Preparation

In sports, preparation wins games.  I think that was witnessed this past weekend.  The New York Jets defeated the New England Patriots, much to the chagrin of all of New England.  I think the Pats were the better team.  They had the better coach, the better offense, the better if not the best quarterback, but they still lost the game.  The Jets are not a pushover team or a surprise team.  They were in the AFC championship last year and played well during the regular season.  But the Patriots demolished them 45-3 in week 13 of the regular season.  The Patriots were better, but for last Sunday's game the Jets had proper preparation.  Rex Ryan designed the right defensive game plan to defeat the Patriots.  His team prepared for that plan then they carried it out.  Their preparation won them the game.  Without that scheme and plan, I don't think the Jets would have won.  Preparation wins games.  I think that idea is true not just for sports.  Preparation is important for our spiritual lives.  E. M. Bounds wrote "preaching is not the performance of an hour.  It is the outflow of a life.  It takes twenty years to make a sermon, because it takes twenty years to make the man." And, "the real sermon is made in the closet. The man-God's man-is made in the closet." Bounds is essentially saying that preparation is necessary for our spiritual lives.  Writing about preachers, Bounds calls them to be men of prayer.  Prayer is the place of preparation.  Bounds writes that "much time alone with God is the secret of knowing him and of influence with him." If we are to be real people who live on mission for Christ, we must spend time in preparation.  Time in prayer knowing God, pleading with God, cherishing God. Too often I seek to do mission without proper preparation. 

How much time do you spend preparing?

May we be people of preparation as we seek to live on mission!

New Year, Same Mission

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45

Each gospel reveals to us a different side of Jesus. They all convey many of the same events but with different emphases. Matthew quotes the most Old Testament scriptures to show us that Jesus is Messiah! He is the king of the Jews. Luke is an educated doctor who writes up an orderly account to show that what took place actually took place. He highlights Jesus interactions with those outside the Jewish faith, the Gentiles. He shows that Jesus brings salvation to the entire world. John focuses on Jesus relationship to the Father. He witnessed the events that took place and recorded signs that we may believe in Jesus. He stresses that Jesus is God in the flesh. Mark wrote an action packed gospel. Jesus is always on the move in the gospel of Mark. Mark directs us to see Jesus as the suffering servant sent by God. He came to be a crucified Savior.

As we enter 2011, we are a church on mission. God has established Londonderry Christian Church to be a people who serve others and share the good news. We are real people who love the real God in real relationships. In order to remain focused on the mission God has given us, we are going to be looking at the life of Jesus revealed in the gospel of Mark. We will follow Jesus, the Man on a Mission, as he seeks to live out the life of the suffering servant. My hope is that as we follow Jesus we will catch a fire for his mission to serve! He was a Man on a Mission may we be a People on a Mission!

Why Pray?

Why do we pray? 

I am in the midst of studying for my sermon this Sunday.  My text for Sunday is James 5:13-20.  This passage is about prayer.  As I have been studying this passage, the opening question struck me.  Why do we pray?  Prayer is almost universal.  I have not yet met a person who responds negatively to prayer.  In the last few weeks, I have started asking my servers at restaurants if there is anything that I can pray for them about when I pray before my meal.  So far, I have not had anyone who responded negatively.  Some have given shallow answers, some have expressed how often they pray, but none so far has told me not to pray for them.  Most people are open to prayer and when push comes to shove desire prayer.  People who don't attend church or don't claim belief in God will still seek prayer when they or a member of their family becomes sick.  Something deep inside of us resonates with prayer.  We have a need to cry out to something or someone greater than ourselves when tragedy strikes.  So, why do we pray?  We pray because we need to pray.  We need something or someone to be out there to intervene in our lives.  But ultimately, we pray because God is and God cares.  We pray because God hears our prayers.  We pray because God can change our reality, though he doesn't always.  We pray because it makes a difference.  Not every prayer is answered in the ways that we want.  But every time that I have prayed fervently for something, I have been changed.  My prayer may not be answered the way I want it to be, but my prayers have been effective. We pray because the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective!

