Masterpiece

Last night great night with the men. One person's image of us being a masterpiece was great. I see us as sculptures - as Christ-followers we are a new creations, a rock awaiting the artist to bring forth the work - Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it-Michelangelo - we are the rock, God is the artist & our Christlikeness is the result. You see we already are, we just need to become - being chiseled, chipped, scrapped, and polished. Lord God with chisel in hand sculpt me into who I already am, the purpose and potential You have placed in me, the masterpiece hidden by living life in this world. 

What do you need to do to allow God to shape you?

Being & Doing - Reflection from James

Today, reflecting on James and the idea that we are to be & to do. Being is the internal reflection we do see how we are doing - of course the key here is to have the correct standards to assess our life, the Bible. Doing is the external praxis of living out our faith - it's not enough to only know, we have to do.

Being is done in solitude, well doing is doe in community. We were created to seek both solitude and community. The key here is finding the the right balance. In solitude and silence we can reflect on the things we believe, God's Word, and if we are living a life that that is congruent with them. In silence we can better hear that still small voice of God encouraging us, correcting us, guiding us. It is here were we are taken into the crucible to be tested and refined, purified to become more like Christ. When we are in the crucible we are put into situations that cause us to grow. We may feel along but God is with us. When we emerge from the crucible we are able to reflect God's glory a little brighter since another layer of impurities has been burned away. At times when we exit this transformation process we feel alive and especially close to God. From this mountain top experience we must then head back down into the valley where we can again engage our community and do the things we have learned.

Silence and solitude is in part how we live out the first part of the greatest commandment - love God with all you have and all you are. It is in community where we live out the second part of this commandment - loving others. We can and do love God in community, but it is only in community where we can love others. The question is not "If I should love others?" rather it is "How can I love and serve others?" How is it I can allow this newly minted me to better reflect God's glory and bring honor to Him? How can I come along side another in their journey to deepen their relationship with God?

James 4: Submit & Resist

These words submit and resist are opposites. One can not both submit to and resist something. We need to pick and choose what we submit to and what we resist. The choices we make in this matter can be either beneficial to us or detrimental to us.

If I choose to submit to eating healthy or if I choose to resist eating junk food the result will be beneficial to my health. On the other hand if I choose to submit to eating junk food or resist eating a healthy diet my overall health will suffer. I try to submit to eating healthy, watch my saturated fats, smaller portion sizes, and get my daily intake of veggies and fruit. There are times where I just can't resist taking a couple extra cookies or a handful of M&Ms. Eating healthy for me is a work in progress.

In James 4 we see that in our spiritual life we have choices to make. In verse 4 we see that we can't choose to be friends with both the world and God. This simply leads faith that as James talks about in chapter 1 is tossed about by the wind and waves. It leads to a life of incongruency where what we say we believe does not match what we do. James goes on to say in verse 7 that we should submit to God and resist the devil. Submitting to God brings friendship with God and grace. Resisting the devil bring freedom from sin's hold on our life.

Like many practices we do to draw us closer to God, submission is not an easy thing to do. Let me rephrase that, total submission is something that is not easy to do. This act of submission is easy. What does James say in verse 6, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." We need to learn to let go of those things we continue to hold on to and try and control. Submitting to God is an ongoing process. As we learn to let go and humble ourselves in one area of our life, God will bring to our attention another area that we can begin to loosen our grip on.

As we humble ourselves to God we are also suppose to resist the devil. This can be difficult at times. You see as we submit to God Satin will do what he can to have us grab that piece of our life back a the first sign of trouble or struggle. If you are a Trekkie you know that one of the federations enemies is the Borg. There tag line is just give in to us because "resistance is futile." With a life submitted to God, resistance is futile, resistance is freedom. The question then arises, How do we resist the devil?

I think that this comes from an intimate, healthy relationship with God. The areas of our life that we submit to God has to be more than a mental exercise, it has to be indicative of a true heart change, a change in a belief or value that is now biblically grounded and is being lived out in your life. Our ability to resist the devil comes be spending time in God's word, looking at His promises to us and seeing how He has been faithful in the past. It is by spending time reflecting on your own life and seeing where God has been active and faithful and know that if God was faithful in the past He will be faithful in the future as well. Resistance is easier if you live it out in a community of like minded people who are also on same journey as you. The key to resisting the devil is spending time alone with God in prayer, talking to Him and listen for His voice as He speaks into your life. By knowing God's voice , by knowing God's will, by knowing God's character you will be able to know when you are being tempted and will be equipped to resist the devil so he does flee from you.

