So a few years ago a girl. Kristen, came on a mission trip to Eastern Kentucky with us. At the time she was working at an after school thing I beleive, but she was working with elementary and I believe Junior High kids. A counselor/supervision role. Anyways, she was telling a story about one of the girls that was there. She had a lot of braids in her hair if I remember correctly and she loved to talk. They would talk about all kinds of stuff and they became good friends. One of the things this little girl would say is "fo real" all the time. Kristen was telling her a story and the girl didn't really believe her so she said "fo real". and Kristen said yes, the girl said, "fo really real", to which Kristen said yes. Then the girl still not totally buying into it said, "fo really, really, real". It was the third time I guess and the severity of such a question like fo really really, real that helped her trust Kristen. When Kristen had said yes to the really, really, real part the girl believed her.
I have been apart of a group of people trying to read the entire Bible in 90 days called, "That's What We Read". This is day 11 and the last week has been all about the holiness of God, the tabernacle, the sacrifices, and the festivals. All of this to show the holiness of God, and to remind the Israelites (the people God was talking to) of His holiness. I have found myself at several points saying, "Okay God I get it, can we move along to something else now". It hasn't been the most electrifying reading on the action meter. However, I am starting to wonder if the reason why I am so unimpressed by this section of the Bible is because I am like the little girl with Kristen.
Maybe I don't really buy into how truly holy God is. Maybe I have asked Him, "fo real, you are that serious about being holy?" But when He (God) said yes, I followed up at some point in my life with, "Okay God, fo really real, you want me to be that holy... you want me to stay away from sin, to be holy even with this...", and when He (God) said yes maybe I have never followed up with the, "fo really really real." On a talk show yesterday these two sport commentators were just beating up on a guy in the NBA who just married a lady whom he had never even kissed. They were saying how idiotic and stupid that is. That in this culture you have to, "taste the goods, take her for a test drive" (their words not mine) before you marry her. "I mean what if there aren't any fireworks or electricity when you two have sex for the first time after the wedding, then what."
I think God is really, really, serious about holiness. Not really really serious about rules and laws, but holiness. And I know as a kid I didn't see the difference between these two ideas. God really cares about what is best for us. I know that I believe Him more than I did when I was 15, but I think I am learning that I sometimes am okay with being a little "unclean".
Leviticus 11:44 I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.
Leviticus 20:26 You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
Maybe one of the reasons God put all of this info and history about His holiness and how this nation tried to be holy like Him, wasn't just to bore us to tears. Maybe it was so that we would start to see just how holy God is and how serious holiness is to Him and how important it is to us. Maybe I have forgotten or never really, really knew how important it is.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Orpah not Oprah...
I was reading the story of Ruth in the Old Testament. I was once again reminded of God's providence. Naomi, who was the mother-in-law to Ruth, had given up hope. She was in despair after the loss of her husband and both sons. So she tells her daughter in laws to go back home and find a husband. In the end Orpah goes back home but Ruth stays with Naomi, against her wishes really. Through Ruth's faithfulness to Naomi and her pure act of love to her mother-in-law and dead husband God is able to once again show how He has provided for us. So many times we are left in despair when someone dies, or cancer strikes, or a job loss. So many times we find ourselves like Naomi ready to give up. Ruth, who was a foreigner, not an Israelite, not a Jew, was the one to show more faith in this God then Naomi. I don't even think she would have known about the customs of the Israelites especially about the kinsman redeemer. Ruth had no reason to go with Naomi, but loyalty and love. Through this act, even though she may not have really known God yet, she showed that she was willing o place her trust with Naomi's God, the God of Israel. Ruth ends up with a wonderful husband, and Naomi is provided for through a relative Boaz.
That is Ruth's story, but what about Orpah? What happened to her? We will probably never know, but I think we can get a glimpse from our lives. I think we are like Orpah often. When things go bad, and we get the okay to back down or leave, what do we do? Many times we take the get out of jail free card, that we think we just received, and use it. We bail... Only to never find out what would have happened if we remained faithful. I am once again encouraged to trust God to provide. Trust God even when my sight and my friends are telling me otherwise.
