I’ve grown akin to listening to NPR (National Public Radio) every now and again as I drive from here to there. Today, on my way home from work, I tuned in to a conversation regarding Marty Gras, the celebration so many will partake in tomorrow night.
As the discussion progressed, a simple statement made a huge impression in my mind. A man from Mobile, AL conveyed what his city will look like tomorrow. And as the description came to an end, he expressed hope for that those carousing on Tuesday. “Hopefully they will find themselves in a church on Wednesday, or at least not indulge themselves as horribly until next year’s celebrations.”
“Yes, they can carouse all night long and then go to church, or sober up a bit until next year and everything will be ok. Just as long as they’re good most of the time, they have hope.”
WRONG!
But yet that is the thought process so many people grab hold to as what will get them by. But it’s a false sense of hope that we can’t cater to. We must let the truth be known – that only through the blood of Jesus Christ can any one of us ever become righteous. It isn’t a simple prayer that we pray, and some Sundays spent in a church. Rather, it’s a commitment to follow Jesus – every moment of every day; listening to His guidance for our lives. He’ll change us as we get to know Him better and surrender our ways for His (Isaiah 55).
Just a small glimpse into such a big conversation that could be had on this topic. If you'd like to discuss more details, feel free to connect with me.
But I'm convinced - true hope must be told – will you share it?
Monday, February 23, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Pressure...
Pressure. So much pressure to say the right words; to articulate the things on my heart with complete clarity. I can barely compose any outward expression of the things the Lord is doing so deep inside.
This is the place you can find me->Lost in a whirlwind of change. So deep in the torrent that the pen to the paper cannot adequately convey the scene unfolding.
It could be paralleled to what Mary, the mother of Jesus, encountered on that fateful day 2000 years ago. The Lord totally flipped her world upside down. Her path was veered in a direction of which she never expected.
As we survey the record of her experience, we’ll find that she gave a simple response, “May it be as you have said, Lord” (Luke 1:38)
So may it be as you say, Lord! May my life look the way you want it to look. I relinquish the expectations I’ve placed on this all but fleeting moment I have on this earth and surrender them to you. You know better. For, as the prophet Isaiah so candidly puts it: your ways are higher than mine (Isaiah 55:8).
As Mary continued to travel this new path the Lord placed her on, we begin to see even deeper into her response to all these things. She simply treasured them in her heart.
So forgive me if I haven’t posted for a time, but the Lord’s given me a Mary encounter – one that has totally and radically changed the direction of my life. So the pressure’s off. All I need to do right now is simply treasure these things in my heart. The time will come for an expression of these things, but right now, words have no benefit.
This is the place you can find me->Lost in a whirlwind of change. So deep in the torrent that the pen to the paper cannot adequately convey the scene unfolding.
It could be paralleled to what Mary, the mother of Jesus, encountered on that fateful day 2000 years ago. The Lord totally flipped her world upside down. Her path was veered in a direction of which she never expected.
As we survey the record of her experience, we’ll find that she gave a simple response, “May it be as you have said, Lord” (Luke 1:38)
So may it be as you say, Lord! May my life look the way you want it to look. I relinquish the expectations I’ve placed on this all but fleeting moment I have on this earth and surrender them to you. You know better. For, as the prophet Isaiah so candidly puts it: your ways are higher than mine (Isaiah 55:8).
As Mary continued to travel this new path the Lord placed her on, we begin to see even deeper into her response to all these things. She simply treasured them in her heart.
So forgive me if I haven’t posted for a time, but the Lord’s given me a Mary encounter – one that has totally and radically changed the direction of my life. So the pressure’s off. All I need to do right now is simply treasure these things in my heart. The time will come for an expression of these things, but right now, words have no benefit.
Friday, December 26, 2008
From Junk to Nourishment
With the new year coming around the corner, many of us are making resolutions and evaluating the path we’ve taken, and the direction we’re headed. I’m in the same boat. And as I’ve been on the break, outside of the Teen Mania/Honor Academy bubble, I’ve realized God’s changed soo many things inside of me since I’ve been there. Who am I now? It’s a question that has surfaced many times any more. A lot of times I find myself not feeling like me. Yet that question brings me to realize that I’m not who I was before…so what does it feel like to be me now?
The journey of redefinition has begun. And as I sit and contemplate the defining terms, I’ve noticed many things – one of which is a new appetite. A full circle of changes in the cravings of my being have come about—physically, mentally, spiritually, and even emotionally. I don’t desire the junk food any more! Oh, it can be pleasurable in the moment, but seriously…I’ve come to realize that it’s never going to benefit me.
Physically, I’ve switched to a lot of organic foods, and even organically based vitamins. (wow, have those changed my life! No more dependence on caffeine, even though I still love coffee…I get it sugar free & w/ soy most the time now though. ; ) I simply have more energy that way…and it’s great! I want to exercise…and even when I don’t feel like it, I know it’s good for me, so I do. (hold me to that, ok friends?...lol…I’ll admit I’m not perfect.)
Then, mentally – I like to read books now! And I want to take notes…and really digest the things I’m learning! So often I used to just breeze through stuff—learn it enough to pass the test, but ask me about it a week later and, well, I’ll be clueless.
Spiritually – Well, yeah. I’m not content with the entertainment-oriented Christianity any more! I’m hungry for God! I listen to sermons now w/ great joy! That’s the main difference I noticed today. Of course there’s plenty more…but I was just thinking about the content of my spiritual food. It’s not so much an entertainment driven thing any more. It’s what will challenge me, what will really make me grow. It’s being vulnerable with others. Wow…what a difference there has been!