Know this, submission to God is a process. Take it one step at a time. Ask God what area of your life you need to be working on right now. Ask if there is a belief or value that you need to change or adopt to live out your new life choice. Find a friend or community and ask them to hold you accountable to this change. This is a life long process. You will want to come back regularly to this process, review where you have come from and set your goals for the next change God has laid on your heart.

Ownership of Your Faith

I have spent part of this morning pondering my personal life platform (the things that I believe and value) in the context of what I was reading in James this morning about living out your faith through the things you do. Two words came to mind: emptiness and ownership.

Emptiness is how I think about the person who has faith but does not live it out. Their relationship with God has been restored but they are missing out on the privilege to live out their faith. To be honest this describes me in the early years of my journey with Christ. I knew that my relationship with God had been restored but I did not know how to live out my faith so I didn't. My emptiness was a result in part due to ignorance or lack of discipleship. For others though this emptiness is self-imposed. They have chosen to not cultivate their relationship with God. They have chosen not to live out what they believe. Their life might be full but they are missing out on the joy that comes for living out ones faith by serving others for the Kingdom.

The other group of people that James was talking about were those who showed their faith by their actions. They have taken ownership of what they believe and have chosen to strengthen their relationship with God and with others. In a recent sermon illustration the pastor was talking about the Christians in the former Soviet Union and China and what happened to them when the government clamped down on their freedom of religion. One flourished and the other faded away. In the Soviet Union many Christians seem to have an empty faith so when the persecution came they didn't know what to do or where to turn. In China the Christians had taken ownership of their faith so even though the above ground church went away the underground church lives on still today. Stealing a line from an old TV commercial, ownership does have its privileges.

Where does your faith stand? Are you empty or are you an owner? If you are an owner continue to live out the faith that God continues to grow in you. If your faith is empty take some time this week to spend with God in quiet reflection and ask how you can begin to live out the things that you say you believe.

My Spiritual Marathon

More than a few years ago, as I was entering the mid-life crisis phase of my life, I decided it would be a good thing to try and run a marathon. I had in previous decades of my life run 10Ks and half marathons, but I had never taken on the challenge of the 26.2 mile endurance test. I trained well and on the day of the race I felt pretty good. My goal was to run a 10 minute mile pace and for the first half the race I was doing well. I hit the half way point running the pace I wanted. Then it happened. I hit the proverbial wall. Right around mile 18 I felt the twinge in my hamstring as it began to tighten and hurt. By mile 20 I was reduced to walking.

Let me pull back from this story and insert my pondering from this morning. Following Christ is a lot like my marathon experince. Once your relationship with God has been restored by what Christ did on the cross you enter into a period of training in your Christian walk. This is the time in your life where you are beginning to understand who God is and develop your relationship with Him. For some this is where they also end. They fail to enter the race. They grow content with the ease of training forgoing the punishment and reward of the race itself.

I don't know when I entered the race. There is no starting line one crosses. For that matter there isn't even a standard course. Each one runs the race that God has laid out for them. There are hills that we must climb, but there are also downhills where we can "coast" a bit. Then there are the walls that we hit. Those places in life that come at us, overwhelm us, and try to cause use to quit the race. So what are we to do? Let me return to my original story.

I could have quit when my hamstrings cramp. I had run a good race until that point. But something inside me wouldn't let me stop. I had to push through the pain and contiue on my course. So I walked and walked and walked. At mile 23 or so my family was cheering me on so I picked it up and ran for awhile. Soon they faded behind me and I began to walk again. You see I was encouraged by my family which helped me to run again. Likewise when we hit our spiritual wall we need to find someone who can cheer us on or if the table is turned we can instead cheer on someone else. This is one reason why living out our life in community is so vital. I then continued to walk until I could see the finish line. It was a mile or so off but seeing the finish line re-energized me. I wanted to finish strong and I did. As we run the race we call life, we must be looking towards the end. Setting our sights on the end will help us to run a little strong and to finish well.

So where did my ponderings take me today? In my walk right now I am at one of my spiritual walls. My devotions have gotten tiring and my thoughts are at times wandering even more than usual. So what do I do. I need to keep pushing on. I need to reach out to my community for encouragement. I need to once again refocus on the end - deepening my relationship with God and others through the teachings of Jesus and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Needless ot say I didn't win the marathon, in fact I finished 6856. But I finished I pushed through and completed the race. This is what God wants from us as well. We don't need to win the race but we are told to finish well.