The crazy thing is that thanks to Ruth's faithfulness, David, the greatest king of Israel was born. Ruth was the mother of Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David. I want to see what God has in store, and I know He will provide even when I mess up, and give up sometimes. However, I want to see what He had in mind all along. I want to trust Him enough to step out on faith like Ruth and rely completely on Him. Even when, especially when trouble and pain come my way.
That is Ruth's story, but what about Orpah? What happened to her? We will probably never know, but I think we can get a glimpse from our lives. I think we are like Orpah often. When things go bad, and we get the okay to back down or leave, what do we do? Many times we take the get out of jail free card, that we think we just received, and use it. We bail... Only to never find out what would have happened if we remained faithful. I am once again encouraged to trust God to provide. Trust God even when my sight and my friends are telling me otherwise.
The crazy thing is that thanks to Ruth's faithfulness, David, the greatest king of Israel was born. Ruth was the mother of Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David. I want to see what God has in store, and I know He will provide even when I mess up, and give up sometimes. However, I want to see what He had in mind all along. I want to trust Him enough to step out on faith like Ruth and rely completely on Him. Even when, especially when trouble and pain come my way.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Pancakes or Cereal
Typically on Thursday mornings I like to make breakfast for the family. It's my day off and instead of the regular routine of everybody just making cereal or oatmeal, i like to have a family breakfast together around the table. Pancakes are the usual choice since we typically have the mix and Aidan likes to make them with me. Our special ingredient is to add some of the liquid coffee creamer to the mix to give it a little something extra. I really enjoy the breakfast time together and see it as more than just food. It's a way to serve my family who often serves me and ministry willingly. It's a way for me to be the one making sure we all are sitting around the table talking instead of Cindy always having to be the one to ensure it. It's also something that I take pride in, I am the breakfast guy at our house. I am offended when the kids don't want to eat. I get a little angry inside if they do not want to wait the extra 30 minutes to eat so we can have a hot breakfast with everyone.
The breakfast started out as a way to start our day together with everyone around the table enjoying each other. Thursdays are sacred. It's the one day we have all to ourselves. The heart behind it in the beginning was pure and just. But now sometimes I care more about them liking what I am doing for them over wanting to just spend time together. It ends up being more about me than the family or them. I am doing exactly what Saul did in 1 Samuel 15... God asks him to do something and spells it out very clearly, but Saul chooses to do it his own way... And when God asks him through the prophet Samuel why he did not obey Saul says "Yes the people took some stuff that you asked us not to, but they were going to give it back to you as a sacrifice and offering". Then Samuel says, Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice."
Sometimes we get caught up in doing things our way and saying that it is for God, when really we lost the heart of obedience. It has become more about doing it my way than enjoying obeying the voice of God. I know God told me to have that time as a family on Thursday mornings, but does it really matter if we eat pancakes or cereal?
The breakfast started out as a way to start our day together with everyone around the table enjoying each other. Thursdays are sacred. It's the one day we have all to ourselves. The heart behind it in the beginning was pure and just. But now sometimes I care more about them liking what I am doing for them over wanting to just spend time together. It ends up being more about me than the family or them. I am doing exactly what Saul did in 1 Samuel 15... God asks him to do something and spells it out very clearly, but Saul chooses to do it his own way... And when God asks him through the prophet Samuel why he did not obey Saul says "Yes the people took some stuff that you asked us not to, but they were going to give it back to you as a sacrifice and offering". Then Samuel says, Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice."
Sometimes we get caught up in doing things our way and saying that it is for God, when really we lost the heart of obedience. It has become more about doing it my way than enjoying obeying the voice of God. I know God told me to have that time as a family on Thursday mornings, but does it really matter if we eat pancakes or cereal?
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Lost Focus???
It's been really hard to set goals lately... I have been struggling with what to write down, honestly I haven't written anything down, but it has been hard to think of anything worthy of writing down if I was going to... I have never found it this difficult before... Lately i have just felt like nothing is working and been throwing pity parties for my self... at least it kind of seems that way... What is it that I need to be doing right now... I am going back and forth between the same thing that i have always been called to do, or some new things for 2010... as i am typing I am realizing how silly this seems... I feel embarrassed to even put this down, thankfully very few will read this... but I think I have lost focus on what I am supposed to be doing... 2009 was rough, and I don't exactly know why... I think I have placed to much on success and trying to gain something... I have lost the joy of just being in the presence of God and enjoying being totally and unashamedly obedient to Him... My worth has been determined by how things are going at church and home, not how things are going with God and myself... I have been focused on programs and teaching others how to lead, when I have let my own discipline and discipleship become dependent on how others are doing... I have lost the joy of listening and being with people... I am feeling uncomfortable around others, like I don't know what to say... i always feel the need to teach, because I have forgotten how to jsut hang out... this is starting to sound like a Twilight post, very dramatic... I am beginning some old things this year... going back to some basics... I know this makes no sense, but this one is really for me not for you.. I'm sorry to put it that way, but I just needed to start posting something again... I need to find what once changed my life in a radical way... to find that love, that total joy in obedience that I once had and that I want so desparately...