A Rebel in Disguise

I grew up as a good kid.  You could ask my parents, my teachers, my coaches, and I am sure they would say that I was a good kid.  I was not a rebel.  I went to school.  I did my homework.  I participated in practice regardless of playing time.  I went to work.  I came home before curfew.  I was termed by some a "goody two shoes."  I was a good kid.  I was not in rebellion, at least not in the way we think of rebellion.  We think of rebellion as open outright defiant rebellion.  I have had childhood friends who went through outright rebellion.  They were raised a certain way.  They were in Sunday School alongside me.  They went to church Youth Group in middle school.  Then in high school, they rebelled against what they had been taught or what their parents had tried to instill in them.  That is what we usually think of as rebellion.  In that sense, I have never rebelled.  But, I have been in rebellion.  Open rebellion is easy to see.  Yet, my rebellion was not easy to see.  I was a rebel in disguise.  I looked right on the outside but on the inside I rebelled.  I found ways to passively rebel.  In my private life, I would consume myself with my wants and desires.  I made my heart all about me.  From the outside, I looked good but on the inside I was rotting.  Covert rebellion is dangerous.  It can go on for years without any notice, with no one knowing.  The longer covert rebellion goes on the worse our heart condition becomes until eventually covert rebellion becomes outright rebellion.   It allows us to become cold, calloused, and hardened.  My rebellion pushed me away from God and away from those I love.  I was selfish and arrogant.  My relationshps suffered.  My heart suffered until I let others see a glimpse of my interior world.  They confronted the calloused state of my heart.  Through their courage and God's abundant grace, I repented of my rebellion.  That change allowed me to renew my relationships and find peace again.  Rebellion leads to misery, repentance returns us to grace. 

Faith That Changes

As I studied for this past Sunday's sermon the same word kept coming to mind.  Repent.  I remember the first time I was taught about that word, I was a 4th grader at camp.  The counselors told us that to repent meant to switch teams.  It was like going from one side to the other.  It would be like doing what my dad did when he stopped cheering for the St. Louis Cardinals and became a Chicago Cubs fan.  He changed teams.  Too bad, it was to the wrong team.  To repent means to change. At camp, I thought to repent was a one time action.  I would do it once and I would be good.  Jesus and John the Baptist called people to repent during their ministries.  "Repent for the kindom of heaven is near."  I have learned since that time as a 4th grader that repentance is an ongoing process, not a one time action.  Jesus calls me to repent daily.  Each time I discover some area of my life that is not pleasing to Jesus, I repent.  I turn from that sin and I move back to God.  I repent.  God has been showing me lately that my I need to repent from fear.  I have been afraid of other people's opinions of me.  I have been afraid of speaking up and speaking out.  I have been reminded that I have no need to fear, so I repent from fear and turn back to God. 

What do you need to repent from? 

How can you make repentance an ongoing part of your life? 

Real Faith changes when it continually repents.

Faith That Transforms

This past Sunday, we continued our series "Real Faith" on the book of James.  This week, we looked at James 1:19-27.  We zoned in on how real faith is demonstrated by transformed lives.  James ends this section with this verse, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  James sums up this section by reminding us that transformation occurs when we have two important things happening in our lives.  He says care for oprhans and widows, which means to help the helpless.  He is urging us to social action.  Real Faith acts.  It is not about knowing or believing the right things.  That is part of it.  It is about doing the right things, helping the helpless.  The second thing is to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  He is calling us to pursue holiness, to rid ourselves of moral filth and decay.  Real Faith pursue holiness with passion and acts to help the helpless.  As an action out of the sermon, we had representatives from Love146 share with us how to get involved to help in the fight against human trafficking. 


Here are some ways that we can help (from 146 ways to get involved):


1) Memorize and share the statistics about child sex slavery
2) Post Love146.org as an interest on your facebook page
3) Write Love146.org on all your paper money
4) Send the video of Love146.org on youtube to family and friends
5) Organize a Love146 house party and invite your friends
6) Tell people about Love146.org on your voicemail message
7) Organize a Love146.org Task Force in your area


Real Faith Helps the Helpless...Love146.org

WCNE!

