From John 16 (The Message):
23-24"This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I've revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he'll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!
I am ready for what God has for me next!!
20071229
20071227
20071224
Norad Santa Tracking was COOL!!
http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.htm
I loved it...(even called the toll free number).
We took the kids to see a live nativity tonight...they really enjoyed the experience. I think it helped bring the reality of the Christmas Story to life for them.
Merry Christmas...God Bless!!
I loved it...(even called the toll free number).
We took the kids to see a live nativity tonight...they really enjoyed the experience. I think it helped bring the reality of the Christmas Story to life for them.
Merry Christmas...God Bless!!
20071222
20071221
The Clarke Brothers WIN ANGB!!
What a great tesimony for these CHRIST FOLLOWERS to SMOKE the competition. I can't wait to buy their CD. Merry Christmas!!
20071218
20071217
Clarke Brothers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fKVVSSSoPs
This is what I blogged about yesterday! Passion played out. Yeah.
This is what I blogged about yesterday! Passion played out. Yeah.
20071216
The Clarke Brothers
1st Timothy 6-10You've been raised on the Message of the faith and have followed sound teaching. Now pass on this counsel to the followers of Jesus there, and you'll be a good servant of Jesus. Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart. This is why we've thrown ourselves into this venture so totally. We're banking on the living God, Savior of all men and women, especially believers.
I love this scripture. I also loved the Clarke Brothers on Friday the 14th on Americas Next Great Band. Inspiring!!
I love this scripture. I also loved the Clarke Brothers on Friday the 14th on Americas Next Great Band. Inspiring!!
20071212
larryunderwood.com and faithfulness
Hello all...I just purchased www.larryunderwood.com ...I currently am redirecting it here, in the future I'll switch over. I read Furticks blog today (like I don't every day), he had his "senior roadie" blogging---and it hit home!! Check it out here: http://www.stevenfurtick.com/uncategorized/lessons-from-a-roadie/
Enjoy!!
Enjoy!!
20071211
Deuteronomy 28:46-48 (The Message)
47-48 Because you didn't serve God, your God, out of the joy and goodness of your heart in the great abundance, you'll have to serve your enemies whom God will send against you. Life will be famine and drought, rags and wretchedness; then he'll put an iron yoke on your neck until he's destroyed you.
I'm on a Joy kick. I am also enjoying reading passages in The Message. My questions for tonight...? What defines my purpose? Am I allowing God to mold me for this purpose? ==Or even better, WHAT MOTIVATES ME?? Time to PRAY.
I'm on a Joy kick. I am also enjoying reading passages in The Message. My questions for tonight...? What defines my purpose? Am I allowing God to mold me for this purpose? ==Or even better, WHAT MOTIVATES ME?? Time to PRAY.
20071210
Processing Sunday
From Jonah 4: 1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."
This is Jonah's reaction to an entire city of 120,000 people repenting and turning toward God based on his cheesy 8 word sermon (see Chapter 3 vs. 4). He is really angry, actually hacked off that God had compassion on Ninevah. Wow. It really makes me realize how skewed our thought processes can be. My prayer is that if God could take a few of my words and change lives, that I would REJOICE. My family is working hard on one verse in particular from 1 Thessalonians: "Be joyful always." Without sounding too ridiculous, this is changing the lives of my 7,5, and 4 year old kids!! I LOVE it!!
This is Jonah's reaction to an entire city of 120,000 people repenting and turning toward God based on his cheesy 8 word sermon (see Chapter 3 vs. 4). He is really angry, actually hacked off that God had compassion on Ninevah. Wow. It really makes me realize how skewed our thought processes can be. My prayer is that if God could take a few of my words and change lives, that I would REJOICE. My family is working hard on one verse in particular from 1 Thessalonians: "Be joyful always." Without sounding too ridiculous, this is changing the lives of my 7,5, and 4 year old kids!! I LOVE it!!
20071208
Ugly Background (but I liked it...)
Here is a PPT or shout background. Most of these graphics are 1024*768 and will open larger if you click on them, then you can save them to your hard drive. If anyone has has any "special request"...I'd love to try. God Bless you all!!20071205
Psalm 29
God is AWESOME!! I am becoming a bit more interested in the creation of graphics. Most of my post will incorporate my slow and steady attempt to learn various programs. Feel free to use any graphics posted on my blog as they are my free gift to you!!
