Pastor Art's Ponderings

The Formula for Renwal

2011-09-07T06:56:00.000-07:00

Revival Prayer

Here at MCN, we are looking forward to our spiritual renewal week known as revival. If you are not familiar with the tradition, revival is a time we set aside for the renewal of our spirit. We will typically have a special preacher come and share the messages that God has specifically laid on his or her heart. We spend several services together listening for God to speak words of renewal into our beings.

The important thing to note is that the revivalist does not bring renewal with him or her in their luggage. Renewal is not guaranteed simply because we have spent the bigger part of a week in corporate worship services. There is no magic formula for revival. The only guarantee is that we do the hard work to prepare our hearts for revival.

Revival takes concerted, intentional, and intense prayer.

In the Old Testament, in the book of II Chronicles, the nation of Israel was gathered around the new temple in which they would worship. During that dedication ceremony, God shared the key to the renewal of the people in times of trouble, of darkness, and of crisis. "If my people whoa re called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (II Chronicles 7.14, NASB)

Renewal necessitates humility, prayer, and repentance. In a word, if renewal is to come, we but intentionally come to see ourselves in a new light, in light of God's truth. We are frail people, prone to self-deception and failure. We desperately need the renewing grace of Jesus Christ which reorients our life. His power released in us, through prayer and confession, renews the thoughts and patterns of our minds so that we can seek the renewing relationship with God that he desires for us. Through prayer, we acknowledge that we cannot renew our inner being. We need to seek the presence of God will a single minded passion.

Here at MCN, I have challenged those who really hunger for revival to personally devote 14 hours of prayer, over the next two weeks, to intense prayer for revival to come first to their hearts, and then to the hearts of fellow disciples around them. I invite you to spend significant time with God over the next two weeks seeking His voice, and the renewal of His presence in you.

Listening for Him,
Pastor Art

Just Do It!

2011-08-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

Just Do IT!

People often ask for advice regarding how to pray, and how to pray more effectively. I have been on across the years of my walk with Jesus Christ to wonder how to improve the quality of my prayer life. I have read many books. I have studied who people that I perceived as great prayer warriors have prayed. I tried to pray like them. I didn't meet with much success.

One day, as I was particularly frustrated, I remembered the tag line from a popular Nike ad campaign, "Just do it!" Nike challenged people to buy their shoes and their athletic gear and just do the sport that they enjoyed. They didn't challenge me to become Bo Jackson, (Good thing too!) they just challenged me to get up and do what I loved to do.

It occurred to me that that simple tag line was a critical key to developing a transformative and powerful prayer life. Simply put, the key to a strong prayer life is to "Just pray." Pray because we love to converse with God, who invites us into his presence. Pray because it is a natural part of our relationship with Him. Pray because we need his direction in our life. Pray because we just want to pray.

Notice, there is no magical formula. There is no specific pattern. When we pray, we just use the language, the relationship, and the grace that God gives us to invite us into his presence to communicate with him. Simply put, "Just do it!"

I invite you to begin this practice of conversationally praying with God, just because it is the thing to do! You will be amazed at how and where he transforms you. You will wonder how you missed his voice before. You will find an amazing, powerful prayer life just finds you when you "Just pray."

Listening for Him,
Pastor Art

Prayer Hints - Fasting 101

2011-06-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

A Beginners Guide to Fasting

Much of the reason that fasting has fallen into disrepair in the modern church is that many people have come to misunderstand fasting. If you mention the word "fasting" to many people they thing of long periods of time going without food. While an absolute fast is one form of fasting, it is not the ONLY way to fast. Other people have come to believe that fasting is a discipline to be practice by spritual super-heroes and not the common disciple. The fact is fasting is a powerful tool in the life of the ordinary believer to create space for God to speak in new and special ways in their life.

If you are new to fasting, or haven't fasted in years, here are some practical hints to help you get started again.

Fasting should be prompted by the Holy Spirit. Fasting is an activity that the disiple should practice at the leading of the Holy Spirit. Too many people begin fasting in their own strength and leadership. This defeats the primary purpose of fasting. The point is to deny our base needs and desires to experience God in new ways and to be more completely open to his leadership. Human effort, human wisdom, and human strength gets in the way of the holy space. On the other hand, when God leads to fasting (through his many ways of speaking) he already has something in mind for us. We can begin to fast more aware of his presence and leadership.

