Awe

One of the great debates lately is whether scripture is relevant. Does God still have something to say? Or is God still relevant?

I have a question that might help us - What is awe? What inspires, shocks, gives greater meaning, knocks us off our feet, grabs us, throws us into the sacred?

The experience of the shepherds in the fields...awe

God speaking life into existance...awe

David taking on a giant...awe

Paul giving thanks from a jail cell...awe

A sunrise, a sunset, a quiet moment, a prayer, a moment of peace, a hug...awe

What is your moment of awe? God is the originator of all this. Looking back in your life, when you see the amazing above the mundane, there God is.

Exhausted

definition - to be consumed entirely

Yup. That's where I am. It's been a long year. A year in which I have lost family and friends. A year in which I have worried for the health of those around me. A year of retreats, youth groups, concerts, corn mazes, devotions, river floats, youth rallys, silence, lock-in's, pizza, mini-golf, prayers, song, meetings, worship, laughter, mission trips, reading, training, deep conversations, text messaging, instant messaging, email messaging, voice messenging...

So I have to ask, why? Why do we do any of these things? There is only one reason - Christ.

Christ our redeemer - who purchased us in blood.

Christ our brother - who embraces us when we fall.

Christ our comforter - who knows the tears we cry.

Christ our Savior - who gave all that we might live.

As the year comes to and end let us find rest in Christ.

Moments

Our lives are filled with sacred moments. Often we are too distracted to see them. The moments pass us. Sacred moments go unnoticed. God goes unnoticed.

In the breeze.

In the sunshine.

In our meals.

In our rest.

In the music.

In the quiet.

Slow down and notice the sacred moments. God is present. Shouldn't you be?

Downtime

Started reading a book called Downtime. It's all about prayer. Which gets me to thinking about the condition of my soul. I don't have a typical schedule so I usually count my weeks starting on Saturday. I run from Saturday to Thursday non-stop - planning, prep, phone calls, events, meetings, text messages, emails, reading, files, meals, friends, family time and on it goes... I take Friday's off, but usually end up doing errands or work around the house. Last week I had an extra day with Thanksgiving. I just dropped. I was exhausted. Downtime has been a foreign word to me. I am not talking about wasting time but rather time spend in the still quiet, the loving arms of God, the beauty of creation, the echo of the scriptures. Now I am where I quiet often find myself - in a desert place. I think this is THE struggle. The Chaos of Life vs. The Calling of God. John talks about abiding. God calls us to abide in Him. To be. It's not a productive state according to the world's standards. No money is made when we spend time in God. No school work is done. Chores, phone calls, to-do lists, all must wait. Yet it is essential to our souls. If we wish to carry the spark of life that is so often taken from us, we must abide. We cannot approach prayer as though it were an aquisition. Dear God please grant me the following : ___________, _____________, and ______________. This is no connection, no relationship. This is not abiding. Being with God, being in God's presence is THE reason we are here. We were created to BE with God, of God, and in God's fullness. The world will keep on dragging us away, convincing us otherwise. It will tear us apart, chew us up and spit us out into tiny useless pieces that we then try to put back together. Wholeness, holiness cannot be found in anything else. Abide my friends, for that is where we are called.

The Reeds

I shared this story on Sunday but here it is for those of you who might have missed.

My friend Brad died when his car jumped the median on I-5 south of Portland. He was young.

This loss struck me differently than others. I am poor at dealing with loss. I keep it all inside until it comes out as anger or fear. In I way I wish I was better at dealing with loss...in a way I'm not. I kept the loss bottled up inside of me all summer while working at camp.

One night when the sky was clear and the moon was nearly full, I walked down to this little wood bridge that went over a stream. Looking at the water flowing below me I just had this sense of how quickly life just rushes past. I began to cry for Brad, for everyone I had lost, for all the past hurt in my life.

Through my tears I noticed these reeds right near the water. Just barely moving in the wind. I felt like God was trying to show me something. Here was this reed, just being, just peaceful as the stream continued to flow by. It was though God was there, just in the whisper, letting me know that everything would be ok.

Will you see the reeds?
Or loose yourself in the tears?

Goodbye Coffee Shop

Today I went to the office for a while, then to lunch with Mike Matson to plan out the upcoming flag football/bbq event. After that I thought I will go to my favorite coffee shop - Espresso Italia and then I will plan out youth group and work on the youth led worship. I pulled into a spot right outside the front door. Always feels good. Strutting my way to the door, I can almost taste my delishous hazelnut latte. I nod at a lady who is making her way to Fitness 19. Then I pull on the door handle expecting it to give way to warmth and java. But it doesn't budge. The door is locked. I look up and realize - it's gone! Just like that. Vanished. No warning. I am bummed. I have ventured over to this place called The Perks of Life, but you know it's just not the same.

Change...all around us, all the time. We pretend like it isn't. But we are in a constant state of loss and discovery. Pehaps this is part of the beauty of life. However I often find myslef so caught up in loss that I forget to discover.

Jesus talked about discover often. He seemed to know that the mysteries and suprizes in life are often what make it worth while. He turned water into wine, raised people from the dead, fed 1000's with little, cried, crept away into the hills to pray, went sailing, flipped over tables, and gave what no one else could.

What will you discover today?

How will God suprize you? Are you listening? Are you looking?

Masks

From Sunday morning Bible study last week -

Why do we hide who we really are?

What are we afraid of?

God claims us as His own. Can we lay down our masks?

Words

How many more words do we need?

To express faith, to understand faith, to know God?

Billions, millions, 10's of thousands...none?