3 of the last 4 weeks, I had the privilege to serve as the speaker for workcampNE.  workcampNE is a christian camp that serves elderly, disabled, and under-resourced residents of the Northeast.  This year, we served 2 weeks in the Kennebunk, ME area and 1 week in the Sunapee, NH area.  The first two weeks in Kennebunk were high school and the 1 Sunappe week was Middle School.  It was blessing to see these students serve God and others with all their heart.  Lives were changed!  It was a great 3 weeks!  Way to Go workcampNE! Great job!

The Shack and Other Readings

Well, so much for posting every couple weeks.  I can give excuses that are plausible and reasonably legitimate.  November led into the Holiday Season.  Thanksgiving is the gateway into Christmas then New Years.  Ministry and work became very busy following Thanksgiving.  Then, Joanna and I traveled back to IL for 11 days on Christmas.  Once we returned to the NH the next couple weeks I was focused on getting back to normal and catching up on what I had gotten behind on.  Now, I have caught up and have implemented some new disciplines into my life.  New in sense that a used car is new.  I did not think of them and have done these disciplines before but I have not consistently done them in awhile.  In January, I started a year long Bible reading plan.  By Dec 31, I will have read every verse in scripture in a year.  I am currently in the book of Exodus and the gospel of Matthew.  Bible reading is not one of the new disciplines.  I have been devotionally reading the Bible for many years, but this is my first time with a read the Bible in a year plan.  The second discipline came out of listening to Dr. William Lane Craig's Reasonable Faith podcast.  In one of the podcasts, Dr. Craig spoke about his personal devotional time.  He mentioned the he reads at least 2 pages a day of book on Church History (the actual work escapes me at the moment).  Inspired by this, I have begun to read at least 2 pages a day of Theology for the Community of God by Stanley Grenz to sharpen my theological thinking.  I am planning on reading The Gagging of God by D. A. Carson following Grenz' work.  As an added piece to my devotional time, I am reading 1 chapter a day of a christian living/leadership/ministry related book.  Tomorrow I will finish Revelation's Rhapsody: Listening to the Lyrics of the Lamb by Dr. Robert Lowery.  (If you have not read this book on Revelation, you should!  I can't recommend this book highly enough!)  I am also in the middle of Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan.  It has been a challenging and inspiring read so far.

On a separate yet related note, I finished reading The Shack by William Young last week.  I had heard mixed reviews but I was interested.  I thought it was a very good book.  I did not find anything that I completely disagreed with in the book.  I though his portrayal of God was consistent and understandable in the story.  The picture he painted of Jesus was beautiful.  I was moved by the scene of creation worshipping Christ.  I long to see that day when all will be set right and I see my Savior.  I was reminded while reading the Shack and Theology for the Community of God that God is love.  Love is not just an attribute of God, but love is a part of who God is.  The love I see and experience today is a shadow compared to real love.  The love I try to give is weak compared to the love of God.  This does sadden or frustrate me.  Instead, I am in awe.  I am in awe that God is love and that he has revealed that love to me through his Son.  The scars my Savior bears are the wounds of love.  He carries them so that all will know the depth of his love for me!

What are you reading?

What are your thoughts on The Shack?

Dave

Thanks!

I am thankful for my beautiful wife and how she loves me!  I am thankful for my family that supports me and raised me to have a good work ethic, responsibility, integrity, and love of Christ.  I am thankful for my friends who encourage me, minister alongside me, and celebrate good times with me.  I am thankful for the Therriens who are allowing Joanna and I to live with them.  I am thankful for Londonderry Christian Church who allows me to preach and teach God's word!  I am thankful for committed Christians in New England who desire to see revival sweep across the globe.  I am thankful for my Savior who has forgiven my sin and shown me a new way to live in the kingdom of Christ.  I am thankful for the life my Blessed Creator has chosen me to lead!

