I haven't blogged in a long time. It's amazing how sick of writing you get when you have to do it for classes. I should finish up my Masters in Religion and Pastoral Counseling this year, that is my goal anyway. So far I have a 4.0, which I haven't had since well, nevermind.
The biggest event in my life since I last blogged was Jayden accepting Christ as his personal savior. The question of how much a child understands, and how early is too early is always difficult, but I know Jayden gets it. There is a good article on child evangelism at this site... http://www.frontlinemin.org/childevangelism.asp I would recommend anybody with kids, or that works with kids to read it. As parents our number one ministry is to our family, and there is nothing more important than explaining salvation to our kids so they can make their choice. Maybe one day I'll put together a post just on sharing your faith with your own children.
Celebrate Recovery has become a large part of my life. I have grown over the last few months in ways I never thought I needed to grow. Some of the healing I have experienced just by being with a group of guys that struggle with some of the same issues while we support each other has opened my understanding Christian fellowship to a whole new level. It is my prayer that more can surrender to God's will and direction for their lives in the same way, whether with CR or not.
I would describe my current life as comfortably uncomfortable. I have learned to accept and appreciate that I can be happy while remaining uncomfortable. This is a good thing, because I believe we must be uncomfortable if we want to achieve anything. I know their are some people that get by off others' sacrifices, but I don't consider that success. I believe God will always challenge us if we let Him. If we aren't being challenged, we aren't growing. If we aren't uncomfortable, than we aren't doing anything. I have accepted that I actually need to be uncomfortable if I am going to serve God in any capacity. I am ok with that. I can deal with life in that way. I'm comfortable with the whole idea. I am comfortably uncomfortable.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Love Speak
So much of our lives revolve around communication. The way we engage each other, the way we teach and learn from one another, even the way we feel about ourselves is directly influenced by communication. Most communication we deal with is non-verbal, and sometimes in contrast to what is said verbally. We may say, "Yeah honey, you look great in that Moo Moo!" but the look of disgust on our faces tells the obvious truth. Christ tells us to love others, and to show love we must communicate.
What is it we are communicating to those who are difficult to love? Are we telling them we love them as we look for an exit? Are we verbally telling out spouse we forgive them, yet letting our body language say we will hold a grudge?
If we are believers, we have no choice but to love, but it shouldn't be viewed as a requirement. We love others because the love we have received. We shouldn't do it out of guilt, and we should never fake it for vain obedience.
Take the time to tell people you love them, with more than words (insert song if you like).
What is it we are communicating to those who are difficult to love? Are we telling them we love them as we look for an exit? Are we verbally telling out spouse we forgive them, yet letting our body language say we will hold a grudge?
If we are believers, we have no choice but to love, but it shouldn't be viewed as a requirement. We love others because the love we have received. We shouldn't do it out of guilt, and we should never fake it for vain obedience.
Take the time to tell people you love them, with more than words (insert song if you like).
Friday, October 23, 2009
Happy day! It's almost snow time!
I had a great time at our open house last week. Thanks to all who came, it was fun to fill the house with friends. I have basically spent the week preparing for winter. I put new a plugs and a battery in "Sarge", put a new fuel line on the snow blower, cleaned up the garage, bought flashlights, and got sticks to mark the side of the drive so I don't plow the yard. Next I am getting snow tires for the car.
It is a lot of work preparing for the coming storms. I seem to be putting lots of time doing things that I can't see any real results from for a while (some of you are hoping a LONG while). I actually can't wait to fire up the Jeep and plow away. Once the snow comes, hopefully I'll be prepared. I'm sure we will still have problems, but the preparation should make most of it much easier to deal with.
Life works the same way. We know the storms will come, and we should prepare for them. If we aren't prepared, then the smallest storm can became a major life crisis. The storms can overwhelm us if don't prepare ourselves ahead of time. Too often we don't think about it. We are too busy enjoying the "mountain top" to think about the coming valleys. I'm not saying we shouldn't enjoy the mountain top, but we know that troubles will come our way and we should prepare for them while it's easier to do so. I was able to complete a great deal of my prep work when it was 75 degrees outside. I was able to enjoy the sun and comforting warmth while getting work done. We should enjoy the Son's comfort while we are working on ourselves to prepare for life's troubles. If we are growing spiritually and daily communing with God when things are good, we won't be desperately trying to contact Him when they aren't. We'll have had Him with us every step of the way.
Plug time-- We are halfway through Life's Healing Choices at Sonrise, and are closing in our official Celebration Service for Celebrate Recovery (CR). If we can poor ourselves into learning how to overcome our hurts, hangups, and habits when times are good, we can better apply that knowledge to getting through them when times are bad. CR is great for doing both the prep work and the recovery process. The Celebration Service is Friday, November 13th at Sonrise.
It is a lot of work preparing for the coming storms. I seem to be putting lots of time doing things that I can't see any real results from for a while (some of you are hoping a LONG while). I actually can't wait to fire up the Jeep and plow away. Once the snow comes, hopefully I'll be prepared. I'm sure we will still have problems, but the preparation should make most of it much easier to deal with.