20071203
20071128
Back to Blogging
I have slacked off in the blogging dept.---The good news is I have been focusing heavily on important things...sleeping, eating, Habersham Raider football, etc. On a very serious note, my passion for worship and putting Christ in the CENTER of my life has almost got me on fire. I literally feel like a man/catalyst that is ready to explode with the Good news of a LOVING Savior!!
God Bless!! I plan on adding more graphics to the site soon!! See Y'all...hehehehehe.
20071016
Reaction
Your FIRST reaction matters. I am working on a simple message for the RP students. PRAY for me (and them).
20071013
Saturday Morning
I am looking forward to worship at Riverpoint tomorrow!! It will be nice to be back.
20070903
20070822
Hammered
Building is an interesting process. Tools are important. Building materials are important. Design is important. Skilled labor is important. It doesn't matter if your building a structure, a business, or The Kingdom of God, certain things are important and can't be overlooked. Ever try to frame a wall with a small hammer, cheap nails, and warped 2 x 4's---trust me it is not fun. Investing in a decent hammer, better nails, and straight lumber will save time, energy, and frustration. These thoughts come to me as I try to better myself at Kingdom building (while actually building out the new Tek-Choice). I want to abide more to bear more fruit (John 15). I'm ready to be pruned, shaped, molded, etc. into what God wants me to be. If I'm a nail in the Kingdom, I want to be a sharp, strong one. If I'm a hammer, I want to be an Estwing framing hammer. If I'm an architect, I want to be Frank Lloyd Wright. I'm so glad Jesus saves!!
20070814
Middle of the next thing...
Right now, if you attend any type of non-denom/post-modern New Testament type Church that focuses on a come as you are, Worship with a new song, connect, get ministered to, minister to others, then you are in the middle of the next thing. What's next? Twenty years ago seems so traditional compared to now. Now seems like were in the middle of a GREAT moment in Church History. How will it go down? How will our new, fresh, effective, and creative ministries look in 100 years? Will momentum build? Will our awesome Children's ministries pay off eternally? Can our youth today step up tomorrow? Is there a bigger "thing" coming? Something so big that our human minds can't comprehend!! Is it possible for Churches to come together instead of splitting? Can resources be pooled in a fashion that the Kingdom benefits exponentially? Imagine Churches with like vision actually teaming up!! It is greatly encouraging to see anointed visionaries like Ron Carpenter and Steven Furtick actually hooking up. How awesome is our Lord and Savior?? More awesome than my pathetic brain can imagine!! God is working actively through his Church...Keep up the Faith...I Love you ALL!
20070807
Go Furtick!!
I really hate to post Steve Furticks entire post here, but it ROCKS. Thanks Steve!!
Hit the original here: http://www.stevenfurtick.com/uncategorized/getting-fed/ and add him to your list of fine blogs to read!!
Proverbs 26:15The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;He is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
What a great picture of nominal, noncommittal church attendees!We all know that one of top 3 reasons people leave churches is the (infamous) claim:“I wasn’t getting fed there.”Maybe you weren’t.Or maybe the church set the table, presented the bread of life, and you were too stinking lazy to bring it back to your mouth, chew it, swallow, and digest it, like a big boy.You know, I don’t mind helping my 2 year old eat his Easy Mac. But if he can’t pick up a fork and bring the food to his mouth by age 20, we have a problem.Churches are filled with those who have known Christ for decades, and still need a bib, a high chair, and want Daddy to do “open wide, here comes the airplane” tricks with the fork before shoving it into their mouths.
I try to serve up the Word, hot and fresh every single Sunday.But if you refuse to apply it, study your Bible and pray some during the week, join a small group and dig deeper with others…If you refuse to bring it back to your mouth, I can’t help you.
Get your own fork, and learn to feed yourself. Stop burying your hand in the dish and spitting out every thing that doesn’t give you a spiritual sugar high.Eat some vegetables. Serve. Pray. Practically apply the Bible to your life.
And I’ll keep cooking…
Hit the original here: http://www.stevenfurtick.com/uncategorized/getting-fed/ and add him to your list of fine blogs to read!!