Begin your fast at sundown and end your fast at sundown. In my own early attempts to fast, I sabatoged myself. By fasting one day, from breakfast to breakfast, I was actually fasting something closer to 36 hours. By the end of the evening I was ravenous. (There are times when this is the point, but not at the beginning stages.) A wise person pointed out to me that fasting in scripture is from sundown, to sundown, a natural 24 hour fast. In my early stages, this was much more managable and led to a great deal of success early on. I found the momentum made it easier for me as the Lord grew me and deepened my walk with him.

Take your personal limitations into account. Many people don't fast because they have physical restrictions that mandate a certain level of caloric intake, or certain kinds of food. I take a medication that I must take with food. Thus, when I fast, I have to take that into account. So for me, when I fast, I begin my morning with juice, or water and a piece of dry toast. I take in a minimal amount of calories that I might observe my fast, but still deny myself.

We also may fast things other than food. Their is great benefit in fasting noise and practing the disipline of silence, or holy listening, for a time. I have benefitted from fasting television and other distractive practices in my life that God might have more space in the rythyms of life to more fully invade my space.

These are only a few hints to help you on your journey. Ask God in your quiet time if he would have you fast something so that you might be closer to him. "Taste the Lord and see that he is good!"

Fasting

2011-06-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

Fasting is a spiritual discipline that has fallen into little use in American churches today. It is little wonder. In our instant gratification, drive-up, feed-me-now culture anything that smacks of self-denial is looked upon with great suspicion. Anyone who shares that they do practice fasting is looked upon as something of an eccentric, or a hero. This misses the point of fasting.

Note that in scripture, fasting is assumed by Jesus as a normative practice among his followers. Jesus, when instructing his disciples in fasting says, "When your fast..." (Matt. 6.16-17). He is assuming that at different times in their journeys, they would find that fasting, as they prayed, would bring spiritual breakthroughs and progress not otherwise possible. Fasting is a key practice in scripture to growth and power.

Fasting is not a practice to be entered into legalistically. It is a means of humbling one's self before God to create the holy space through which God can speak to our spirits. Fasting reveals our dependence on people and things other than God. Through our hunger, we can come to more fully appreciate our dependence on the power and grace of God.

In my own life, some of the deepest revelations that God has given to me have come in those times when I have entered into fasting. Some of the deepest awareness of the grace and love of Jesus Christ have come when I have denied myself food and exposed the deeper motives and condition of my soul.

I invite you to pray and ask God if he would be leading you to practice fasting. Trust in him, follow his leading. You will be rewarded with a deeper and more powerful awareness of the power and presence of God in your life.

Dry Times and Prayer Blocks

2011-06-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

There are times in life when it seems as though your prayers hit the ceiling and go nowhere. That can be an intensley frustrating and dry time. Praying can often become a chore and most difficult. We life in an instant gratification society. Like it or not, we often get pushed into that mold. We expect our prayers to be answered immediately and to our personal satisfaction. Problem is, it doesn't always work that way.

What do I need to do to experience the fresheness that comes.

First realize that spriritual warfare is a reality. The battle that we fight is with powers taht are far beyond ours. By recognizing who our fight is ultimately with, we can tap in to the spiritual resources that guarantee our victory. So, that being said, here are 4 hints to overcome the dry times in prayer.

Pray anyhow. The temptation when prayer gets difficult is to simply stop praying. This is absolutely the worst thing that we can do in our spirit. We disconnect from the one who is the source of life, power and deliverance. Even though we may not feel that anything is going on in us when we are in the dry times, God is working. We must continue to create the environment in which he can most clearly speak and move in our lives. Continue to pray.

Trust God. The dry times shake our faith. It makes us doubt our self, our spirituality, our fitness, and ultimately the love and power of God. Dry times in our life are times when we must most clearly continue to trust in and rest in God. As his disciple, we have faith that at exactly the right moment, he will break through and answer our prayers, deliver us, and minister to us. Dry times are times for unshakeable faith.

