Where are you running?

I don’t know about you, but this first month, which has spilled over into the second month of 2010 has been hectic.  It seems I am running every where and doing everything and making progress but in the wrong direction.  It seems for every step I take forward I am going backwards 4 or 5.  Not good.  It seems the stacks of paper are getting higher, and the mounds of work that need to be done are never ending and about to topple down upon me…

Last night my family and I watch Akeelah and the Bee.  A wonderful movie about a girl who pulls together a community in the hopes of making it to the national spelling bee.  As we watched this movie, Akeelah’s coach had her read a quotation.  I pondered it all last night, and then this morning I was hit by my devotion.  Isn’t it amazing how good God is, even when we think he is not around, he is always there, to give us the help we need and to show us the way.

My devotion this morning was on John 6:60-71, where Peter says, “Lord where would we go, you have the words of eternal life.”  You have all that we could ever need.  And then a reading from Andrew Murray about where are you running, or on what are you focusing…  Are you running to Jesus, or away?  Are you focusing on the piles of paper on your desk and the endless amount of work in front or you, or are you looking into the eyes of Jesus, knowing he has given you the tools to make it through everything that is before you.  Jesus told us, “be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.”  The quote from Akeelah and the Bee is a quote from Marianne Williamson’s poem Our Deepest Fear. This poem I believe is a wonderful way to look at who we are, and who we should be.  We are not to get bogged down in life, but live for the life that is in us, Jesus Christ.  We have been given gifts to us, we are part of the puzzle, and we can not be less than who we are.

Our Deepest Fear by Marianne Williamson

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Ever been somewhere and wondered how in the world you got there?

Have you ever been some place in a situation and wondered how you got there and how you were going to make it out of it?

It is moments like these we seek to use our faith.  And what is faith?  Hebrews 11 tells us that Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  We are assured of the things we hope for, and can rely on the things we do not see.  We can be assured that Jesus is with us and that he will hold us and help us through any situation we may be in.

We can see this in the Hebrew Scripture story of  Debra. We See Debra’s story in Judges.  She appointed Barak to lead the army of the Israelites into battle, however his lack of confidence pushed Debra into the role of leading the army into battle.  She did not worry about this, because she relied on God to give her the tools she needed to make it through.  So never be surprised by the place you find yourself.  Be the leader God has called you to be, and rely on Him to see you through.

I’ll end this blog today with the prayer for today from For all the Saints: a Prayer Book For and By the Church Volume III, this prayer is by Philip Doddridge (1702 – 1751). “O Thou ever blessed Fountain of Life, I bless Thee that Thou hast infused into me Thine own vital breath, so that I may become a living soul. It is my earnest desire that I may not only live, but grow; grow in grace and in knowledge of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May I grow in patience and fortitude of soul, in humility and zeal in spirituality and a heavenly disposition of mind. In a word, as Thou knowest I hunger and thirst after righteousness, make me whatever Thou wouldst delight to see me be. Amen.”

STUPID goals « Running Agile

STUPID goals « Running Agile.

This is great. Meant to be for business managers, but I saw huge impacts for church leadership.  So many times we want to do what is attainable and going to produce positive out comes.  But we have the power of the creator of the universe behind us.  He is calling us to be fools for him.  Lets be Spiritual Fruits and put it all in his hands with Stupid Goals!

February 2010 Front Page

I sit at my desk pondering the newsletter and what is happening around here. There is a lot of talk about education and confirmation and I ponder as we go into Lent what education and confirmation mean. I wonder when it is that confirmation begins. Most of us would probably say that confirmation is 7th and 8th grade. I know some congregations that do 6th and 7th grade. I also know some congregations that do 7th, 8th and 9th grade. There are many different ways to do confirmation and age groups that can participate. However none of these answers actually answer the question of when it is that confirmation begins. Confirmation is a process of learning that does not begin when we start confirmation classes, nor does it end when we are confirmed. Confirmation begins at baptism. When the water roles over us and we are named and claimed as one of God’s children heirs to the kingdom of God that we start confirmation. We from this point on are learning about our faith and how our lives interact with God and each other in this community. The Rite of Confirmation is something we celebrate as an acceptance of the baptismal promise made by our parents and God parents at our baptism. We choose to live a life of discipleship. A life of learning. A life of being at the feet of Jesus and trying to live life the way he calls us to and teaches us to. In order to do this it takes a lifetime. So remember no matter what your age is 13, or 6 or 38, or 82, or anywhere in between or before or after you are in need of confirmation. We are able to learn and should seek out new knowledge that will help us in our faith journey. Grasp hold of God this coming Lent and after by delving into His Word and becoming overwhelmed by the grace and love there in, letting it permeate your lives and become a part of you. Live in the mercy of God that allows us to fall at His feet and learn all the days of our lives, and be his disciple. Remember your baptism and constantly strive to be His disciple.

Standards set…

This morning I participated in a Bible Study on Acts chapter 6.  We talked about the appointment of the 7 to do service for the widows and those who were being overlooked.  In doing this we took a side step to talk about the apostles…

The apostles took it upon themselves to create, or continue, the structure Jesus had put into place with the 12 disciples.  The apostles said they needed to replace the spot left vacant by Judas.  Could you hear one of them saying, “this is the way it has always been, we can not do it any other way.” So they decide to choose a replacement, and they start to list the requirements for the person to replace Judas.  They said the person must be someone who was with Jesus and stayed with him from his baptism through his ascension.  Does any one see or hear a problem with this?