I am thankful to each of you who has read my posts in the past and who will read my posts in the future.  I hope you have been blessed by them!

Blessings!

Thankful?

Give Thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever!

Give Thanks to the God of gods; his love endures forever!

Give Thanks to the Lord of lords; his love endures forever!

Give Thanks to the God of heave; his love endures forever!

Psalm 136:1-3, 26

Give Thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus!

1 Thessalonians 5:18

It is cliché, but I appreciate the reminder that Thanksgiving serves.  Each year, we have designated a day to remind us to give thanks.  At times the giving thanks portion gets overlooked as we gorge ourselves on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie all in preparation for the shopping frenzy that is Black Friday. 

But, I want to remind us to pause and give thanks.  Whether you did this on Thanksgiving or not, take time now to pause and give thanks for all God has given you.  I am thankful for my wife and my family.  I am thankful for my friends.  I am thankful for this church.  I am thankful for the privilege to serve God in ministry.  I am thankful for the ability to get out of bed each morning.  Those are easy things to give thanks for. 

1 Thessalonians says that God’s will for us is to give thanks in all circumstances.  Many of us may be in tough life situations right now.  We may be jobless, without a loved one, in broken relationships, or battling health problems, but we are to give thanks despite these things.  The Bible teaches that in this world we will have trouble.  We are not to expect an easy life.  We live in a world that is in rebellion to God.  Our bodies fail.  Our relationships suffer.  God said that people will mistreat us, insult us, and mock us because we have chosen to follow Christ.  But, Jesus said, “take heart for I have overcome the world.”  Even in difficult circumstances, we can give thanks because of Christ.  I thank God that though I live in a rebellious world I follow a Savior who has overcome the world.  I thank God that I have a Savior who went to the cross on my behalf.  I thank God for Jesus who loves me and gave himself up for me.  Are you thankful?  Can you give thanks in all circumstances?  

May we each seek to give thanks to God for what he has done through Christ!

Citizenship

"But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."

Philippians 3:20-21

I struggle with citizenship.  I was born at a hospital in Williamson County in the United States of America that makes me a citizen of the USA.  I have voting privileges.  I pay taxes, albeit grudgingly.  I am protected by the police, emergency services, and the military.  I obey the laws of the land, at least the major ones.  I have a problem with the one about a speed limit.  I live in the USA, but the Bible teaches me that I am not truly a citizen of the USA.  I have dual citizenship.  I am a citizen of the USA and a citizen of the kingdom of God.  However, these citizenships are not equal.  They are not on a level field, one is more important than the other.  My citizenship in God's kingdom is my true citizenship.  The kingdom is my true home.  It is the home that I was made for, but many days I don't live that way.  I live as if my only home is the USA.  Jesus tells me that my loyalty is not to my homeland, my parents, my wife, my friends, my job.  He says that my loyalty is to him alone.

So, what does it mean to live in America as a citizen of the kingdom of Christ?  Does it mean I go to church on Sunday and do good things?  Does it mean that I rebel against America and become an ascetic?  Does it mean I protest the military and war?  Does it mean that I become so heavenly minded that I am of no earthly good?  Does it mean that I obey the earthly authorities over me as long as their laws don't break the laws of Christ?

My current thought is that I am to be so heavenly minded that I am forced to be of earthly good.  As I am transfixed by the Savior, I must follow his example to touch, teach, feed, clothe, rebuke, love, and honor those I meet.

Take Two

It has been awhile since I last posted.  Life has been very busy, and I have been unsure of what to post.  Here are the basics:  December 31, 2008 I married Joanna Ragan.  We had an amazing wedding and great reception.  We learned how extremely blessed we are during the weeks leading up to and the day of our wedding.  Our family and friends came together to pull off a great party for everyone involved.  May 2009 I resigned from my role as Associate/Youth Pastor at Mason City Christian Church.  July 12, 2009 was our last day at Mason City.  It was a tear filled day.  Again, God revealed to us how blessed we are.  The students and people at Mason City are dearly missed by us.  July 19, 2009 was our first day at Londonderry Christian Church.  We moved from central IL to New England.  Amazingly, it has not been as difficult a transition as anticipated.  It has been fulfilling to preach from God's Word each Sunday here in Londonderry.  That are the big points of what has been going on, if you would like more details please let me know.