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Why do we make this so hard?
I remember a time when there were no stage lights, there was no computer, and there was no stage to set-up. I remember a time when the thing that I really worked hard at was spending time with people. I also recognize that there were no where near as many people there to hang out with as well. This is not a statement about the church or about my feelings toward anything that we (Christians) are doing to share Jesus Christ with people. This is simply a place to put my thoughts and struggles out there, a place to get them off my chest I guess, and to allow others the chance to feel this way and admit to this struggle as well. I never signed up to learn how to use media, lighting, promotion, marketing, graphic design, and visioneering. I just wanted to help people meet Jesus Christ. Now there are times when I forget how to do that. I have become proficient at a lot of things, but I struggle at times with remembering what it was like to not know Christ. What it was like to "get it" to meet Jesus for the first time. I forget how to walk with a person on the road that they are walking, instead of figuring out how to fix them or help them. People have not become more complicated, more lost or hurt... We are still just like Adam and Eve who were created to love God and find it difficult at times, and sometimes we feel like we have a better idea than the one who created us. Sometimes we struggle with the idea of a creator because life seems so bad. Sometimes we just want a friend and there doesn't seem to be a willing partner.
When did ministry get confused with production or did it? The more articles and books I read the more confused I get. Everyone has the answer to our problems. If we just had good fathers that would fix everything, if we served others more that would fix the problem, if we were more tolerant to our brothers and sisters from other faiths that would fix it, if we just went to church more that would fix everything, if we have effective small groups that would fix it... and the list goes on... political reform, social justice, ending consumerism, etc...
Even now I am having a hard time with what to put down now. I don't know... I just have this nagging feeling like it isn't supposed to be this tough. I kind of just want to curl up with my Bible and take a month long break to just hang out with God for a little sabbatical. But that seems like a cop out. I want to find it in the presence of others, in the living of our lives together in one big mess. I am looking to lead or to be a part of a community, church, group, whatever you want to call it that is learning how to do life together. Whatever that means. Figuring out how to be more like Jesus in every aspect of our life. I guess that even means figuring out what to do with lights, soundboards, video projectors, and even iphones...
I know that no one is really going to read this one, so I find it a safe place to put unfinished thoughts down... If you do read this I am sorry for the mess that I have put down, I only hope that you can believe me when I say that I am just trying to figure out what to do with this thing called life that God has given us. I believe
When did ministry get confused with production or did it? The more articles and books I read the more confused I get. Everyone has the answer to our problems. If we just had good fathers that would fix everything, if we served others more that would fix the problem, if we were more tolerant to our brothers and sisters from other faiths that would fix it, if we just went to church more that would fix everything, if we have effective small groups that would fix it... and the list goes on... political reform, social justice, ending consumerism, etc...
Even now I am having a hard time with what to put down now. I don't know... I just have this nagging feeling like it isn't supposed to be this tough. I kind of just want to curl up with my Bible and take a month long break to just hang out with God for a little sabbatical. But that seems like a cop out. I want to find it in the presence of others, in the living of our lives together in one big mess. I am looking to lead or to be a part of a community, church, group, whatever you want to call it that is learning how to do life together. Whatever that means. Figuring out how to be more like Jesus in every aspect of our life. I guess that even means figuring out what to do with lights, soundboards, video projectors, and even iphones...