Proverbs 26:15The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;He is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
What a great picture of nominal, noncommittal church attendees!We all know that one of top 3 reasons people leave churches is the (infamous) claim:“I wasn’t getting fed there.”Maybe you weren’t.Or maybe the church set the table, presented the bread of life, and you were too stinking lazy to bring it back to your mouth, chew it, swallow, and digest it, like a big boy.You know, I don’t mind helping my 2 year old eat his Easy Mac. But if he can’t pick up a fork and bring the food to his mouth by age 20, we have a problem.Churches are filled with those who have known Christ for decades, and still need a bib, a high chair, and want Daddy to do “open wide, here comes the airplane” tricks with the fork before shoving it into their mouths.
I try to serve up the Word, hot and fresh every single Sunday.But if you refuse to apply it, study your Bible and pray some during the week, join a small group and dig deeper with others…If you refuse to bring it back to your mouth, I can’t help you.
Get your own fork, and learn to feed yourself. Stop burying your hand in the dish and spitting out every thing that doesn’t give you a spiritual sugar high.Eat some vegetables. Serve. Pray. Practically apply the Bible to your life.
And I’ll keep cooking…
20070730
20070722
Holy?
I'm not blogging about any particular event or anything, I'm just backing my mind up to the hardest thing for me to do PERIOD. I blogged about it on Feb. 27th, 2007...BEING STILL.
Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." It is 5 months later and I at times feel like a potato chip in a tornado!! The good news is, God created me this way, and placed a girl in my life to balance me out/pick up my slack. I now have a family. It is hard, fun, rewarding, challenging, easy, impossible, and great at the same time. As awesome as it is to reach certain goals/milestones with them, it is mind-boggling when I think about all that God has laid on my heart. I have a passion for CHANGE. Not just to be different, but to be effective. The Bible is more than a moral storybook. God is more than a pet rock (or a Webkin for the newest generations). Christianity is not a passing fad. Real people have lived their lives and died for the cause of Christ. So how can I do it??? Dedicate myself to my family, dedicate myself to ministry...etc... Won't my batteries die? I'll get too tired, burned out, washed up and lazy to be effective...OR I can replace ME with HIM!! God will recharge me. In HIM, I am refreshed, renewed, and energized to prioritize the world that I live in. HE will give me wisdom. HE will give me peace. I will lift HIM up. HE will increase. I will decrease. I connect, submit, and become flexible clay. HE takes over and makes me the useful vessel I should be. Part of the connection process for me is Psalm 46:10...I think I'll go pray some more.
God Bless!!
Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." It is 5 months later and I at times feel like a potato chip in a tornado!! The good news is, God created me this way, and placed a girl in my life to balance me out/pick up my slack. I now have a family. It is hard, fun, rewarding, challenging, easy, impossible, and great at the same time. As awesome as it is to reach certain goals/milestones with them, it is mind-boggling when I think about all that God has laid on my heart. I have a passion for CHANGE. Not just to be different, but to be effective. The Bible is more than a moral storybook. God is more than a pet rock (or a Webkin for the newest generations). Christianity is not a passing fad. Real people have lived their lives and died for the cause of Christ. So how can I do it??? Dedicate myself to my family, dedicate myself to ministry...etc... Won't my batteries die? I'll get too tired, burned out, washed up and lazy to be effective...OR I can replace ME with HIM!! God will recharge me. In HIM, I am refreshed, renewed, and energized to prioritize the world that I live in. HE will give me wisdom. HE will give me peace. I will lift HIM up. HE will increase. I will decrease. I connect, submit, and become flexible clay. HE takes over and makes me the useful vessel I should be. Part of the connection process for me is Psalm 46:10...I think I'll go pray some more.
God Bless!!
20070701
Desperation
"Desperation is the raw material of drastic change." What are you desperate for? Clothes, relationships, new cell phone, car, popularity, pleasure...etc. What wakes you up in the morning? What excites you? What gives you that "is Christmas here yet" feeling? Make your life different. Get desperate for God. Get desperate for saving lost people. Your life can matter eternally to someone, or you can waste it desperately chasing stuff that will not last. It's your BIG DECISION. The ball is in your court on this one.
SALVAGE...Just ONE real life.
20070514
Hydrate
Hydrate is a cool word. As Christ followers we should hydrate those around us both saved and "LOST"... It's really simple, just like fresh water turns dust to mud and flows to fill containers. When someone around you is having "dry spell" spiritually...hydrate them. That's part of what Pastor Craig means by being a spotter and part of a team!!
20070506
Ministry
Ministry is making a difference in people’s lives. That is the purpose of ministry. I want my life to be significant, so I invest in the lives of other people.