Now that life has settled somewhat I plan to resume regular posting.  My goal is to have a weekly post covering a range of topics.  I hope some of you will decide to read and respond.

Dave

Grace Before

“I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

-Exodus 20:1

“I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

-Deuteronomy 5:6

Each of these verses precedes the two places in the Old Testament that contain the Ten Commandments. These Ten Commandments are the summation of the Law. All of the Law that Israel was called to obey is contained in these commands, the rest of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, is an expounding of these commands. Both times before God spells out the demands of his covenant with his people, he says, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” In other words, he is saying, “I redeemed you!” I took you out of slavery. I defeated the Egyptians on your behalf. I heard your cry and I acted. I did something that you did not deserve. I shined my grace on you.

There is a common misconception that the Old Testament is the Testament of Law devoid of grace. Too often, we miss those verses at the beginning of the Ten Commandments. We skip straight to the commands and miss the grace. God is asking his people to obey his commands, to covenant with him upon the basis of his gracious action. He is not telling them to obey without an inclination of how he will act toward them. He has shown his loving kindness to them by redeeming them from slavery in Egypt. God acted first. He redeemed them. Then, he says if you want to live a life of blessing follow my commands. This is important for two reasons. One, it keeps us in harmony with God so that we are close to him. Two, God’s plan for life keeps us in harmony with others and ourselves. Following God’s commands brings us back into harmony with the relationships sin destroyed. We follow his commands and obey him, not because he is a harsh taskmaster, but because God first gave us his grace. He says to us, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of sin, out of the land of slavery.” “I have redeemed you!” May we follow our God of grace and live out his commands in response to his great loving kindness to us!

And a litte child shall lead them all?

“People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.” -Mark 10:13-16

A couple of weeks ago, I watched a video clip online about a group of teenage girls who basically kidnapped and assaulted a fellow student in an attempt to become famous. They lured this girl into a “friend’s” house where one of the girls physically assaulted her. The girl who was attacked suffered a concussion plus other physical and emotional damage. She has since been taken out of her high school to be home schooled. The girls who attacked her videotaped the attack so that they could post it on youtube.com. They hoped to become famous. Instead, they have become infamous. Today on foxnews.com, I read a story about a growing trend among adolescents to send nude pictures of themselves to their boyfriends, girlfriends, and other classmates. These pictures are being forwarded by the students who received them to other students, and some of them are making it on to websites. I read another story on foxnews.com about a British girl who started drinking at 12 years of age and experienced liver failure at 14. This girl is 18 now, but continues to drink. She did not realize that her drinking was out of control. She says, “I didn’t think my drinking was a problem because all my friends were getting wasted every weekend as well. But, now I have no short-term memory and doctors warn me that if I drink anymore I will die.”

I share all these stories not to depress us or shame us, but to keep us aware that the youth of today are under attack. I know that for each of these horror stories about our youth there are plenty of great stories about kids doing the right things and serving God, but we must remain alert to the needs of our youth. Jesus says that he wants the little children to come to him. We must not hinder them. I think we must move beyond that to guiding them towards Christ. We must strive to find new ways to reach this generation for Christ. If we don’t reach this generation for Christ, who will lead the Church in the future?