Voices

I am sitting in the dining center of the school I work at and the din of the room is one filled with voices. Freshman wondering about this adventure called college and the seniors wondering about the adventure they will be embarking on in nine months or so.

The chores of voices rising up are indistinguishable one from another. You can guess about the content of the conversations by watching the facial expressions and body language. It has made me stop and wonder how it is God hears all our prayers and conversations with Him. Like wise I wonder how it is we can hear His voice among the conversations going on around us. How is it we distinguish God's voice from the noises around us?

I also wonder about the conversations we have with God. Those by the freshman, the new believers who are wonder what it is they have become apart of. How is this newly reconciled relationship with the Creator of all things going to impact their life in the days, weeks, months, and years to come? Should we as upperclassman come along side and show them the ropes? This is what mentoring, this wi what discipleship is all about.

Speaking of the upperclassman, what are their conversations like. What crisis are the working through? What new truth about God have they uncovered? What is going to happen to them in their next season of life? These are great questions and i could add more about loving God, loving others, ministry opportunities, and on and on and on? You see the questions for the maturing Christ-follower should never stop. They should continuer to add to the chores of voices calling out to God, not only requests but praises, thanksgivings, and more.

You see unlike me, who as I sit here listening to a lot of conversations but unable to discern what anyone is saying, God hears all our conversations with Him clearly. He then responses in a way so that it is His will that is done.

Desires

As I have reflected on my last couple of tweets a word has jumped out at me. That word is desire. The pondering that got me going on this was Jeremiah 15:16 & Psalm 119:15-18. My desire is for God's word, law, way, and will. Both were in the context of my lectio divina - one from my morning pray and the other from the book Sacred Readings by Kenneth Boa.

Dictionary.com defines desire as a to wish or long for; crave; want. I say that I desire God's word, God's will, God's way, but my actions don't always match my desire. I get distracted by life, by technology, but physical aliments.

I have to stop to make sure that my beliefs and values align with my desire to pursue God with all my heart, soul, mind, and passion. Jesus said this is is the greatest commandment. So where does this leave me? Like Paul I wonder why I do the things I don't want to do and don't do the things that I do want to do. It is part of the becoming like Christ, I can't get there over night but I continue to strive in That direction.

My metanarrative is sound, my beliefs are firmly grounded, my values are more than mere aspirations, though they have not yet become virtues, and my outlook on life is centered on God. I am a work in progress with God at the potters wheel molding and shaping this lump of clay.

A Dream Is Forming

These last couple years have been a time of wonder and awe for me. God has brought me down paths that I did not even know existed. I have thought thoughts and pondered ideas that I had only given a passing look at in the past. I have, as was pointed out to me a couple of weeks ago, been struck with what was termed theological angst. This has come about as I have begun to ponder on the theology of spiritual formation.This path will be played out in my doctoral work over the next year of so. All this is background to a dream that is beginning to form.

I want to preface this by saying that I really do enjoy my current job and if this is where God keeps me I am good with that (for my boss if he where to read this). The dream I am having thought is much different than this. It is a dream of God size proportion. It involves the creation of a ministry whose purpose is to develop a retreat center where people can come and ponder, listen, and reflect on God and how God is working in their life. This would include both personal/private retreats as well as more structured retreats for small groups of people. I don't know what this will look like, but they would be based on the works of Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, Henry Nouwen, Erwin McManus and others. This would be a non-denominational center rooted in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. This part of the dream is in part the reality I live right now.

The God part comes with where I would love to see this go. I have stumbled upon an old farm (78 acres, barn, granary, milking house) for about $200,000. I could imagine converting the barn into a small retreat center (you have to check my brain for what that would look like). I would also love to build some cabins around the property for the private retreats. Here is what I don't know. I don't know if this portions of the dream is my dream/fantasy or if it is God's dream for me. What I do know is that I don't have the half million dollars or so to make this a reality. I don't even know where to turn other than to God. It is at this point that I wish I were a bit more entrepreneurial.

Prayer, wisdom, and insight is welcome from all. Thanks.

God at work in little ways

It has been a while since my last post on my blog. I think the title expresses why quite nicely. God has been at work, but it has been in little ways. What I have not had the time to do is sit down and process all those little things into a bigger picture. I still don't think that I am ready to do that. But this formation thing is a process that just keeps on going.

Since God has been working in the little things so have I. Instead of regular blog postings I have been fairly active in the Twitter world. You can follow me at @strscoa. I have been micro blogging prayers about what I have been reading in scripture and about what God has been doing in my life.