Christianity is about life transformation. It is God’s purpose to transform our minds, actions, and character. His goal is to make us more like Christ. That should be our goal for those around us. We should desire to help each other become more mature in our faith, more like Christ in our character. So we minister or serve one another. We encourage one another. We teach one another. We even admonish one another. In short, we are there for each other.
When I make a difference in someone’s life, I begin a chain reaction. Let's minister together fellowship Church. I believe that impossible things will become commonplace...
Christianity is about life transformation. It is God’s purpose to transform our minds, actions, and character. His goal is to make us more like Christ. That should be our goal for those around us. We should desire to help each other become more mature in our faith, more like Christ in our character. So we minister or serve one another. We encourage one another. We teach one another. We even admonish one another. In short, we are there for each other.
When I make a difference in someone’s life, I begin a chain reaction. Let's minister together fellowship Church. I believe that impossible things will become commonplace...
20070426
Water
John 4:9-11 Message
9The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, "How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
10Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water."
10Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water."
20070419
Imperfect
I will focus my energy on God!! Life is not about me. I'm a small dot in a very large universe, on a pretty large Planet. No more "mememememememememe" I JUST WANT GOD TO WORK THROUGH ME. Imagine a world changed through imperfect people. Jesus opened the door...check out Romans 8:3+
3-4God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.
The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn't deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.
5-8Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn't pleased at being ignored.
our God is Mind-Blowing!! read Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
"Be still, and know that I am God;
3-4God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.
The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn't deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.
5-8Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn't pleased at being ignored.
our God is Mind-Blowing!! read Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
"Be still, and know that I am God;
20070417
My Hands are Numb
My hands are literally numb as I type, and I'm not even at Virginia Tech. Until recent events, VT never even crossed my mind. Stuff like this always brings up big questions about God and the "human condition"...I just pray that Christ Followers in the vicinity of VT can patiently show love and compassion in the aftermath of this shooting rampage. If something monstrous happened near us, I would like to see Churches in Habersham County ready to act...think about it as you Pray for the victim's family members at VT.
20070414
Deep Friendships
If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
Directly from The Message (Philippians 2) I'm dwelling on this...it needs no elaboration!
Directly from The Message (Philippians 2) I'm dwelling on this...it needs no elaboration!
20070413
TFK, Toby Mac, Building 429
Super good concert. The Classic Center in Athens is a smokin' venue. The bands were HOT!! Jennifer and I ran in to several friends at the show....what a surprise! Life is GREAT. http://myfcb.org Baldwin, Georgia!!
20070402
Updated Look
Spring is here. I sold my Jeep and bought a Ragtop. It's got flaws, but so do I...we get along great. The kids love it!! I updated to a springy look for the blog. Speaking of spring, Florida was GREAT, here's a pic...Last day, last walk on the beach...
20070401
Fake Jewelry is Worthless
Just like a fake diamond is worthless next to the real thing, a fake person is equally useless. Harsh?? I guess, but come on...think about how shocked we are when the "perfect couple" gets divorced, especially when it becomes apparent that their closest friends had "no idea." Come on...Pick one person to get real with. Trust them. Tell them things that you can barely admit to yourself. Live real. REAL real, not reality TV real. It will feel GREAT and you can begin to lose your "fake" mask and begin actual relationships with people you would normally shut out. http://myfcb.org/ ROCKS!!
20070320
Stuck??
This is from one of the sites that I frequent. I really liked this column!!
The Glory of Being Stuck
by Mike Yaconelli (Youth Specialties)
"Getting stuck is not only a necessary part of spirituality, it is a prerequisite to spiritual growth."
If I were to diagram my spiritual life, it would look something like this:
A continual series of ups and downs, through all of my life, moving in a slow upward direction, although some of the lows would seem lower than before and some of the highs would seem higher than before.
When I picture this graph, it is not encouraging at first, because the longer I live, the further away the end of the graph appears. It is very much like the elusive end of the rainbow—the closer I get, the further away it seems. And yet...yet there is something you cannot see on a one-dimensional diagram, something you cannot express with lines and words. There is a hidden excitement that begins to surface, a tingling of the soul that quickens my consciousness as I gaze at this trail of God in my life. I suddenly realize a great truth—the up-and-down syndrome of my life is the fingerprint of God on my soul! It is the remains of my struggle of faith, the ups and downs of my ongoing dialogue with the Father. It is the way growth looks.
