Jesus. If you study the word origins of the words in Greek & Hebrew the words for wrath both have roots in the words for passion not punishment. God's passion is focused onto the death agent, sin... and He kills off all that brings us death. So if God's wrath is based in love why do we live a life based on the fear of how God will punish us instead of living in the peace of relationship with Him. When we know Jesus there is a promise that there is no condemnation and no punishment for those found in Him.

When we see the wonder of God, the mystery of His love lavished on us, we cannot resist but want to be with Jesus. In this enchanted relationship we find ourselves consumed by Him and His things. How can we resist but be in this wonder - embraced in an eternal dance with the author and giver of life present and forever. The true indulgence is Jesus. He is the source of our motive to serve, to love, and to give - to move in a community and see what the father is doing - and responding in love not obligation or fear of condemnation.

Shalom

Forgive & Forget

When you here the words forgive the words are so much more loaded than we are ready to accept. Is the heart of forgiveness to really forget? I see that as the easy out… instead you should probably say I just don’t care about you just let me move on. Here’s why.

Forgetting is dismissing the events or issues that led to a hurt, offense or misunderstanding. I would see the bulk of scripture speaking and showing us this… Forgive and remember in love and grace! Yes they may hurt you AGAIN! Turn the other cheek, you can’t offer the other cheek if you forget the other was struck. Yes, this is a challenge and begs the question, how many times are you supposed to forgive??? Seventy TIMES seven was the answer I remember!

It’s easy to get mad and just hang on to our definition of justice backed up by our hurt and how right we are in our position. It makes perfect sense till we see the lack of growth in people’s lives, and the same cycles of sin in our lives never going away. You see we are intended to be Kingdom people walking together with people through their junk AND our junk too. Where two or more are gathered- God is in their midst. In His presence power and healing are there. Forgiving brings us to proximity in relationships- it gets us to the table. Walking through our lives together brings unity by involving trust, humility and love. So I choose not to forget, but to heal. To offer the cheek again to radically love, make things right, and bring about restoration.

Shalom

Interesting quote

THE BONHOEFFER QUOTE:
“The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community - even if their intentions are ever so earnest - but the person who loves those around them will create community.”

Three Days, Three Kings, a river and Becoming Human

On my retreat I was reminded of how much I need the rhythm of my life to be in a cycle of renewal. I used to ride a Mt. bike for seven miles, hike or something everyday to have a steady time of solitude. But when a year of your life requires you to be cared for… getting out to renew is challenging. So I spent my time with God guided by a Vineyard Pastor who’s PhD is in spiritual formation. I practiced some early church prayer and study rituals, journaled, read two short books, and sat alone for a long time and listened as the presence of God filled my soul.

There is a book – A Tale of Three Kings - a study in brokenness.
This is a fictional narrative based on Saul, David, and Absalom. Far too many insights to really list but here’s a few that I can share now…
- God uses the struggles I face to kill the Saul in me. Saul was mad and threw spears at David in his throne room. David killed and committed very sinful acts and yet the difference - David repented, died to sin. and sought his God’s heart.
- How hard must it have been to follow a warrior leading as he cried and sobbed. More frustrating, this, at every opportunity would walk away from killing Saul who was hunting David to kill. He didn’t look like much of a warrior more like a wimpy crybaby. Yet, eventually, he would lead God’s nation.

The River of Mercy… two days on the Merced. The river’s name means mercy in Spanish and there is a cleansing that flows through my soul as I sit by the shores and hear the voice of God. I hear mercy. As I sat I just listened… thought of where I am and am grateful for all I have been given. I got some answers. I know I am loved and I know that I am called to serve Him and I know that the calling to minister, reach, and see the Spirit change lives is more alive now.

Becoming Human… another book about the way God uses trial and struggle to forge our heart and character. Making us more as we were intended to be - dependent on Jesus, independent of life’s situation.

I see this as a beginning to the cycle of life that has evaded me since before my accident, just as this church plant began, a rhythm of renewal, I hope you will take my experiences to heart and find rest for your soul.

Shalom

It's a gift...

Today was a day of moments. I went to Stanford Medical Center to undergo a nerve transfer from my Latisimuss Dorsi to my deltoid muscle in my shoulder. It is a very complex surgery... I begins with the harvesting of the nerve from you leg to extend the nerve from your back to your shoulder then taking the healthy nerve and plugging it in to the shoulder (deltiod) muscle. So as I am going under I say to the doctors, that I have been praying for an elegant and effective healing. So I wake up and I notice a pain in my arm, not my back. The Dr. went into the old harvest sight and found healthy nerves were there were compromised nerves before, so, she took one, plugged it into my shoulder and I was out of surgery in an hour. The Dr. said that she didn't know how the nerves were good now, maybe I was too cold before, certainly a gift. I just think God is elegant and I love him for it a gift from His hand is good, really good.

a year...