Pray Scripture. Dry times are confusing and disorienting. Things that previously made sense, don't. Old ways of coping are challenged. The words that we need often escape us. Simply put, we don't know how to pray. The disicpline of praying scripture, openly, honestly, and obediently often helps us through this difficult time. We can hear God's promises in our lives in fresh new ways. He speaks through the power of his word to reorient our life, our needs, and our hearts. His word lives in us in new ways.

One way that I often tell folks to pray is to look at situations in scripture that mirror your struggle. There is nothing new under the sun. There are parallels in scripture to everything that we go through. Do word searches, character searches, read parables. In short, do anything you can to identify with the biblical message and allow it to invade your space.

Engage a prayer partner. Something powerful happens in us when we partner with another person and link arms through prayer. Faith rises. Hearts are transformed. Find a person who is more mature in your walk. Let them teach you about faith and God's love. Share your heart. Allow them to help you shoulder your burden. Together, you will find your way from the wilderness.

I hope that these thoughts enliven and improve your prayer life!

Distractions

2011-05-18T08:34:00.001-07:00

There are times that life seems like a life of distractions. I had a conversation today with a friend who marveled at how many times my study phone rang. He said, “That would drive me nuts!” Often times it does. So many times, when I am really trying to concentrate or to get things done, the phone rings, someone drops by to see me, I remember something that I should have done last week, or I simply get distracted from the task at hand. When the distraction is completed (if it ever completes), I have to begin all over again to get the momentum that I need to get stuff done.

Many times, I find the greatest enemy that I have to a meaningful prayer life is distraction. There are so many otherwise good things that can, so very quickly, interrupt my time alone with God and hinder my ability to hear his still small voice leading me and guiding me each day. Before long, I feel dry and isolated from him and realize that it is my own fault. I have not heard from him near enough. Or, I hurry my prayer time, trying to fit it in between distractions and diversions. The result is that I don’t have the depth in my time with God. Soon, we are just acquaintances rather than the intimate companions that he longs for that transforms my life according to his plan.

Here are some hints to deal with the distractions that hinder our prayer life.

Get away! Jesus frequently withdrew to solitary places to pray. Oftentimes at the zenith of ministry activity, he found the need to get alone with God and listen clearly to his voice. He encouraged his followers to “enter their prayer closet” to pray. He knew how powerfully God can speak when we slow down to focus on his voice and his will. Find a comfortable, quiet, regular place that you can set aside as your place of prayer. Make it comfortable to you. In time, you will look forward to that chair or couch, That place will be the cherished time when God will speak.

Take a notebook and pen with you. I can guarantee that the moment that you sit down to concentrate on prayer and touching the face of God, twenty-five things will cross your mind that you need to do or people that you need to call. These will be very important things that you simply cannot forget. As they come to your mind, just jot them down on a page of the notebook. Then you can give yourself permission to forget about them and come back to them later. Rather than interrupt your prayer time, you can put things in life in their proper place and stay connected to God.

Let the phone ring. Most of us have some sort of answering machine. Use it for what it was intended. We can return a phone call in a few minutes, after God is done with us. Nothing in life is as important as the time we spend with God, listening to his voice lead us, grow us, and direct us.

Try these simple hints to deal with the distractions that often cross our life. God will less you and draw closer to you as you draw closer to him.

Personal Prayer

2011-05-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

People ask me many questions about how to pray. They are not quite sure that they know how, what words to use, or if God will hear them. One of the most significant pieces of advice that I can give a person, is to “be yourself.”

Jesus taught his disciples to pray to “Abba, Father.” The Hebrew term “Abba” is an intensely personal title for a father. Many have given it the connotation of our English word, “daddy.” The point of Jesus using this terminology to refer to his heavenly father is to remind us that God is intensely personal. He longs for an intimate relationship with us. He longs to hear our voice. He runs to us to embrace our feelings and our emotions. Our God is a personal God. There are two reminders that I would have for you here.

