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Star Power

The Staff at church meets for chapel every Wednesday morning.  It's a great opportunity to worship and pray together, and hear a few thoughts from George.  Yesterday George shared about the Christmas story, and how the Magi essentially moved out in faith towards Christ.  Imagine as they were heading out, friends asking them "so where are you going?"  and them responding "Not exactly sure...  we're following that star up there..."  They knew who they were traveling towards, but not their destination.

I find myself more and more coaching Christ followers that stepping out in faith is making the right steps today in faith, and trusting that God will deliver you where He wants you.  We rarely get the desitinaton and all the steps inbetween all lined out for us like mapquest directions.  We just keep moving toward Jesus.

And then my mind goes back to the Lord's prayer again.  What did Jesus tell us to pray for?  "Give us this day, our daily bread."  Not tomorrow's bread...  Just keep moving toward Jesus, one day at a time.

And so we walk towards the star, one day at a time.  Trusting God for our journey, and our destinations along the way. 

I find it interesting, even inspiring, that my last official day on Abundant Life's staff is December 24th.  Cynthia and I will celebrate Christmas morning laid bare to God's next plans for us; just following the star...

Are you "following the star?"  Trusting God for your daily bread?  Moving towards Jesus, trusting that He will take care of you along the way?  I can't think of a better gift to give Jesus this Christmas than our love, demonstrated through our absolute trust in Him.  May it be so.

I can see clearly now...

I mentioned on Facebook that Cynthia and I got new glasses on Monday.  As we drove down the 205 I looked over at the Bank Tower downtown, and it was SO clear.  What a difference. 

Today, however, we are both struggling a bit getting used to the way things look through these new progressive lenses.  Cynthia says it's like being on drugs or something (first time for her wearing glasses, let alone with progressive lenses).  Things don't look the same. 

I can't help but relate our experience with our new spectacles to what it's like to be reborn in Jesus and starting to look at things differently.  And as we mature, God brings more and more into focus as our perspective changes to be more and more like His.  Sometimes we are blind for a while in areas, and one day wake up and say "wow, I see it now!"  The Bible serves as the gateway to our new worldview.

I used a photo of Shane Claiborne's eye up there.  We just read his book, and he sees things differently than many.  He lives on the streets of Philly loving the poor and homeless for Jesus.  That's what the world looks like to Shane.  I think sometimes that God gives us each glasses based on what He wants us to see, where He wants us to grow, to be passionate, so we will naturally go there with lazer like focus.

What is God putting into focus in your life?  What new things does He want you to see?  What are you passionate about?  Where has God called you to grow?

God Speaks through a Plastic Bag in a Bush

After visiting the weekend service at our Sandy Campus today, I wanted to take a few minutes to sit quietly and pray while looking over the Sandy River valley from the viewpoint on Bluff Road.  I headed to Joe's to get a big creamy doughnut and a coffee, and then off towards the viewpoint.

Jonsrud Viewpoint is one of my favorite spots I stop at while cycling.   The view out over the valley is amazing, and you feel like you're on top of the world.  I jump up on the rock wall, sit cross-legged, and just take it all in, remembering how small I am, how big God is, and how He cares about little ol' you and me, even in the simple things.

As I was driving to my destination, I started a mental inventory of my car's trunk trying to think of whether there was an old plastic bag or something in there I could use to sit on since it was kind of wet out.  And then I remembered cleaning out all the trash and stuff a couple of weeks ago.  Hmmm....  I guess I could just stand there for a change.

As I pulled into the parking lot and into the empty space right by the lookout, what is right smack in front of me?  A nice size plastic bag in a bush.  What I needed right there when I needed it, to keep my back side dry as I sat on the wet rocks.  I snatched it up and off I went to my favorite spot.  I sat there quietly, taking it all in, and thanking God that He cares about me.

OK, so maybe the plastic bag was just a coincidence.  Or perhaps a timely reminder that we can see how God takes care of us even in the simple things, if we're willing to look for it.

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!

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?

Don't Focus on the Missed Shot

Don't focus on the missed shot; reacquire the target. 

I attended the memorial service for an amazing woman named Alma Yoder this week and her grandson, Steve Long, spoke words that became God's words for me.

Steve was telling about the police range, the training regarding "missed shots" and how it relates to our walk with Christ.  Steve sent me his text about the missed shot and here are some excerpts:

The Missed Shot.  It cannot be retrieved; we cannot undo the choices and circumstances of our past.  We must lay it aside and not dwell upon it.

It demororalizes us and takes our confidence.

We unconsciously measure our next shot against the last one.

What happens when I measure myself against error?  I err again.  We don't improve by making adjustments to the error.  We improve by refocusing on the target again.  If I want the future to have different outcomes than those of the past, I must do these things:

I must lay aside that irretrievable shot.

I must re-acquire the target and shoot again.