Hi all,
Today is a rather contemplative day for me. It was exactly a year ago that I was in the accident, and what a year it's been! The same moment that profoundly changed me physically has also led to profound changes in my inner world. The day started with this question... What am I most grateful for? I would say the focus of life now, I have a very keen sense of what is important and what is not, what matters and what really shouldn't have the place of significance in my life. I am thankful for another year to spend with my wife and daughter and what a precious gift that is. I have a very good friend who tells me -"Rick, you're playing with the house's money" and I am.

The next thoughts came as reflections over the year the faces and the moments of the recovery. The months of babysitters, rides and meals as people helped me cope and recover. Putting up with all the issues of medication and recovery. Then I just got better day by day... I do see now love is the best medicine.

Then I looked over my journal and asked myself what have I learned? I've learned a lot.
God does work all things out for good... His good, not yours or mine or our opinions, interpretations or expectations of what good is.
Miracles still happen!
I hate hospitals.
To love and forgive more deeply.
He is sovereign, and answers us and "no" is an answer.
That there is a lot of really bad teaching on suffering, and we as the people of God need to learn how to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice, regardless of our situation.
I hate hospitals.
There are some really great cooks at church.
God uses people to love lavishly!
People use the term "I understand what you're going through" way too much- I pray you never come close to understanding what I've been through.
I really hate hospitals.

So where am I now???
At the most delicate place in the recovery process... The head of my femur has the center of it dead so every step at first was a risk of collapsing that bone, now every hard step or staircase is a big risk. My shoulder also risks injury with however long it takes to reconnect a nerve or get a nerve signal it takes that same amount of time to restore it's strength; as well as the risk of damaging the previous repairs due to the lack of muscle support. So everyday has it's risk & adventure. So I choose to trust God, take Him at His word and know that He has been and will be faithful.

Which leads me to the point... Appearances can be so deceptive. Things can look so nice on the outside yet be so turbulent beneath the surface... so undone. That' why I have come to appreciate grace, the patience and love to see the undone- redone. The beautiful song of one so forgiven is worth the shouts of condemnation, the song of the forgiven; freedom, thanksgiving and praise. It is the beauty of easter, that we, all of us, in whatever state of the process of being re-done can sing the song of redemption. In my observation the verse of that song is the story of what God has rescued us from, and the chorus is the story of His unfailing love and faithfulness.

Isaiah 52:8-10 8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes.
9 Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

Big hand

There was a televised interview with Jane Roe – of the famous Roe-v-Wade abortion case. During the interview, she shared that she had become a believer in Jesus Christ. As she told her story, you could hear how her heart had been softened and she’d become a warm, caring, loving individual.

It dawned on me that one person who showed love and attention and shared the Good News with her – one loving relationship – in Jane Roe’s life did what all the protests in the world had failed to do and that was to change her mind.

You don’t change people by protests. You change them by love. Society is changed one life at a time. God has put specific people in your life that he expects you to share the Good News with. You’re the only Christian some people know.

If you don’t share the Good News, who will?

God will hold us responsible for the lives of the people he has put in our path to tell the Good News. Not just family, friends, and relatives, but all the people we come into contact with.

That might scare some of you. "The Holy Sprit doesn’t want you to be afraid of people but to be wise and strong and to love them and enjoy being with them. If you will stir up this inner power, you will never be afraid to tell others about our Lord.” That Living Bible paraphrase says the antidote to fear is love. The reason we don’t share the Good News is that we don’t love people enough to want to get them into Heaven. If they loved them enough, they'd want to tell them the Good News.

If my kid were in a burning building, I wouldn’t care how big the flames were – I'd go in after her. I wouldn’t care if I got hurt. I wouldn’t care if other people said I was crazy. I'd still go in! I’d grab my child and bring him out. I may be singed and burned. Then people would say, "You were brave!” No, I wasn’t brave or courageous or crazy. I was motivated by love.

Jump in...