I know that no one is really going to read this one, so I find it a safe place to put unfinished thoughts down... If you do read this I am sorry for the mess that I have put down, I only hope that you can believe me when I say that I am just trying to figure out what to do with this thing called life that God has given us. I believe
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
it's in the fire
its been a few days since i have been home and since i have posted anything... sorry for the delay... i am still new to this bloggin thing, but I am going to try to keep up with it...
i was reading a few chapters in a book in the Bible, Jeremiah, this morning... Jeremiah was a prophet of God according to the Old Testament, and he was given words by God that the nation of Israel would be taken over and the king Jehoiakim would be taken captive and ultimately die a peaceful death... the word finally got to the king because God asked Jeremiah to put all his word down on a scroll, the scroll was delivered to the king and before he read all of it he cut it up and through it in the fire... burned the whole thing...
i know that there are a lot of things that are produced when introduced to fire, for example somehow sand can be turned into glass with the right heat... glass can be turned into intricate shapes and designs with the right amount of heat... steel and other alloys or metals are strenghtened, purified, and formed when given the right amount of heat... fire was used to destroy clothing that had disease or germs in them thousands of years ago... fire tends to do one of two things when it is introduced to an object... it either destroys it or refines/strengthens it... i know that there are probably cases that go against this maybe, but on the whole... fire tends to show you what you are made of...
back to the story... it makes me wonder what type of person i am when i am introduced to fire... fire being struggles, frustrations, bad days, unfairness, or whatever "bad" things that may come our way... does it strengthen me or does it destroy me... do i burn God's words, or throw away my faith when I hear things I don't like, or do I become stronger and find what God is saying to me...
i do not want to let my friends in Romania down, I want to help them... not just when it is convenient and I am sitting at a table with them... I want to help them now, to find resources, to pray for them, to be there friend even when I am not with them... I want to be the kind of person that is who I say I am... a person that isn't always right but is always honest... someone people can trust... not just in my family or with my friends, but in my work, when i go to Walmart to buy something... when I am on the phone... every moment I want to be the same person... don't you...
this begins a transistion for this blog... God is not just at work in Romania... He is at work everywhere and I would love to share the part that I see and hear about with you... this will be about Michigan, about me, about my family, and about other parts of the world... life with God is such an adventure, a journey that is like no other... every day I come closer to understanding Jesus' words that are found in John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
i have tried life without God and life with Him and there is no way I am going back... i love this adventure and I am going to try to share it with you... and hopefully i can figure out how to put some pictures and videos on this thing...
i was reading a few chapters in a book in the Bible, Jeremiah, this morning... Jeremiah was a prophet of God according to the Old Testament, and he was given words by God that the nation of Israel would be taken over and the king Jehoiakim would be taken captive and ultimately die a peaceful death... the word finally got to the king because God asked Jeremiah to put all his word down on a scroll, the scroll was delivered to the king and before he read all of it he cut it up and through it in the fire... burned the whole thing...
i know that there are a lot of things that are produced when introduced to fire, for example somehow sand can be turned into glass with the right heat... glass can be turned into intricate shapes and designs with the right amount of heat... steel and other alloys or metals are strenghtened, purified, and formed when given the right amount of heat... fire was used to destroy clothing that had disease or germs in them thousands of years ago... fire tends to do one of two things when it is introduced to an object... it either destroys it or refines/strengthens it... i know that there are probably cases that go against this maybe, but on the whole... fire tends to show you what you are made of...
back to the story... it makes me wonder what type of person i am when i am introduced to fire... fire being struggles, frustrations, bad days, unfairness, or whatever "bad" things that may come our way... does it strengthen me or does it destroy me... do i burn God's words, or throw away my faith when I hear things I don't like, or do I become stronger and find what God is saying to me...
i do not want to let my friends in Romania down, I want to help them... not just when it is convenient and I am sitting at a table with them... I want to help them now, to find resources, to pray for them, to be there friend even when I am not with them... I want to be the kind of person that is who I say I am... a person that isn't always right but is always honest... someone people can trust... not just in my family or with my friends, but in my work, when i go to Walmart to buy something... when I am on the phone... every moment I want to be the same person... don't you...
this begins a transistion for this blog... God is not just at work in Romania... He is at work everywhere and I would love to share the part that I see and hear about with you... this will be about Michigan, about me, about my family, and about other parts of the world... life with God is such an adventure, a journey that is like no other... every day I come closer to understanding Jesus' words that are found in John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
i have tried life without God and life with Him and there is no way I am going back... i love this adventure and I am going to try to share it with you... and hopefully i can figure out how to put some pictures and videos on this thing...
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