Pray in your own language. So many people begin their prayers using their best King James language and try to emulate the great “prayers” that they have heard in the past. God doesn’t want us to use all the flowery language that we can imagine. He wants us to come to him as we are our own dialect and all. Use the words and phrases that you would use to talk to a friend at the table as you share a cup of coffee. God wants to talk to you, not your childhood pastor.

Pray using your own emotions. The key to a relationship with God is to be real. If the Psalms teach us anything, it is that God is big enough to handle our feelings. David didn’t sugar-coat anything. He told God exactly what he felt. He shared with God his inmost joy as well as his bitterest disappointment. There is a release and a blessing that comes when we come clean with God. It is as we admit our feelings to him that we can hear his voice speaking to the deepest place in our lives.

As you pray, my encouragement to you is, “Keep it real…” then, know the deep love of God, right where you are now.

Listening...

2011-03-04T09:30:00.000-08:00

Numerous times in scripture, we read the words, "Let the one who has ears...hear!" We read it so often that all too often, we allow our eyes to slide right past those words to what comes next. I invite you to stop and think for a few minutes. Most, if not all of us, have ears. They hang on the side of our head. They are there for all of us to see.

Yet the reality is not many of us really "hear." We don't listen to one another. We don't really listen to what is going on around us. We are surprised when we hear stuff. We just don't take time to really engage the comprehending part of hearing. Yes, we hear the sounds of stuff, but we don't really "hear" and connect with our heads and our hearts.

Jesus invites us to "hear" his words to us. He invites us to engage his message of love and hope at a deeper level. Listening to the word of God means that we engage his message at a personal and life changing level. The problem is that we have too much going on to really listen. We have busy schedules, TV, internet, ipods, car stereos, hobbies, pressures, bills, static, and all other kinds of stuff to occupy our thinking moments. So we really can't hear.

If we are really going to get in close to God, we need to throttle back our stuff and allow God the space that we need to speak to the deep parts of our hearts. The pay off is that as we focus on listening and allowing God to speak to us, we connect to his heart. We find ourselves becoming more like Jesus. He speaks to our needs and calms our fears. We hear his words inviting us to enter into his peace and rest.

Let me invite you to experience God in new ways by creating the time to hear his voice speaking into your life.

A

The Scariest Verse in the Bible

2010-10-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been thinking a great deal about what it really means to say that, as Christians, we are followers of Jesus Christ. To that end, I have been reading (along with my small group) Francis Chan's Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God.

As I was reading today, Chan confronted me again with a verse that absolutely terrifies me. It is a passage that I have preached on before. I have read it repeatedly. I have meditated on the passage, hoping to find some peace with it. The fact is that I just can't... As a pastor, as a disciple, as one who loves those who call themselves "his church" this passage terrifies me.

Jesus is talking to the disciples gathered around him when he says...

Not everyone who says to me, "Lord! Lord!" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my father in heaven. (Matthew 7.21)

Each and every week, people all over America go to houses of worship. They sing songs that make them feel good. They drop a few dollars into a collection plate. The listen to a message and a special song and pray for God to bless their little worlds. When all of this is done, the go home and think little of God, and his will until the time comes to return to church to do it all again. During their worship, they trumpet their love for God, the extol his many blessings on their life, yet astonishingly, their lives are impacted little by their "relationship" with God.

As a pastor, as afollowerof t Ancient of Days, I am concerned that so many people believe that this is all that Christan discipleship really is. They ignore the time spent with him in formative conversation. They ignore the homeless, the widow, the orphan. They focus more on how we can control our finances rahter than concieve of how God would have us use what he has entrusted us with to bless others. We hold tightly to our church buildings, our Sunday school rooms,when we meet to worship and what songs we sing rather than go across the street to share the love that Christ has lavished upon us. We shout, "Lord!, Lord!" as we scar those around us with our words, our actions and rub our WWJD bracelets.

I wonder what God think of our efforts to just "live for him"?

Maybe now you understand why I think this is the scariest verse in scripture....

A

God's Missionary Heart

2010-06-17T06:45:00.000-07:00

The last week has been an interesting intellectual journey for me. I was at ENC's PALCON (Pastors and Leaders Conference then this week I was reading Erwin Raphael McManus' The Barbarian Way to get ready for my small group. There was an interesting overlap in the discussion for me.