I read today that Sir Edmund Hillary died, the first man ever to ascend Everest. I often think of the rigors he went through and the focus he had to accomplish such a feat. I respect the sustained effort it must have taken a laser like focus, he was all in. I sense this stirring in my soul, this need for a focus on discipleship. So many of the things that we criticize the church for has nothing to do with the faults of the church it has to do with people. People that are immature and not grasping the depth of scripture and the responsibility of every believer to grow, not be grown by a program or system but by the Spirit and Word of God. There are people who know way more than they can ever apply, yet they will grow in application as they teach and disciple others. Sustainable and healthy growth happens person-by-person, life on life, not system-by-system. We need a death to a consumer mindset that says what church does is give to me while the biblical model says what can you give to the bride, how do you function in a body, or how do I serve a Kingdom. Not a whole lot of what I want in there but there is some much that changes in me when I go there giving and serving. I think this is the appropriate response for a King.

If I had the nerve...

When the cause is worth believing in the world will come to on its feet to its knees. There is a cause worth living for. People die for some of the dumbest reasons but they will live for only the most impact-ful. There is a profound problem with the understanding of God and what we hear and understand. It is like the brain sending a signal and the muscle is anxiously waiting for the signal but the nerve is disconnected and the signal never comes. The brain grows impatient at the lack of response and the muscle atrophies due to the lack of stimulation.

So we find ourselves today those of us that believe in the love of God for man. We are so frustrated at the lack of response, yet we know the message has been sent loud and clear, repeatedly. The humbling confession is really this… I am the nerve, the conduit of the message. The nerves of the body when broken will grow and try to find it’s way to re-connect with the rest of the nerve, because the signal will be sent. I need to find a way to connect with the fragments of people in my culture to re-connect them with the signal of the God that loves them. The hope that lies with in them will die if the signal is not sent, if the message never gets through. I just can’t let up, finding a way to get the message out to the ones that need to hear and move. Because once that muscle moves the recovery can begin.

hardback or hard look

I was just wanting to buy a book, not intending to make any statements or seek any answers to the mysteries of modern capitalism but it seems as though destiny had it’s way… I simply went in to a bookstore to find a book by a popular Christian philosopher. It seemed like minutes but after an hour of being lost in all those titles I wanted to walk out with about ten books. Then my loyalty took over and I went to the Christian bookstore about a half a mile away and l couldn’t find the book. They didn’t know the author since he wasn’t a pop-culture icon, and they could get the book in five days. So I ended up using the bathroom. Re-affirmed in the fact of my disdain for the “Christian culture” and my own conviction of the contributions I make to the problem.

The problem isn’t that a chain bookstore has a greater selection of the deeper and more intellectual works of Christendom than the local Christian bookstore, it’s that as a pastor I have contributed to the consumer appetite that says; fresh and easy is better to read than deep and heart wrenching. Too many programs that say, “if you attend you are a disciple”, and too many distractions to keep us from hearing what God has to say to us. All of those spiritually mature people that I speak to are looking for something more, more meaty. John Wimber said it best, “the meat is in the street”. Disciples are those that are like their master, to do in imitation what our master did, is a sign of spiritual maturity, do it enough and the master’s practice’s become your own. What did the master do? He prayed, read scripture, walked with people, invested in them, healed the sick, loved the outcast, touched the untouchable, and taught about God’s relentless pursuit for the hearts of men and women.

So I guess worse than the lack of books in a Christian bookstore maybe the greater sin was to ignore the others in the chain bookstore who where seeing the very rare occurrence of someone actually walking into the religion section. I confess, I was lost in my little world of intellectualism, not even bringing up the titles to the Buddhist, or the atheist who works there and is paid to discuss these books with me (talk about a captive audience)! So my soapbox crumbles… I have no place to stand other than these two things: first, I’ll buy online, second, when I do go back to the bookstore, I’ll ask for a divine appointment and look to see what the Father is doing. Then use the bathroom.

Community, an interesting thought really because this side of eternity there is no real hard fact model of true community… we are a broken people living in a broken state. I even think Christ himself did not see true community here on earth; the only honest community Jesus knew was really his relationship with the Father and the Spirit. The three in one so in love with one another that they are lost into one. Yet these beings exist with a person all their own yet so deeply in love and so known by one another that thought and action are known and understood and felt in depth and understanding. I see community as an unattainable in fullness while we are here on earth. Or is it…

The divine invitation is extended to us all by this being of love, come and dance. Yes, dance… dance with the One who loves you and is inviting you to love so deeply that you to re lost in love. So lost you lose yourself in the vortex of the spin, and all that doesn’t matter spins off; leaving behind what is pure.

I want to get lost in that intimacy. To be known so deeply that I know my very thought is heard and known. The slightest doubt or emotion is so understood that it does not get misunderstood but is put in its proper place in our relationship.