Emotionally – A total rearranging has occurred. From August 2007 – August 2009 I’ve committed to not date. In addition to that, from August 2007 – August 2008, I didn’t listen to any secular music, didn’t see any “R” rated movies, and lived on a campus (Teen Mania’s Honor Academy) where I didn’t watch movies or TV and never touched a video game system. Off campus here and there I would engage in these things…but the regular involvement of these things in my life has been broken. All of that’s to say that my heart has really been given an opportunity to have any other desires put at a great distant to the one thing my attentions need to be focused on – Jesus Christ.
That’s been my journey, and I’m continuing on it. I don’t have as many limitations on me now from the Honor Academy, but my convictions have changed. As I experience what I once held so much joy in, I find distaste instead. I’m not nourished at all. It’s junk!
So what are you filling yourself up with? Nourishment or junk?
The journey of redefinition has begun. And as I sit and contemplate the defining terms, I’ve noticed many things – one of which is a new appetite. A full circle of changes in the cravings of my being have come about—physically, mentally, spiritually, and even emotionally. I don’t desire the junk food any more! Oh, it can be pleasurable in the moment, but seriously…I’ve come to realize that it’s never going to benefit me.
Physically, I’ve switched to a lot of organic foods, and even organically based vitamins. (wow, have those changed my life! No more dependence on caffeine, even though I still love coffee…I get it sugar free & w/ soy most the time now though. ; ) I simply have more energy that way…and it’s great! I want to exercise…and even when I don’t feel like it, I know it’s good for me, so I do. (hold me to that, ok friends?...lol…I’ll admit I’m not perfect.)
Then, mentally – I like to read books now! And I want to take notes…and really digest the things I’m learning! So often I used to just breeze through stuff—learn it enough to pass the test, but ask me about it a week later and, well, I’ll be clueless.
Spiritually – Well, yeah. I’m not content with the entertainment-oriented Christianity any more! I’m hungry for God! I listen to sermons now w/ great joy! That’s the main difference I noticed today. Of course there’s plenty more…but I was just thinking about the content of my spiritual food. It’s not so much an entertainment driven thing any more. It’s what will challenge me, what will really make me grow. It’s being vulnerable with others. Wow…what a difference there has been!
Emotionally – A total rearranging has occurred. From August 2007 – August 2009 I’ve committed to not date. In addition to that, from August 2007 – August 2008, I didn’t listen to any secular music, didn’t see any “R” rated movies, and lived on a campus (Teen Mania’s Honor Academy) where I didn’t watch movies or TV and never touched a video game system. Off campus here and there I would engage in these things…but the regular involvement of these things in my life has been broken. All of that’s to say that my heart has really been given an opportunity to have any other desires put at a great distant to the one thing my attentions need to be focused on – Jesus Christ.
That’s been my journey, and I’m continuing on it. I don’t have as many limitations on me now from the Honor Academy, but my convictions have changed. As I experience what I once held so much joy in, I find distaste instead. I’m not nourished at all. It’s junk!
So what are you filling yourself up with? Nourishment or junk?
Sunday, December 21, 2008
The Wind
The Wind: beautiful yet devastating.
I’m finding myself in Iowa this Christmas season. And glad to be here too. As I sit back and relax, looking outside into the snowy wilderness, I notice a wonderful conundrum: the wind.
There’s a funny thing about snow and wind – it lets you actually see the wind, where it’s going and what it’s doing. Of course, you still can’t guess where it will come from or what direction it will go, but it’s somewhat visible. And extraordinarily beautiful.
But tell that to me while I’m trying to pave a way in all the snow for my parents to arrive safely in -22°F wind chill in the middle of the night. Wow! That was insane! It’s been said that weather that cold can freeze any exposed skin over a period of ten minutes! Yikes! And boy was it cold going out to sweep away the snow from the stairs my parents had to climb to get safely into the warmth of grandma’s house. Many times I would brush the snow away, only to find the wind blowing it back in my face. Ouch!
Sitting here gazing out at the drifting snow, I can’t help but think about the power of wind and how Jesus compared the Holy Spirit to wind in John 3.
He knows better than us. So we must step back and let Him work. Oh how I want to show you more in the Bible about the power of God and of the beauty and devastation of His guidance in our lives.
Beautiful because we finally are in the center of His will. Devastating because all the expectations we have formed in this society are laid to waste.
Do you have this beautiful devastation at work in your life?
Something to think about.
I’m finding myself in Iowa this Christmas season. And glad to be here too. As I sit back and relax, looking outside into the snowy wilderness, I notice a wonderful conundrum: the wind.
There’s a funny thing about snow and wind – it lets you actually see the wind, where it’s going and what it’s doing. Of course, you still can’t guess where it will come from or what direction it will go, but it’s somewhat visible. And extraordinarily beautiful.
But tell that to me while I’m trying to pave a way in all the snow for my parents to arrive safely in -22°F wind chill in the middle of the night. Wow! That was insane! It’s been said that weather that cold can freeze any exposed skin over a period of ten minutes! Yikes! And boy was it cold going out to sweep away the snow from the stairs my parents had to climb to get safely into the warmth of grandma’s house. Many times I would brush the snow away, only to find the wind blowing it back in my face. Ouch!
Sitting here gazing out at the drifting snow, I can’t help but think about the power of wind and how Jesus compared the Holy Spirit to wind in John 3.
It’s interesting to find that the same Greek word, (pneuma) signifies both the wind and the Spirit. Can’t we recognize God’s power in our lives? Can’t we relinquish the driver’s seat to the One who knows where He’s going?“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
John 3:8
He knows better than us. So we must step back and let Him work. Oh how I want to show you more in the Bible about the power of God and of the beauty and devastation of His guidance in our lives.
Beautiful because we finally are in the center of His will. Devastating because all the expectations we have formed in this society are laid to waste.
Do you have this beautiful devastation at work in your life?
Something to think about.
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