Arise My Love

As I examine my life, I notice that I tend to go (like most of us) through hills and valleys. Lately, I have been in an valley. My spiritual life has been good. My time with God has been productive. I have felt God's presence and blessing in my life. But at times, I find myself shrinking. I begin to shrink into myself. I stop living out my warrior calling. I become frightened. I lack courage. This leads to becoming unmotivated and lazy. I start simply going through the motions. I stop pushing myself. I quit trying to better myself. But, God in his infinite mercy and grace does not let me lie dormant. He uses circumstances, people, and events to expose my fear. He begins putting me in situations where I have to stand up and be courageous. He calls me out. Arise my love. Awaken. Take up the weapons at your feet. Stand Firm. Fight. Live. Move. Arise my love. The battle is joined before you and your strength is needed. Your wisdom is needed. Your talents are needed. You are needed. Again, I have been wakened from my slumber. I have fears, but my God is bigger than them. I have concerns but he is greater. I have power, not by my doing, but from his loving hand. Arise my love. Wake up o sleeper! Be strong and courageous! Stand Firm! Remember your first love! Arise. Awaken. Fight. Stand.

The Gates of Hell

“we will wear compassion, we will wear it on our chests, and the gates of Hell won’t stand against us, we will wear compassion, we will wear it on our chests, and the gates of Hell won’t stand against us.” -As Cities Burn

“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” -Matthew 16:18

For a long time, I have understood this passage to mean that no matter how bad the world might become or how bad things may seem; take heart because the gates of Hell will never overcome the Church. Even through the darkest night, the Church would remain. Satan and his army may attack us and rail against us, but we will not be overcome. We will stand firm and remain. Last night, I heard a different take on this idea. A friend of mine was sharing how we often have a wrong few of this verse. We think what I thought, Satan will attack us but we will not be overcome. He went on to say that the verse says the gates of Hades will not overcome us. Gates by nature and definition are defensive structures. Gates are not used for attack. They are used to keep invaders out, not to take an invasion to someone. He said this verse is about the Church being on the offensive. If we are going out to places where there is wrong being done, where injustice is rampant and fight against it, the gates of Hell will not be able to prevail against us. We will have the victory.

The problem in our world today is that the Church has become too defensive, afraid of the gates of Hades, when we are called to be more than conquerors. The Greek term for gate backs this idea up. It is a defensive structure for keeping invaders out. The Jews would have understood Jesus teaching to mean that the Church on the offensive would prevail against the gates of Hell. Hades was not seen as a place from which evil powers emerged to attack humans. It was a place where the gates prevented escape and barred invaders. Jesus is saying his Church will invade the domain of Hell and the gates will not be able to prevail against us. They will not stand against us. I am not advocating we go on the warpath against Satan. I am saying we must be on the offensive to fight social injustice, economic injustice, racial injustice, and moral injustice in our homes, our communities, our country, and our world. We must actively fight against evil and if we do, the gates of Hell will not stand against us.

The Need for Better Men

“We are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or organization. God’s plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God’s method. The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.”

-E. M. Bounds 1907

The words of E. M. Bounds ring true even today. They were first penned in 1907, but today at the close of 2007 they are a prophetic voice. A century has passed and we still delude ourselves. We tell ourselves that the problems we face in reaching the lost are bad methods, bad programs, bad administration, bad organization, and bad plans. In the past century, we have witnessed the Sunday School Boom, the Mega Church Movement, the Business Model Approach, the Small Groups Methodology, the Emerging Church, and the House Church Shift. All were new ways guaranteed to help the Church reach the lost. While each of these methods and movements has been helpful, they have not been the key to reaching our world for Christ. They have fallen short. Or maybe, it wasn’t them. Maybe, we have fallen short.

Bounds points out “men are God’s method. The church is looking for better methods, but God is looking for better men.” We have abandoned the hard task of being better people for the quick fix of better methods. The task God has set out for us is the hardest task known to man, the task of becoming like Christ. Praise be to God that he does not leave us alone, but sent his Holy Spirit to transform us. But, this transformation is a cooperative event. We must commit ourselves to the hard task of character formation in partnership with the Holy Spirit. Only when we commit to becoming better men can we expect to begin to see God’s method move forward. God wants to use each of us to reach the lost. Are you ready to be used by God? Are you ready to be a better man, woman, teenager, husband, wife, son, daughter, and human being? God is ready. Are you? Am I?