Phil 3:13-14.  "Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

We have the opportunity to choose to measure ourselves against all of the missed shots that we have made, or we can aim again at the upward calling that takes our feeble breath and magnifies it, makes it huge through our generations.

Are you measuring yourself against missed shots?  Focusing so much on what went wrong that you've lost track of the real target?  I know I can fall prey to that, and then I need to consciously step away, and take another run at the real target.  That doesn't mean we don't take care of any messes that were made by our failures, but rather that they don't become who we are and how we measure ourselves.

Thanks Steve, for allowing God to speak through you!

You could be the next "Christ-Follower"

One of the big struggles I see all the time as Christ-Followers is we know God is the judge, not us, but then we abandon needed judgment for ourselves and each other in the process.

I really appreciate Josh Galgan's message this last weekend from James 4:11-12.  He pointed out that we are not to judge others' motives, but we can judge each others' behaviors against a standard. But first we must judge ourselves and correct our course.  Matthew 7:3-5 says...

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

And I started to take an inventory of my life.  Even with my time in the Bible and the Holy Spirit active in my life, without people around me, teaching me, coaching me, judging my progress, I would not be anything like I am today, nor would I grow as well toward tomorrow.  I like to explain the need for each of us to have trusted advisers in our life like this:  "Your life is like a movie, and since you're in it, you lose context with the big picture.  You need people outside of the movie to give you context."  As Christ-Followers, we need people who know God and His Word to help us direct our "movie."

I have three or four people completely outside of my family and church that help me see things straight.  The best ones at times are those that don't even have a close relationship with me, because close friends can become protective, and hold back on some hurtful truths sometimes.  I personally need a judge in my life, like Simon Cowell on American Idol, who cares so much about my real real objective, knowing God and being Christ-like, that they're not afraid to hurt my feelings.

Take any of the current reality shows, American Idol, Design Star, The Apprentice, you name it, and turn them into "Christ Follower."  Take away all the other contestants.  It's not about competing or how you compare to others.  You simply want to be the best Christ Follower you can be.  And every week you stand before the judges and ask how your last week was.  And every week they coach you.  This was really good... there you could be better...  This choice was a mistake...

Who's sitting at your judges' table?  Who will you ask to speak into your life?  You will you trust to tell you something you don't want to hear, perhaps don't even believe to be true?  But that you trust beyond your own "wrong thinking?"

Powerless

My wife, Cynthia, has Multiple Sclerosis.  She was diagnosed with this chronic disease back in 1990, in which the body's immune system attacks the insulation around the nerves.

She has made it 20 years without any real horrendous symptoms until just this year.  This last week she started feeling like she was being poked with pins, needles,and nails all over her body.  She's had tingling all over for years, but this episode is excrutiatingly painful.

Last night when she did her daily injection of Copaxone, a drug that helps arrest the progression of MS, the pain from the shot welled up in her to unbearable levels.  All I could do was look on helplessly as the pain increased in her to the point of tears.  My heart was crying for her, and I felt absolutely powerless.  I wanted to make her pain stop so bad.  There was nothing I could do but pray that the pain would subside.

It's at times like this that things don't make a lot of sense, but really do make a lot of sense.  We want to believe we have control; power over our lives, but it's an illusion.  Not a hopeless situation by any means, but an important distinction between us and God.  God is in control, not us, and He is also the judge of what's best for us and His purposes, and allows trials that lovingly push us to dependence upon Him.

James said it well in his first chapter:  "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

So what do you do with all this?  Here's my theme verse these days:  Ps 27:14  "Wait for the Lord.  Be strong and take heart, and wait for the Lord." 

It's hard to wait when we want to don the superman cape and save the day; bullets bouncing off of our chest; our x-ray vision seeing things the way we think they ought to be...

What are you waiting on God for?  After all, He's the one with the real power over all these things.  You can count on that.  Just don't rush God.  That's taking control again...

Is something good not happening?

Last Saturday night at church I was a little tired, and maybe, just maybe, life was not going exactly my way.  I have a lot of trouble hiding how I'm feeling at times. 

Gayle DeJesus looked right at me in Life Cafe and asked "Is something good not happening?"  I laughed so hard.  What a wonderfully positive spin on "what's wrong?"  I had to write it down so I could use this for the rest of my life. 

Last night Cynthia and I joined her dad, Harley, and his wife for his 90th birthday dinner at Country Kitchen.  They eat there pretty much every week, with their favorite server, Kelly, and she always has a table ready for them. 

As we were driving to the restaurant, Harley was talking to the traffic light.  "Come on, turn green..."  And we joked with him about how he was so impatient and then I quipped "Well, you've been waiting 90 years for this dinner.  I guess you would be a little excited for it."

When we arrived the table was decorated with balloons, and a couple of pictures of Harley with Kelly at his surprise party last Sunday.  It was a wonderful evening.  It was something good.  And I had to wonder, how much of our time do we spend waiting for something good, versus celebrating what is good?

Read all of Psalm 136.  It starts like this:   "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever."

Go with God!