That is possible here, because God is here. Maybe then since God is here and God is in me there can be a glimpse of community on earth. Perhaps… perhaps we just need to act that way and let relationship flow. Let it flow.

Ebb

I often wonder when the day becomes night the exact moment from one to the other. The difficulty lies in identifying the when. Is it mostly light so still day? I don’t know. Is there a moment of absolute in transition? It gets even more confusing observing the waves coming into shore; yes, there is a definite line but it always moves. Each wave brings its new boundary at the edge of its reach, only to pass the line to next wave to surpass or fall short. Is there really an absolute line if it’s there for a moment? Things come, things go and more than just making them true, it makes things, moments, and people precious.

I think we have an awkward time with the fact that things are not always steady and stable. Some things by definition must be fluid and I wonder if even the most hardened things, like concrete aren’t fluid at one time. I wonder if my pre-suppositions, my projected expectations are not the source of my confusion? I think maybe my thoughts are too "either / or". When in truth the things I ponder are "this /and". For instance a Loving/Just God. At some point Justice will see something as wrong and say so. Is it loving to say something is wrong- even if it hurts and the person your telling doesn’t see it? Does a loving parent love a child by punishing the child? Is it beautiful to see the hand of God move in compassion though it takes a painful or tragic experience to bring out that opportunity?

Both/and, that answers it for now. Life is much more both and than we will ever know.
Shalom...

Shallows and Deep

We all live through the cycles, the ebb and flow of our spiritual passions. We long and crave for meaning and substance but he truth of the matter is that we are a people that get distracted, too distracted. Life is heavy, and unrelenting in it’s day to day weight. I think it is the day to day that indeed does muddy the water and indeed puts us in our place a place of turbulence. We find no peace in the hectic driving pace of the day to day.

Life is like a river, and in it’s shallows you find the turbulence and the struggle of water crashing into rock. When my life is in the shallows is also when it seems to crash into the rest of the obstacles set before it. Yet in the deep there is room to move, even if you hit you can swirl around and have space to recover.

Our faith grows in the deep, it has room to move and swirl in the space. On the other hand faith is strengthened in the shallows the testing of what is true and what stays together. So the turbulence though in our weakness distracting is the source for affirmation; the furnace of life. Truth be told we need both one let’s us know of possibility the other let’s us know it’s real. Our problem is- we miss the point and settle for being distracted!

When's it enough?

When’s enough? When is it just too much? When can you say it’s just enough? When can you just let up? SO many things are crying for our attention - from the trendy crisis in Africa to the homelessness in your own town. So what do you choose? What do you do? The rumbling in your heart quickens and the tired ache of your body screams. Maybe we are asking all the wrong questions and coming from a place that will always leave us weary. More times than not we ask the question “What do I need to do?” When I ask for what “I need” I ask from a place of need, want and selfishness, not a place of health. The question should be “What does God want me to do?” The answer can only come from an all knowing, whole, and healed source. I ask God. Then, when I ask God, I can’t seem to explain my perspective clearly so instead I wander into excuses to describe my heart condition, then in time I get… what were you made to do?

The flood of trite answers like glorify you God and share You with the world Lord, wear thin as time reveals the content of my heart, which just wants to escape the light of truth. A truth that simply says I am to do and be what His hand has created me to be and nothing else. A simple answer at first yet the consequences are profound for I must now know Him who created me and seek His counsel on what I am to be. And yes we all try to ask in prayer, but do we seek… relentlessly? Do we seek our fulfillment like we seek our pleasure or our
comfort? The answer is often no and our struggles with the greater scheme of life often is left behind in a commercial break on Gray’s Anatomy. Yet the questions of purpose still come up in the most vulnerable times to read your heart and once again stir up the question… what are you going to do?

If you will spend the time and courage it takes to sit in stillness and see what God has put in you. I think you’ll find a wondrous light, or lens to see all of life through so that you can make sense of it all. I won’t be a part of saving the whole world and making a difference in the lives of every human on this planet- but I will change a few. Maybe I will not solve all the world’s problems but yet the gifts I have and the passion I have fit in this set of needs and I can make a difference there. I will make a difference there.

If asking what I am leads me to know who I am then what I do serves the person I am created to be. I can move and serve within the parameters of where I fit and the issues I understand and the people that also resonate with the same issues I do. Interesting how when we ask for answers from the source of truth and health we get answers that fit who we are. So now I pray for the late night commercial with Sally Struthers and the needy children but I know my calling, I know God will provide for them as He has provided for me. I also openly enjoy the fact that we are all a choir, singing our part as loud as we can to win over those with our calling and yet walk in harmony with those who have different parts or causes in the song to fulfill what God has asked us to do in this lifetime.

