Cool Church XP

The Winding Road to an Abundant Life

At the Grotto they have added a prayer labyrinth designed to provide a disciplined journey that allows plenty of time to talk to God.  During my prayer and planning time a few weeks ago I watched as people looked at this "patio," maybe walked across it, and then moved on.  I decided to follow the path, and to my surprise, everyone after me did the same!  They just needed to see someone go before them.

As I sat on a nearby bench watching the others, several even offered me accountability for their journey.  "Hey, how am I doing?" and  "Is it much farther?" And it struck me; life is like this layrinth.  After people had cleared out I went back out and walked it again.  376 steps to the center, 31 twists and turns, but only 8 steps to the middle if you ignore the path.

God gives us a life with many twists and turns, and we get to decide whether to stay on the path and learn from each redirection, or try and take the fast track; only 8 steps to the middle if we skip the path.  And as I pulled back to look at the whole labyrinth, it's a big, beautiful circle full of details.  Details that represent fullness, experiences, and wisdom that enrich us and allow us to help others on their path. And I thought of 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."

What if we tried to skip every twist and turn in life?  To take the short cut?  Don't let the thief steal your life away, stay on the path and have life to the full.  Jesus walked the path before us.  Follow him!

Trust and obey, for there's no other way...

Cynthia and I just spent five days in a cabin up near Mount Hood.  We took this time to relax, reflect, and read.  We even had our own church service Sunday morning, including communion!

I read Shane Claiborne’s “Irresistible Revolution” and Brennan Manning’s “Ruthless Trust.”  Claiborne calls us back to what following Christ really looks like, and Manning to what trusting God really looks like.  That’s a powerful one-two punch!

I learned from Claiborne that our faith is to be like a mustard seed (sounds familiar, right?), but he pointed out that mustard plants grow and spread like weeds, sprouting up all over the place. 

Our calling is very much a personal one, planting little seeds all over the place through love and service, with faith springing up all over the place too, not simply where we have built some church buildings.

From Manning I learned that faith plus hope equals trust.  My paraphrase in the margin was ‘faith that God can do it plus hope that He will do it equals trust that it will be done according to His promises.”  I think we get so caught up in what we want that we lose hope, because we’re hoping for the wrong thing!

I came away from this week wanting to know God more, rather than know more about God.  I want to know Jesus more, not more about Jesus.  That requires spending more time with Him and following in His footsteps, not merely being a fan with all the history memorized and pictures on the wall (I do have lots of Jesus pictures though).

So five days in a cabin; plenty of naps, games, hiking, reading, praying.  End result.  Trust God.  Stop fussing.  Follow Jesus, really follow Him and the patterns He set for us.  Do what we can in each moment to plant seeds, and trust God that a little bit of love here and there will spread like weeds and fuel a revolution!

Sandy Launch!

Wow, what a day!  The Sandy Campus public launch was today, and God was soooo present.  TJ, Susan, Dave and the gang have done a tremendous job bringing this campus to fruition.  We had nearly 200 there today, and LOTS of new faces.  Check out some of the photos in the album to the right!

Look for a picture of Dave with his "no perfect people allowed" face on...  And come check thIS campus out if you haven't already!

Who's in charge, anyway?!

I spent last Monday at the Grotto again for my quarterly Prayer and Planning day.   I started my morning with the Lord's Prayer and marveled at how it so wonderfully encompasses how we should pray. Check it out in Mt. 6.  It goes something like this, depending on translation:

Our Father who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Here's my paraphrase.  You are God. We should ALL recognize that.  Its not just a big deal, it is THE deal.  You get to do what YOU want, not what we want.  And you give us what we need, not always what we want.  You protect us from what we don't need.  You completely forgive us when we go against you, and expect us to do the same with others.

It's nice to be reminded what our place is on this earth.  We get out in front of God sometimes with our sense of who is on control, what is right, what should happen, what justice looks like.  But we're not holy.  We have big blind spots.  So, if we're willing, it becomes a delightful dance of communing with God to seek His truth, taking joy in His plans, the journey He has for us, and trusting Him with how it will all end up.

What are you trusting God for these days?