Roger Hahn and Ron Benefiel reminded me last week of the fact that central to the heart and character of God is His desire to reach all peoples with his love, mercy, and grace. In other words, God's heart is missional...that is a primary attribute of His character is mission. McManus reminded me that the uncivilized call of the gospel message on my heart is to give my life in love and sacrifice to those around me. John the Baptist, as he was between prison and platter, sent his disicples to ask the question, "Are you the one?" Jesus response was not new, in fact it was old news..."Tell John the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Blessed is he who does not take offense at me." Luke 7.22-23. After this, Jesus goes on to preach in Galilee.

Jesus left John in the dark place of Herod's prison. He would lose his head because he was faithful to the calling of God in his life. John lived the ultimate sacrifice for his faithfulness to the missional heart of God.

The higher way of the life of the disciple is to pour out our lives as an offering of love for Jesus Christ. That much we know. The rest of the story is that if we are indeed becoming like Christ, we are pouring out our lives into the lives of others that they may know the power of the resurrection within. We look with God's eyes of compassion on those who are lost, lonely, naked, thristy, hungry, and without a shepherd. The true measure of our relationship with God is how much we reflect his missional heart.

What Real Ministry Is...

2010-04-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

I am sitting in the middle of my district's Missional Advance weekend. For several months now, I have been asking myself the question, "What does real ministry look like?" The black and white, analyzer side of my personality wants to have a set-in-stone definition of what I need to do as a pastor, leader, and discipler to connect people to Christ and help Christ change my community (Milford, DE). My dissertation research confirmed to me that there is no quick easy answer.

I have been thinking about the ministry of Jesus. I have come to understand that, as a whole, he ministered to one person at a time. When and where he encountered them. It was rarely convenient, often inconvenient. But that was where I see Jesus, one person at a time, one need at a time. He challenges us to do similar, a cup of cold water, a sweater or a listening ear.

Jesus shows me that ministry is having the eyes to see a need and the compassion and the personal resolve to do something about it. It is too easy to be seeing needs and talk about how bad things are and feel pious. No ministry gets done. We often gather in our fellowships and sing songs, hear sermons, and pray prayers and feel like we are doing something. Yet people are still hurting, lonely, frightened, and hungry.

Compassion sees a need and does something about that need. This is the heart of real ministry. What needs are you seeing around you today? How can Jesus use you to meet that need.

Personal Thoughts

2010-02-13T07:31:00.000-08:00

There have been many emotions going through my mind and my heart lately. On the one hand I am filled with excitement at the future that God has in store for me and my ministry in the days ahead. On March 1, I will be moving to assume the pastoral duties of the Milford, DE Church. I am so excited to be leading this wonderful group of people. They have opened their hearts to us so quickly and seem to be excited to have me come to lead them into God's preferred future. I am convinced that God is about to do great things in the people of Milford and through the church.

While I have been experiencing the excitement that comes with a new calling, I have also been overwhelmed with the feelings of grief and loss that come with leaving a family behind. The past six years have been among the happiest of my life as I have led the Ryot Church. The folks here have become more than friends, they have become like a second family. I have been loved and accepted by the community. My email has been filled with well-wishes and testimonies of fellow umpires, referees, soccer friends and others we have grown close to have appreciate me and my involvement here. I find comfort in knowing that many of these folks will continue to be life-long friends.

I ask for your prayers in the days ahead. Pray for me and my family as we are apart for nearly four months; for the Ryot Church as they search for their new pastor; and for the Milford Church as we begin a new chapter in the life of the church. May God be glorified in and through us all.

Obedience

2010-02-11T22:07:00.000-08:00

Obedience is one of those words that has been occupying my thoughts a great deal lately. It is a word that is often mentioned in scripture. Abraham was obedient to follwot he leading of God out to Ur. He was obedient to offer Isaac as a sacrifice when he was asked to do so by God. Moses finally gave in and obeyed God's call to return to Egypt to be the tool of God's deliverance for His people. David listened to the word of God and did NOT build the temple that he so desperately wanted to build to honor God. Ezekiel ate the scroll. Joseph married Mary when common sense told him to put her away quietly. Matthew, Peter, John, James, and the rest of the disciples heard the calling of Christ and left all to follow him. Paul heard the voice of the man from Macedonia and went there to share the gospel. Lets not forget the greatest illustration of obedience in scripture, Jesus humbly accepting his death on the cross to take away the sins of the world and give us life.