I am beginning to realize that the spiritual life is not so much progress as it is process. It is not a continuous climb upward as much as it is a continuous climb. It is not the victories that matter so much as the going on after the defeats. The longer the erratic dance of faith goes on, the less you care about what God is doing, and the more you want to know about God. Spirituality is, after all, about intimacy with God.
Look at the graph for a minute. Notice the low spots—flat, long at times, surrounded by highs. Whatever the low spots are, they appear to be negative. If the high spots represent the "good" or "positive" in my spiritual life and the low spots represent the "bad" or "negative" in my relationship with God, then obviously the high spots are to be sought after and the lows are to be avoided.
But what if we do something radical? What if we remove those kind of value judgments from this graph? What if, in place of concepts like good and bad, positive and negative, high and low, we replace our value judgments with words like "stalled" and "moving," or "listening" and "acting," or "stopping" and "starting," or "waiting" and "not waiting"? What does that do to our understanding of the spiritual life? Maybe waiting is "good" and not waiting is "bad." Maybe stopping is better than starting, listening better than acting, and stalling better than moving. Maybe one cannot happen without the other. Maybe stopping is necessary to starting, maybe acting cannot happen without listening first.
Of course, I do not believe there is any "maybe" about it. I believe that our understanding of spirituality has been distorted and ruined by our artificial judgments and our one-dimensional understanding of our relationship with God.
Let me point out a couple of interesting characteristics of this graph. Every high is followed by a low and every high is preceded by a low. Maybe what the graph means is that you cannot achieve a high without first achieving a low. Maybe lows are not low at all, but just part of the highs. I would like to abandon the high/low model and rename these parts as "stuck" and "unstuck." Maybe, getting stuck is necessary before we can get unstuck...which means that getting stuck is actually a wonderful place to be.
When you look at it like this, then getting stuck is not only a necessary part of spirituality, it is a prerequisite to spiritual growth.
Most of the Church considers being stuck a negative, a sin of failure or burn-out, an indication that a person isn’t working hard enough on their spiritual life. It's a report card on personal Bible reading and prayer, and the grade is F. If you feel stuck in your spiritual life, then you aren’t doing something right because no one should be stuck with God.
Nothing could be more untrue. The truth is that everyone should be stuck with God many times because it is the prerequisite to being unstuck.
Being stuck is a great moment. It may be characterized by frustration, loneliness, or detachment, but those things are only the vocabulary of our souls telling us we are in danger. It is the cry of our souls craving for more. It is our longings and yearnings trying to get our attention. It is a summons, a call from within. It is the glorious music of disaffection and dissatisfaction with where we are now. It is the anguish of our interior life pleading with us—not to give up, but to give in. It is the Holy Spirit stopping us dead in our tracks so we can read the words that God has written on our hearts—surrender.
Surrender.
Put your arms around your soul, embrace your anguish, respond to your summons from God. Get ready for the adventure of growing on to the next part of your life. Getting stuck is worth whatever anguish you must go through just so you can hear God say to you, "Hang on, you are about to get unstuck."
The Glory of Being Stuck
by Mike Yaconelli (Youth Specialties)
"Getting stuck is not only a necessary part of spirituality, it is a prerequisite to spiritual growth."
If I were to diagram my spiritual life, it would look something like this:
A continual series of ups and downs, through all of my life, moving in a slow upward direction, although some of the lows would seem lower than before and some of the highs would seem higher than before.
When I picture this graph, it is not encouraging at first, because the longer I live, the further away the end of the graph appears. It is very much like the elusive end of the rainbow—the closer I get, the further away it seems. And yet...yet there is something you cannot see on a one-dimensional diagram, something you cannot express with lines and words. There is a hidden excitement that begins to surface, a tingling of the soul that quickens my consciousness as I gaze at this trail of God in my life. I suddenly realize a great truth—the up-and-down syndrome of my life is the fingerprint of God on my soul! It is the remains of my struggle of faith, the ups and downs of my ongoing dialogue with the Father. It is the way growth looks.
I am beginning to realize that the spiritual life is not so much progress as it is process. It is not a continuous climb upward as much as it is a continuous climb. It is not the victories that matter so much as the going on after the defeats. The longer the erratic dance of faith goes on, the less you care about what God is doing, and the more you want to know about God. Spirituality is, after all, about intimacy with God.