Life works the same way. We know the storms will come, and we should prepare for them. If we aren't prepared, then the smallest storm can became a major life crisis. The storms can overwhelm us if don't prepare ourselves ahead of time. Too often we don't think about it. We are too busy enjoying the "mountain top" to think about the coming valleys. I'm not saying we shouldn't enjoy the mountain top, but we know that troubles will come our way and we should prepare for them while it's easier to do so. I was able to complete a great deal of my prep work when it was 75 degrees outside. I was able to enjoy the sun and comforting warmth while getting work done. We should enjoy the Son's comfort while we are working on ourselves to prepare for life's troubles. If we are growing spiritually and daily communing with God when things are good, we won't be desperately trying to contact Him when they aren't. We'll have had Him with us every step of the way.
Plug time-- We are halfway through Life's Healing Choices at Sonrise, and are closing in our official Celebration Service for Celebrate Recovery (CR). If we can poor ourselves into learning how to overcome our hurts, hangups, and habits when times are good, we can better apply that knowledge to getting through them when times are bad. CR is great for doing both the prep work and the recovery process. The Celebration Service is Friday, November 13th at Sonrise.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Growing Toward Rest
The past few weeks have been a spiritual step ladder. It's always fun to have spiritual highs, but this has been even better. It has been a steady growth, moving step by step, toward a deeper relationship with Christ. Personal reflection along with a fresh injection of Christ's teachings have provided a new awakening to the love of God for us. This past weekend, for example, was amazing to see God working in the hearts of those at Sonrise. I was thrilled to be able to share what God was showing me about giving EVERYTHING to Him and the healing that doing so can bring.
I talked about it this past Sunday, but it seems to keep coming up to me. If we are unwilling to give EVERYTHING to God, than we cannot heal. The things we decide to hold back are the things we need healing from. It is easy to give God the good things, but we try to hang on to our hurts, hang-ups, and habits. Those are exactly what we need healing from!
The basic reason we don't want to give those up is fear. We fear that God can't love us the way we are, that He can't heal us from our past, that He can't help us overcome the things we struggle with, or that we will have to give up the sins we cherish. Quite honestly, we fear commitment.
The verse that has become my current favorite address this struggle is 2 Timothy 1:7. Christ hasn't given us the spirit of fear, but the spirit of power, love, and self-control. Those are exactly what we need to be made whole. Who wouldn't jump at the offer to receive power over that which we are powerless, love for where we are unlovely, and self-control to overcome our personal struggles? All He wants us to do is commit to Him, give Him all our burdens, and He will give us rest. I am happy to be getting that. I enjoy resting in Him.
I talked about it this past Sunday, but it seems to keep coming up to me. If we are unwilling to give EVERYTHING to God, than we cannot heal. The things we decide to hold back are the things we need healing from. It is easy to give God the good things, but we try to hang on to our hurts, hang-ups, and habits. Those are exactly what we need healing from!
The basic reason we don't want to give those up is fear. We fear that God can't love us the way we are, that He can't heal us from our past, that He can't help us overcome the things we struggle with, or that we will have to give up the sins we cherish. Quite honestly, we fear commitment.
The verse that has become my current favorite address this struggle is 2 Timothy 1:7. Christ hasn't given us the spirit of fear, but the spirit of power, love, and self-control. Those are exactly what we need to be made whole. Who wouldn't jump at the offer to receive power over that which we are powerless, love for where we are unlovely, and self-control to overcome our personal struggles? All He wants us to do is commit to Him, give Him all our burdens, and He will give us rest. I am happy to be getting that. I enjoy resting in Him.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Time to make a change
We started Life's Healing Choices this week. It's always encouraging when you've been looking forward to something for a long time for it to finally arrive. One of the points made in the book is that we don't make any changes until the pain in our lives is greater than the pain related with making that change. How much pain do we want to go through before we change?
I have a pretty high pain tolerance. I don't like pain, but I can deal with it. This allows me to do some really stupid things, not caring about the physical consequences. While playing football on astroturf I continually tore my knee up. It was like sliding on gravel every time I dove to make a play. When it came game time, I intentionally banged my knee on the wall to open it up a bit so I wouldn't be bothered the whole game by it. Here's an idea, how about wrapping it? I guess that would have been too much trouble and I would have missed playing time.
I do the same thing relationally. It takes me a long time to decide to stop the bleeding when things go bad. I don't mind being hurt a bit, but if it keeps happening, a change is needed. Rather than beating ourselves up over things, we need to let God just wrap it up. We can't fix it ourselves, or we already would have. We can't, so we don't.
I have a pretty high pain tolerance. I don't like pain, but I can deal with it. This allows me to do some really stupid things, not caring about the physical consequences. While playing football on astroturf I continually tore my knee up. It was like sliding on gravel every time I dove to make a play. When it came game time, I intentionally banged my knee on the wall to open it up a bit so I wouldn't be bothered the whole game by it. Here's an idea, how about wrapping it? I guess that would have been too much trouble and I would have missed playing time.