The word of God reminds us that God desires obedience even more than he wants sacrifice and worship. (After all, is worship really worship if there is disobedience in our hearts?)

So why is obedience so hard for us? God asks us to do things, or not do things and something rises up in us that resists doing that which we are asked. Churches struggle financially because disciples hoard their resources and withhold tithe. Classes go untaught because people with the gift of teaching are afraid to step out on faith and exercise the gift. Worst of all, unbelievers do not hear the good news of the love of Jesus Christ because we do not tell them. Let's face it, obedience is hard.

I think somewhere deep inside us we know why it is so hard to obey God. We have yet to surrender our will as well as our life to the control of the divine one. We hold on to those last vestiges of the illusion of self-autonomy. The greatest lie that Satan deceives us with is that we are in control of our own destiny and life. The fact is that we, apart from the freedom of God's grace, are in bondage to the tyranny of our will, taste, habits, and passions. The only true freedom comes when we are liberated for and by God as we surrender the totality of our lives, including our will, to Him. It is then that we can know the peace that comes from a life of obedience and trust.

I confess that there are times when obedience costs. Yet the fact remains that the cost is not nearly what we think it will be. Obedience yields the grace of God, his care, his provision, and his presence. The reward that we receive is the image of the divine one in us, the freedom that comes in knowing if we are following the will of God, he is responsible for the results, and the peace that comes in knowing that he is faithful and will complete his work in us.

I invite you to join me on the journey that is a life of surrendered obedience. I haven't arrived perfectly yet, but he is still showing me the realities of life in him.

New Years Resolutions and Such

2009-12-31T14:05:00.000-08:00

As I write this thought, 2009 has about seven hours left in its life. By all news accounts, '09 was a bad year. The economy took its toll on people to be sure. More people are unemployed than in nearly eighty years. The dedicated men and women of our armed forces have been in harms way and taken more losses this year than in the years since the Vietnam conflict.

That being said, many people are looking forward to 2010 with the hopes that it will be a better year. The realist in my is not too sure that it will be a better year, unless folks begin to look at priorities in terms of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus has invited us to seek first his kingdom and righteousness...and all of these things will be added to you. A sacrificial love for others, pursuit of the common good, taking on the mind of Christ are just a few of the priorities of the Kingdom that are missing in our society. The absence of community and the righteous love of God has stripped us of our ability to live in harmony with God, with one another, with the world, or even with our selves. Only as we surrender our will, our agenda and our life to Christ can the world truly improve.

As you are planning out your New Year's resolutions, ask Him to reveal to you how you can seek Him and His righteousness more fully and how he may like to reveal himself more fully in you and through you.

Knowing God With Us

2009-12-18T07:53:00.000-08:00

During the past month I have been preaching a series entitled "Really Knowing Jesus." I have been thinking about, talking about, and praying about having a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. This relationship is predicated upon an ongoing intimacy with Christ. That intimacy, for most "believers" is lacking. I find that the intimacy is often lacking in my own life.

I found myself writing in my journal today asking God to open my eyes to the places in which he is revealing himself to me, where he is working in my life, and where he may be found in others and the world around me. This prayer is the heart of "God with Us." I have come to realize that the times when I do not recognize God near to me, when I can't hear his voice, are my fault, not his.

I ran across this quotation today.

God is not real to most of us because of the condition of our consciousness. He is closer to our minds every moment than your own thoughts. He is nearer to our hearts than our own feelings. He is more intimate with our wills than our most vigorous decisions. If we are not aware of him, it is not because he is not with us. It is, in part, because our consciousness is so under the sway of other interest that it cannot turn to him with the loving attention which might soon discern him.