The Doldrums

For the last few months, I am been in the doldrums. I have been going through the motions. I have been living, breathing, and moving; but I have not been right. It felt like I was walking through a fog. I was moving but without direction or knowledge of where I was going. It felt like a dream I often have. The dream is of me sleeping and desiring to wake up. I realize that I need to awaken but for some reason my eyes won't open. My brain is functioning like I am wide awake, but I am unable to see anything. I fight and struggle to wake up but to no avail. I am blind. As I reflect on this dream, I wonder if this wasn't a mere dream but a vision of my reality for the last few months. I was awake but not really. I don't know the exact reasons for this, but I have some guesses. I believe I have been under spiritual attack. I believe I had forgotten my passion. I believe I had been running to others for strength. I know that I had been neglecting my Savior. But, the doldrums have passed and sight has returned. Last week, God broke through the fog and reminded me of where my true strength resides, only in him. Finally, I have returned. I am back and ready to retake my place in the line fighting against the enemy. I will stand in the gap. I will stand firm in God's mighty power. Who will fight alongside me?

Jars of Clay

This was written for my Church's Newsletter, but i thought it would be good to post on here as well.

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:7-9

One truth God has been teaching me for a while is that he delights in weakness. God loves to take the times we are weak and use them for his glory. He hungers to take our weak moments and show us that he is near. In the text above, Paul is saying that the treasure, which is the gospel, housed in jars of clay, which is us. Jars of clay were simply what they sound like pots made of clay. They were not perfect. They were not the strongest. They were breakable. But, God put his treasure in these breakable jars so that his glory would be seen. In their breakability and weakness, he would be their strength. In the last year our congregation as a whole and as its individual parts has been pushed to the breaking point. We have been hard pressed on every side. We have been perplexed. We have been persecuted. We have been struck down. However, we have NOT been crushed. We have NOT been despaired. We have NOT been abandoned. We have NOT been destroyed. None of this has been by our own power or strength, but by the Power and Strength of the Lord. “My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness.” We have been weak and near breaking, but Christ’s power is made perfect in our weakness. IF we can rest in his power and his strength, then he will continue to bind us together and heal us.

Doorless Cafes and Stained Glass

My favorite painting is by Edward Hopper. It is called Nighthawks. It is a scene of a New York Café with 3 customers and 1 man working behind the counter. Two of the customers, a man and a woman, are sitting close together with their hands almost touching. The other customer is a man sitting on the other side of them all by himself. The interesting and intriguing part of this painting is that there are no doors into the café. The interior of the café is well lit and inviting, but no one can come in or leave. The refreshment and relaxation the café could offer to the outsider is unavailable. People can only pass by and look in but never participate. This café is for insiders only.

Another piece of art that I really appreciate are the two giant stained glass windows in our sanctuary. They have vibrant color and detail. Each of them portrays an awesome story from Scripture. One shows that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and the other shows his appearance to Mary Magdalene after his resurrection. These are beautiful windows, but that is when they are viewed from the inside. When you look at them from the outside, they appear dull and lifeless. The vibrant color is not seen. The detail cannot be perceived. They convey the message that their beauty is only for those on the inside, not for the passerby. Similar to the café in the Nighthawks painting, these windows are only for the insiders. Yet, Christ told us that we must be focused on the outsider. He came to seek and save the lost (those outside). He told three parables in Luke 15 about this focus. The searcher’s focus in each parable (lost sheep, lost coin, lost son) was on finding what was lost. The searchers did not stop until they found what was lost. The search was their sole focus and priority. The father scanned the horizon continually until he saw his son returning. Then he ran (which was a no no in his day for him to do) to his son. The searchers were relentless in their pursuit. When we look at our beautiful stained glass windows, let’s appreciate their beauty, but we can’t stop there. We must be motivated to focus on bringing more people inside so that they too can appreciate their beauty. Our pursuit of those God loves (all people) must be relentless. We cannot become a café for the insiders only; we must be a loving family for outsiders to meet God and become a part of his family.