I do the same thing relationally. It takes me a long time to decide to stop the bleeding when things go bad. I don't mind being hurt a bit, but if it keeps happening, a change is needed. Rather than beating ourselves up over things, we need to let God just wrap it up. We can't fix it ourselves, or we already would have. We can't, so we don't.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Never too old
I have been waiting a long time now to start my Masters degree program. My scholarship finally went through, so I can start in a few weeks now. I already feel old going back to get another degree, but when it's free, I can't refuse that!
I do have a complaint to lodge about people in general. Why do people never return phone calls? It took me 8 months to get in contact with the people for the scholarship. I have been waiting 3 months for an insurance agent to call back. I don't need to go into all the calls dealing with our house people refused to return. What is it? I don't know that there can be anything more unprofessional than not returning calls from clients/customers/friends whatever they may be. I took the time to call because it was important. There is a good chance I don't really want to talk to you about it either if it has been months, but I have to. Is it really that hard to return a phone call, or even an email?
My blog has been to "churchy" so I had to throw this one in the mix. Whatever.
I do have a complaint to lodge about people in general. Why do people never return phone calls? It took me 8 months to get in contact with the people for the scholarship. I have been waiting 3 months for an insurance agent to call back. I don't need to go into all the calls dealing with our house people refused to return. What is it? I don't know that there can be anything more unprofessional than not returning calls from clients/customers/friends whatever they may be. I took the time to call because it was important. There is a good chance I don't really want to talk to you about it either if it has been months, but I have to. Is it really that hard to return a phone call, or even an email?
My blog has been to "churchy" so I had to throw this one in the mix. Whatever.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Real Serenity
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
Unfortunately, most people never read the whole prayer. They end without acknowledging that hardship is part of life, and that Jesus will make all things right in the end if we surrender to Him.
My favorite part is the prayer that I will be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Our faith in Christ guarantees us eternal happiness with him. I taught this week on how much better Heaven is than the box of cotton balls portail we get from Hollywood.
I want to talk about this life. What is reasonably happy? I think that is the definition of content. There is two sides to this, one being the obvious. We need to find joy in spite of our troubles. We need to find happiness through all circumstances, no matter how difficult that is. This is the most obvious point of being reasonably happy, because this is where we struggle the most. I see myself as reasonably happy. I like my life. I have everything I could ask for in life, and then some. Sure I have problems to fight through, but I do my best to not let them steal my happiness. My happiness is in Christ, my "crutch" if you want to call it that. I don't care, I'm willing to admit I'm broken and need Him. If you are more hard-headed and would like to try to fix your own brokenness, go right ahead. I'll let the one who created me take care of it. That is a different subject, but I want to leave it in here because it needs to be said. The point is, even though struggles come, I can always focus on the end result. One day I'll be with Jesus and He will make everything right.
Which brings me to the other side. We can't be fully happy in this life. Even our founders wanted to insure the pursuit of happiness. Serenity and contentment are based on the knowledge that we will never be fully happy in this life. This life is messed up. Our bodies are broken, our morals are broken, our families are broken, even our mentors/idols are broken. To top it all off, we remain separated from our creator until our lives here come to an end. We need to embrace that the only time we can be supremely happy is when we see Him face to face, and he makes all things right.
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
--Reinhold Niebuhr
Unfortunately, most people never read the whole prayer. They end without acknowledging that hardship is part of life, and that Jesus will make all things right in the end if we surrender to Him.
My favorite part is the prayer that I will be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Our faith in Christ guarantees us eternal happiness with him. I taught this week on how much better Heaven is than the box of cotton balls portail we get from Hollywood.
I want to talk about this life. What is reasonably happy? I think that is the definition of content. There is two sides to this, one being the obvious. We need to find joy in spite of our troubles. We need to find happiness through all circumstances, no matter how difficult that is. This is the most obvious point of being reasonably happy, because this is where we struggle the most. I see myself as reasonably happy. I like my life. I have everything I could ask for in life, and then some. Sure I have problems to fight through, but I do my best to not let them steal my happiness. My happiness is in Christ, my "crutch" if you want to call it that. I don't care, I'm willing to admit I'm broken and need Him. If you are more hard-headed and would like to try to fix your own brokenness, go right ahead. I'll let the one who created me take care of it. That is a different subject, but I want to leave it in here because it needs to be said. The point is, even though struggles come, I can always focus on the end result. One day I'll be with Jesus and He will make everything right.
Which brings me to the other side. We can't be fully happy in this life. Even our founders wanted to insure the pursuit of happiness. Serenity and contentment are based on the knowledge that we will never be fully happy in this life. This life is messed up. Our bodies are broken, our morals are broken, our families are broken, even our mentors/idols are broken. To top it all off, we remain separated from our creator until our lives here come to an end. We need to embrace that the only time we can be supremely happy is when we see Him face to face, and he makes all things right.
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