-Albert Edward Day

Discipline and Discover

quoted in A Guide to Prayer, p. 36

I pray that you will come to open your eyes and ears, cast off the business of the world and see God with you this advent season.

God With Us

2009-12-03T07:02:00.001-08:00

Advent is a time of celebrating the first and second coming of God with us. After all, one of the names of Jesus is Emmanuel. As I have been reflecting on life recently, I have come to a new appreciation of the power and hope of God with us...especially with ME! Like so many people I am often so very guilty of living my life under the guise of my own agenda, needs, desires, and plans. Yet God wants to be involved with me every single moment of every single day. No decision, no thought that I have escapes his attention. So why do I so often miss that God is with me?

Simply put, God is there, but he does not force his way into my thoughts, attentions or life. He loves me enough to give me the ability to choose.

I stumbled across this thought today in my devotional.

He [God] comes only through doors that are purposely opened for
Him. A person may live as near to God as the bubble is to the ocean and yet
not find him. He may be "closer than breathing, nearer than hands or feet" and
still be missed.

Rufus M. Jones The Double Search

quoted in A Guide to Prayer, Shawchuck and Job, p. 21

I have been thinking about that this morning. How often do we miss the blessing that comes with being a follower of Emmanuel because we do not stop to recognize his blessed presence with us?

I pray that this advent season will be a time of God's presence touching your life in tangible and powerful ways.

Following Hard and Contending for the Faith

2009-10-10T21:03:00.001-07:00

Wow, it sure doesn't seem like it has been eight months since I last blogged here. My absence hasn't been because I haven't had any thoughts. It has been because I have been way too busy. Too busy for anyone's good, probably especially mine.

Lately I have been thinking hard about following after Jesus. That is what his calling was to his disciples, "Follow me."

Following is not necessarily a popular thing to do in our world. We value the pioneers, the self-sufficient ones who make their own way. Jesus invites us to trade all of that glory in for the subservient role of following in the sandal steps of the one who come to give us life.

Following is hard to do. Honestly, it means that I (and you) will be travelling some roads that we would rather not. Jesus walked roads that led to conflict, to sacrifice, to self-denial and ultimately to his death. He ruffled feathers. He gave hope. He associated with the downcast and downtrodden. He championed the underdog. He loved the unlovely. All in all the road that he blazed for us was most uncomfortable. He challenged his disciples to leave everything they had behind in exchange for the adventure of becoming like him. They had to follow hard after him.

The disciples lived the challenge to "contend for the faith" (Jude 3). They were prepared by Jesus to live the calling to follow hard and preserve the faith that they participated in. They became like the master to give away the master's love and to participate in his mission.

This is the same challenge that he calls us to today...to follow hard after his love and grace, to become like the master.

Just my midnight pondering...

Fear and the Future

2009-02-12T08:57:00.000-08:00

January marks a transition month in the life of our church. We are in the process of transitioning from Advent and the Season of Christmas to the season of Epiphany and Lent. We are further in the middle of planning for the transition from one church year to the next. Personally, many of us began the month by making resolutions, or at least looking forward to what 2009 might hold in store for us. Hopefully we are looking at the transition from winter and moving towards spring. Each of us as the leaders of the Ryot Church must be looking now to the future and listening for God’s calling and leading in our lives individually and collectively.
Even as the past year has brought significant change, so too 2009-2010 will likely hold significant change for us. Many fear that change. After all, change marks the passage into the unknown. We are comfortable with the past and the present, but altogether uncomfortable with the future. The future lies just beyond our control and perception. It is unknown, like looking with intent into the blackness and finding no definition, no clarification.
As leaders and as Disciples of Jesus Christ, we must not fear the future nor fear change. After all, the God that we serve is God in the future as well. We must claim Jeremiah 29.10b-11 as his promise to us, “I'll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” The Message. God’s calling to us is to be faithfully obedient and to follow him in HIS plans.
God wants to do great things in his church. The challenge for disciples and for leaders is, “Will they surrender their agendas, their resources, their talents and their lives to follow God’s will without question.” My prayer is that you will join me in this exciting journey into God’s plan.