The Journey Home

The journey home is always a whirlpool of emotion really. The sense of home yet the struggle or tension to get there. A sense of rest and peace and yet a knowledge of the work that needs to be done. The comfort of the familiar but the apathy that can be found in a place that doesn't challenge us. So the tension creates itself with the themes and thoughts that come from this place we live in go back to and many instances long for.

The question is what is home, for some a place of rest and sanctuary in the familiar, for others home is the place you sleep in. The issue is never home the issue is what do you long for? Do you long for peace? If so... is it home that will provide that? Is home a place that gives that to you? More often than not home is a level of stress and chaos that we are wiling to live with and in that context we are calling it peaceful. The truth of the quest for peace is what is inside you soul? Can you close your eyes, silence the noise and exhale, finding stillness, comfort and quiet in the midst of a day. I see this comfort like putting on your favorite sweater, warm and true over time. Home is where my favorite chair is, where I rest and CAN close my eyes and slow life down.

The dependence of location for peace and rest really leads us to a dependence on external forces we can't control. What if you kids have their friends over, house is mess or a pipe breaks? You see there are too many outside forces, too many variables to really count on. Yet when peace is a gift in the soul, a refuge in the dance where we dance with our maker we find ourselves at peace.

So dance, engage and see Him as the quiet invitation to come and release all to Him.

Prohetic Irony

The previous article I wrote just before a motorcycle accident that has left a huge impact. I didn't know or anticipate any problems on a seemingly uneventful ride. Yet so much more lies under the surface. After a partially crushed foot, compound fracture to the femur, and a dislocated shoulder and two weeks four days and nineteen hours in a hospital and the rest of that time on a couch or a wheelchair well I've had a lot of time to think and listen. Pain and suffering, the handmaidens of deepening character change it seems. Asking why me really doesn't really address the why. It only addresses the lack of character in you heart. The why is found in asking... how will you glorify yourself in this God?

So much of what we think is really short of the fullness of what God wants. There is the promise of God working things out for good for those who are called according to His purpose. I think the question is are we willing to see the fullness of His good break into this present situation. Is it enough to live through an accident or is it the stories told by the people involved saying, how can this be... only God could have spared this life! Perhaps the miracle is in the relationships in the emergency room that tell the tale of the moving of the hand of God to speed a recovery? Maybe it's the tension built in the conversation about amputation and the body is The Body praying for God to move in healing and He does, while the E.R. is wondering and smiling at the wonder of that movement. When there is a disruption of our world, our minds, hearts and lives just get offended. God often offends our hearts, minds and lives to get our souls bare and malleable to His movement and His will, to make us more like Him.

There lies an uncharted country, the realm of brokenness and vulnerable availability that is the realm of super natural impact. That realm is the realm we need to be in. And the concurrent awareness of the hand of God moving thought he situation to fully reveal himself to mankind. So when our world is shaken will you look for the outcomes of the hand moving through the hearts and minds of the people surrounding you? As the issues of your soul and the ache of your heart are brought into a place of light and familiarity can we let God’s gentleness and kindness move us to deeper repentance and grace.

P.S. Read the previous post for the full sense of irony!

Electricity

There comes the clouds, then the flash and the crack of sound the jolts your core, left in wonder and shock, the toxic combination arises in you, how close was that and I hope it doesn't hit me, yet, all the while you crave to see it again! As intoxicating as the moment is caught in the beauty of power and disturbed by the power that can kill we always sit, in awe and wonder. It’s the uncontrollable, the un-manageable, maybe not wild but certainly “bigger than who I am”, that we are in awe of. There is and has always been and surely always be a super natural engagement with things only God can do or control. There’s the intoxicating tension, can God do, and will he?

PERSPECTIVE
We operate under conviction that God can do the extraordinary, until it comes into our world. Crisis invades our situation and we believe for other situations but when it comes to our specific context we hesitate, stutter in our response, our faith is the issue in crisis. So how do we respond? In obedience and say God you can do it. In faith saying God you can. In love saying God I trust you. In hope saying honestly God, only you can.

That is the truth of perspective, from where we sit and see life only God can, only He can do the intoxicating wonders bigger than our life and our need. That is really a God, a God that can, and will. He wills to do the powerful the earth moving because He is by nature good, He is so good.