Who among the 12 did this?  The 11 when Jesus was arrested, the 11 scattered and left him. Peter the one who is speaking at the beginning of Acts, denied Jesus 3 times.  They all left him and did not stay with him.  They locked themselves in the upper room, after they knew he was raised from the dead.  They are placing standards on the person, that they themselves did not fulfill.

Is this not what we as the church do all the time.  We expect people to live up to a standard before they are welcomed, or a part of the community.  Everyone is welcome, and everyone is needed.  Standards of inclusion would exclude all of us.  God does not judge us as we deserve, but through the eyes of Jesus, who sees us through the grace of faith that flows through the cross.

Let us not set standards on who is welcomed, but help each other to see the other through the standard of grace through faith.

Passion Show

My devotion for this morning was about following Jesus and doing the commandments.

Even today we hear the call of Jesus just as Peter, James, John did from the show line.  Can you hear it echoing, “Come and Follow Me.”  Come and leave your safe life behind.  I want you to go to place and be with people you never dreamed you would be.  I want you to go and be my hands and feet to show the world just how much I love them. I want you to live your life with a passion for my mission that you will abandon yourself to me.

Does your life demonstrate the extent of your devotion to Jesus?  Does a passion for him and his mission burn deep in your soul?

Listen he is calling…

Purging Passion

Josiah was king.  He was also 8.

Josiah though had a passion for the God of his father David, that caused him to become enraged by idols and false gods that would take away from his time and worship of the real God.  Idols in Josiah’s time were easy to spot and take down, and yet some were not.  These are the idols of today.

What are the things or activities that fight in your being for the place God should have? What are those things or activities that seek to be first in your heart, the place where God is seated?  Does the passion you have for God lead you into war with these things, or do you standby and passively allow things and activities to push God from His seat and take over your life?

We are called to follow God with a reckless abandon, and a soul on fire with love and passion for Him.  David danced naked in the street and we can do so much more reckless than that. God wants people who will look like fools because of the passion they have for him.

Does God have a place of purging passion in your life, where nothing else can take a hold, because you are keeping Him as the center of your life.

I wonder…

Have you ever been approached by someone for help? It seems to be a daily thing for me now a days. I often find myself hearing a voice asking, “what if this is Jesus?”

And what if it is? Aren’t I as a child of God suppose to see Jesus in the least of these? Yet how many of us say we can not help? We think our needs are more important or need to be met first. Maybe the need of the one asking is your need…

The other wonder I have is, have you ever helped someone who seemed to have no money and then you see them buting things they really do not need? We are told not to judge, and to help the least of these, yet am I the only one that feels a little burned by this? We put oyrselves out there and try to do what Jesus/God/the Bible tell us to, and Satan steps up and slaps us in the face.

No wonder we are a bunch of hypocrites! I wonder what we expect when we help someone? Do we expect the heavens to open, like at Jesus’ baptism, and for God to boom out, “great job! You really did it this time!” I really think I would find a padded room if that happened.

Why do we help? Why don’t we help?

Location or offering

Peter Eide hit me hard again today.  Not literally, Peter is not that kind of guy, but figuratively…

We read the commissioning of Isaiah, and talked about it.  Here Isaiah is in the temple, and sees God and realizes he is in the wrong place, because he is not worthy to be here, but God cleanses him with a coal on the lips, because as Jesus said it is not what goes into a person, but what comes out of them that defiles them.

So that was not the part that really got me, it was the next part. God says whom shall we send.  Well really what are your choices. I mean according to the story the only ones in the temple are God, the seraphs, and Isaiah.  So Isaiah is standing there looking for someone else to step up and sees no one and says, “Here am I.”  And it is important the way he said this.  Notice Isaiah did not say, “Here I am.”  Like here I am, look at me. Here I am, standing right here, he did not give God his location, as God already knew that, and they were the only ones in the temple…  Isaiah said, “Here am I.”  Like here is my offering, here am I, I am offering all my life to you.

Isaiah offered his life as an offering to God to use.  And God used him as he was, and sent him on a mission none of us would want.

A forgiveness explosion

Isn’t it interesting that we forget about others it seems and focus only on ourselves?

I mean, look at Jesus.  No really look at Jesus.

He cried out in the garden, the night before his death, “if it is possible, remove this cup from me…”  I don’t want to do it, I do not think the plan is right, so lets figure something else out.

Is that really what he said? Yes it is, but not all of it.  Jesus said, “if it is possible remove this cup from me, yet not my will, but your will be done.”  So if it is the only way, then ok, we can do it.  He is not being selfish and thinking only of himself, but is that still really what he said?  Yes he did say that, but that is not all…

“Abba! Father!” Jesus cried. “If it is possible remove this cup from me, yet not my will, but your will be done.”  He said father, and more than that he said Abba.  Abba is the Hebraic word for pappa or daddy.  It was used by little children.  Little children who would run to their daddy, and hold their arms up in the air and say, “daddy hold me.”  I remember my eldest daughter and how she would say, “ho me daddy.”  I would hold her, and love her, because that is what a daddy does.

And Daddy God, loved us by not removing the cup from Jesus, and allowing the cross to happen, and causing a forgiveness explosion, that saturated the entire world with Jesus’ love.  He loved us so much he gave his only son, so that we can have a relationship with him.

So cry out to abba God and know that he loves you dearly, enough to cause a forgiveness explosion just for you!