Look at the graph for a minute. Notice the low spots—flat, long at times, surrounded by highs. Whatever the low spots are, they appear to be negative. If the high spots represent the "good" or "positive" in my spiritual life and the low spots represent the "bad" or "negative" in my relationship with God, then obviously the high spots are to be sought after and the lows are to be avoided.
But what if we do something radical? What if we remove those kind of value judgments from this graph? What if, in place of concepts like good and bad, positive and negative, high and low, we replace our value judgments with words like "stalled" and "moving," or "listening" and "acting," or "stopping" and "starting," or "waiting" and "not waiting"? What does that do to our understanding of the spiritual life? Maybe waiting is "good" and not waiting is "bad." Maybe stopping is better than starting, listening better than acting, and stalling better than moving. Maybe one cannot happen without the other. Maybe stopping is necessary to starting, maybe acting cannot happen without listening first.
Of course, I do not believe there is any "maybe" about it. I believe that our understanding of spirituality has been distorted and ruined by our artificial judgments and our one-dimensional understanding of our relationship with God.
Let me point out a couple of interesting characteristics of this graph. Every high is followed by a low and every high is preceded by a low. Maybe what the graph means is that you cannot achieve a high without first achieving a low. Maybe lows are not low at all, but just part of the highs. I would like to abandon the high/low model and rename these parts as "stuck" and "unstuck." Maybe, getting stuck is necessary before we can get unstuck...which means that getting stuck is actually a wonderful place to be.
When you look at it like this, then getting stuck is not only a necessary part of spirituality, it is a prerequisite to spiritual growth.
Most of the Church considers being stuck a negative, a sin of failure or burn-out, an indication that a person isn’t working hard enough on their spiritual life. It's a report card on personal Bible reading and prayer, and the grade is F. If you feel stuck in your spiritual life, then you aren’t doing something right because no one should be stuck with God.
Nothing could be more untrue. The truth is that everyone should be stuck with God many times because it is the prerequisite to being unstuck.
Being stuck is a great moment. It may be characterized by frustration, loneliness, or detachment, but those things are only the vocabulary of our souls telling us we are in danger. It is the cry of our souls craving for more. It is our longings and yearnings trying to get our attention. It is a summons, a call from within. It is the glorious music of disaffection and dissatisfaction with where we are now. It is the anguish of our interior life pleading with us—not to give up, but to give in. It is the Holy Spirit stopping us dead in our tracks so we can read the words that God has written on our hearts—surrender.
Surrender.
Put your arms around your soul, embrace your anguish, respond to your summons from God. Get ready for the adventure of growing on to the next part of your life. Getting stuck is worth whatever anguish you must go through just so you can hear God say to you, "Hang on, you are about to get unstuck."
20070313
The Tongue
What words do I say on a daily basis. Do I build other people up? Do I encourage those who stumble? Am I able to show hope and Love to people that are lost? I've been thinking a whole bunch about the power of words, the power of the tongue. Pray on this!! James puts it well in Chapter 3:
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Come to Fellowship http://www.myfcb.org/ in Baldwin Georgia and meet one of the most real/passionate ministries on the Planet!!
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Come to Fellowship http://www.myfcb.org/ in Baldwin Georgia and meet one of the most real/passionate ministries on the Planet!!
20070308
Yo Yo Yo...Check this out...'nuff said!!
http://fellowshipdayz.blogspot.com/
http://fellowshipdayz.blogspot.com/
We need more stand up and get it done...i love it!!
http://fellowshipdayz.blogspot.com/
We need more stand up and get it done...i love it!!
20070307
Sinning
Let me clarify my last blog on sin. Romans 3:23 says: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"...I do not think this gives us a license to keep sinning or abuse Grace, however I also don't think this gives us the right to "act" holier than others or put on a fake show, thus hiding our true nature. Check Romans 14 for a little more insight.
Most people can see right through fake!! God's Love motivates me, not just the fear of his wrath.
Most people can see right through fake!! God's Love motivates me, not just the fear of his wrath.
20070305
Talk
Duet. 6
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
God is important. His Love for us is important. Our Love for Him is Paramount. I want to talk about God more than other "stuff." I want God Talk to be second nature for my Kids, blended smoothly into real life...understanding the imperfection of human nature...enjoying Spirituality, without the pious superior attitude many Christians develop. After all we "all have sinned" according to Romans.
Growing in Him!!