Prayers for a Most Blessed New Year

2008-12-31T16:23:00.000-08:00

To all who will read this posting. My prayers are with you for a blessed 2009. May you experience the Prince of Peace in His awesome fullness. May the character of Jesus Christ be borne in you anew. May you know his presence in your life each and every moment of the new year. May December 31, 2009 find you closer to the heart of Jesus Christ than you are tonight.

Lessons Learned at the Moose Lodge

2008-12-27T08:08:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month I had the priveledge of attending a memorial service for Mary. What made this memorial service different was that it was held at the Moose lodge. Admittedly, I had never considered the Moose lodge as a venue to hold a memorial service. I was unsure of what to expect. I went to honor a courageous woman who was loved by many.

As I entered the hall, I was greeted by the Lodge Governor who offered me a drink, whatever I wanted. He made small-talk and generally made me feel at ease in his lodge. He introduced me to several other lodge members and officers. Several of these men were people that I knew. For the next few minutes, I had pleasant conversation and was generally made to feel important and welcome at the lodge.

The memorial service was conducted by the Ladies of the Moose. It was a very dignified and hopeful service. The ladies honored the memory of one of their own. Mary worked with these women. It was obvious that the members of the Moose lodge were her family. What struck me was that this was more than a Memorial Service, it was a service that pointed to the amazing hope we have in the care of God, who gives us life. These people boldly pointed to God as the source of comfort and hope.

Towards the end of the service, people who knew Mary were invited to stand and share memories of her. As different ones shared, tears were shed and laughter was heard. These people were there. They had no fancy or pat answers. They were there, as family, to support one another and Mary's family. They were a community.

I was honored to be a part of such a wonderful, celebratory, and loving service. True community and family were illustrated at the Moose lodge.

My prayer is that the Body of Christ would learn the lessons that I learned at the Moose lodge...

Stillness in a LOUD world

2008-12-03T07:18:00.000-08:00

The week, so far, has been an eye opener for me. The first two days of deer season have passed uneventfully. I spent Monday on stand with my youngest daughter (a real treat!) and later on my brother. During that day, hunters moved all around us. At one point in the morning, a fellow just below us on the hillside harvested a deer. My brother and I got caught up watching this fellow take care of his deer. All the while, another deer (A BUCK) was sneaking up behind us. When we became aware of his presence it was entirely too late. We were busted and could only watch the really nice buck leap away.

It became readily apparent to me that in my focus on the distractions around me, I had lost focus and my ability to hear what was going on around me. Even in the middle of the quiet of the fall woods, I had allowed my mind to become cluttered and unfocused.

I have come to realize that all too frequently, I allow this distraction to happen in my personal life and spiritual life as well. I am good at allowing things, schedules, time, other people, music, television as well as many other things to clutter my thinking, my hearing and my relationships. How many times I have found that I have been talking to people and realized some time later that I have completely missed what they said because of the clutter going on in my mind. Many times, I realize that I have missed the voice of God speaking to me because of the volume and pace of the world going on all around me.

Unfortunately, the volume only decreases when I realize all too often how dry that I really have become. In the same way that the blown opportunity to harvest a really nice buck awakened my focus for the balance of that day hunting, the internal dryness and dearth of the voice of God and meaningful relationships awakens me to my need to slow down, to turn down the world and focus on God and what really matters in life.

Of course, God already knows this. His word tells me to "step out of traffic and take a long loving look at me" (Psalm 46.10 The Message) or more well known, "be still and know that I am God." The challenge for me is to create stillness in the middle of a very LOUD world.

I guess that I just need to be still...

Beginning this Webjourney

2008-11-28T18:51:00.000-08:00

This is a whole new world for me. As I am drug into the new age of the communication of ideas, I try to move forward to make myself known and heard. What you will find here are the thoughts, ponderings, questionings, and ramblings of one who does not profess to have the answers. In fact, I have many more questions than answers. My prayer is that my journey will in some way bless you and cause to to examine your own thoughts, feelings and mental paradigms.

I would love to interact with other sojourners, so feel free to contact me, post comments or otherwise discuss what I have thrown up here for discussion.

May the presence of Jesus Christ be yours as you thoughtfully and thankfully follow him.

A