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
God is important. His Love for us is important. Our Love for Him is Paramount. I want to talk about God more than other "stuff." I want God Talk to be second nature for my Kids, blended smoothly into real life...understanding the imperfection of human nature...enjoying Spirituality, without the pious superior attitude many Christians develop. After all we "all have sinned" according to Romans.
Growing in Him!!
20070303
Psalm 25 (Verse 4 is my focus)
1[a] To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.
4 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;
5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.
8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.
10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant.
WOW!! Show me your ways Lord. Just thinking about verse four alone is enough to blow my mind. Go ahead Larry, be honest. If God's guidance is at the forefront of my thoughts on a daily basis, my actions reflect the change. If His guidance is way back in the back of my mind, I make decisions "in the flesh" or on my own. I much prefer His way!!
Love You Guys!!
2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.
4 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;
5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.
8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.
10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant.
WOW!! Show me your ways Lord. Just thinking about verse four alone is enough to blow my mind. Go ahead Larry, be honest. If God's guidance is at the forefront of my thoughts on a daily basis, my actions reflect the change. If His guidance is way back in the back of my mind, I make decisions "in the flesh" or on my own. I much prefer His way!!
Love You Guys!!
20070301
In the Beginning...
My daughter asked about my wedding band tonight. I explained what it was. She then wanted to know why she wasn't at the wedding (she is three). It's kind of funny the type of conversations that really make us think about the past. Jennifer and I married in 1999 with a "plan" to wait a few years for children. I am so glad that God's plans are sometimes different than the ones we "cook up" on our own. We have three children now; Levi (6), James (4), and Jessica (3). Yes, we are outnumbered, but honestly cannot imagine life any differently than it is right now.
At this point (if you are even still reading) you may be asking yourself why blog this? What's the point? Simple. RELATIONSHIP. Some of the folks that have hit this blog don't know us at all, others may not know us well. As I continue to blog away, I'll hit you with bits and pieces from our past. It won't be as mysterious and crazy an episode of LOST, but why bother starting relationships if trust is not built up enough to get the relationship to a meaningful level. Once there is some depth, then real life issues can be faced honestly. I think this is what many people want, even if they do not admit it...(more later)
I Love Fellowship Church!!
20070228
So happy!!
As a newcomer to Fellowship, I feel I just need to brag on the warm exciting atmosphere that is created by the body. Amazing. Inspiring. Keep up the good work, I am so happy to be a part of something that will be much bigger than one vision can contain. Lost people will feel welcome here, not condemned. Lives will be restored and built up. The "one" that the NT speaks of in Matthew 18:12 ("What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?) will be found and nurtured back to health!!
I'm pleasantly surprised, thanks for reading these post!!
I'm pleasantly surprised, thanks for reading these post!!
20070227
Hard for Me
Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
Being still requires slowing down. Well actually stopping. In doing this a connection is established. My vision becomes clearer. I dream more. I care more. I like this feeling. Then reality sets in and I take off again. My prayer is that I stop and KNOW God more, and in doing so...show God to others.
Being still requires slowing down. Well actually stopping. In doing this a connection is established. My vision becomes clearer. I dream more. I care more. I like this feeling. Then reality sets in and I take off again. My prayer is that I stop and KNOW God more, and in doing so...show God to others.
Salvage Meaning
Noun:
the similar rescue of property liable to loss; the property so rescued
anything that has been put to good use that would otherwise have been wasted
Trans. verb:
to rescue property or people at risk
to put discarded goods to use
to make new or restore for the use of being saved
I love the word Salvage, especially in relation to the call of the modern Church. The book of Romans says All have sinned and fallen short. As a human being, this is easy to understand...the harder part is discovering who we are in Christ, and then showing Christ Love to others.
More to come. Feel free to point anyone to http://salvagingclarity.blogspot.com/
Thanks!!
the similar rescue of property liable to loss; the property so rescued
anything that has been put to good use that would otherwise have been wasted
Trans. verb:
to rescue property or people at risk
to put discarded goods to use
to make new or restore for the use of being saved
I love the word Salvage, especially in relation to the call of the modern Church. The book of Romans says All have sinned and fallen short. As a human being, this is easy to understand...the harder part is discovering who we are in Christ, and then showing Christ Love to others.
More to come. Feel free to point anyone to http://salvagingclarity.blogspot.com/
Thanks!!
20070226
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