A Sense of Dis-somethingness

I feel as though I am in a strange place right now. I am enjoying my sojourn in life, but I have this sense of disconnectedness or restlessness. Maybe it is in part because of the doctoral class I am taking right now with it's questions and reflections I am doing for the class. Maybe it is in part due to my unsettled work situation. Maybe it is God calling me to step out of my current path and jump over to an uncharted path to take on a different ministry challenge. My guess is that it is a combination of all three of these, along with some factors that I have not really considered.

I has originally titled this posting "A Sense of Discontentment" but that is now the feeling I have. I am content in who I am becoming and where God has me now. My contentment is not based in circumstance, rather it is based in my identity in Christ. My restlessness my be more connected to my present circumstances, while my disconnectedness is a result of my current contemplative state of mind.

So what does this all mean? It means that I am in fact as clueless if not more so, than I have been in recent months. It means that I have to "trust in the Lord with my heart...," it means that I need to ask God for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding as I navigate through this time in my life. It means I have to be keenly aware of what is going on around me so I don't miss that "still small voice" of God giving me insight. It means I have to be still and be open to what ever and where ever God is leading me. I have my dreams, but I have to make sure they correspond with where God is directing me at this time in my life.

What things in your life are causing you a sense of dis-somethingness? How are you working at resolving the feeling? What new adventure may be awaiting you? Are you willing to step out and say lets go God? Am I ready to do this?

Leap of Faith

Often in our Christian speak we will use the phrase "leap of faith" or "step out in faith" or something similar. So what does this mean?

I am thinking about this because the other morning I saw a squirrels in our yard take a leap of faith. A little context here. I love our yard because it really is full of trees - oaks, maples and the like. Most stand 30, 40, 50 feet tall. Ours house was built in the 1940's so that trees in the yard have had a lot of years to grow big and tall. The squirrels love our yard to. At times I have counted about a dozen squirrels chasing each other around the yard and through the trees. It really is quite entertaining to watch. But I digress.

This morning there was only a single squirrel who was in one large maple and wanted to jump to another. He has moved himself out to the the end of what looks like a rather small branch and then leaped across to another branch of equal or lesser size in the next maple tree over. How did he calculate the distance? How did he know the branch he was leaping to would support him? How? How? How? I guess I would call this a true leap of faith. If he were wrong, it would have been a 30-40 foot drop to the snow covered ground.

So how does this apply to us? God often challenges us to step out of our comfort zone so that we can try a new adventure or ministry opportunity. He calls us to take a leap of faith so that we can be His hands and feet here on earth to minister to others. Unfortunately, for many we fail to make that leap allowing the opportunity to serve to fall on someone else's plate. We miss the opportunity to bless and in return be blessed. Why is this? A lack of faith? A lack of courage? Asking the questions - how or why? Joshua was called to be strong and courageous not once, not twice, but three times as he took over the leadership role of the Israelites. Erwin McManus says that "courage isn't the absence of fear, rather it is the absence of self." I am guess that most of the leaps that God is calling us to don't involve a 30-40 foot drop if things don't work out as planned.

Our leaps may involve talking to a friend , co-worker or neighbor about how God can help them in a time of trouble, giving a little more to fund a ministry in need, or simple stepping in to fill a need in a ministry. So you may be uncomfortable or have to give up a latte or two or you may loose a little bit of free time, but the blessings that you can give and in turn the blessing you will receive are truly priceless.

So go out and take a leap. Maybe it will be small or perhaps it will be large, but know this, just as God was with Joshua as he was being strong and courageous so will God be with you as you step out and take a leap just like my neighborhood squirrel did.

Reflections from a month gone by

Here it is the end of January 2010. It has been a month of micro-ponderings (tweets) prayers that I have been focused on. I have been reading through the minor prophets and have been struck by God's justice and God's mercy. Justice for His people and mercy towards His people. At times I find it hard to understand what these writings mean for us today. After I have read through them all I will go back and begin to drill down a little deeper. My initial thoughts can be found in my daily prayer tweets.

My prayer tweets have been a fun project that I have been working on for the 3 months or so (you can follow them at @strscoa on twitter). This has been an exercise in condensing my prayer thoughts down to 140 characters. It has helped me get to the heart of what I have been reading. Most of these tweets come out of what jumps out at me from my Bible readings.

A Flock of Ducks

Ok, so here's the scoop, it January in Minnesota, we've had cold snaps of -20, there's a foot of snow on the ground, and the lakes all have ice on them, yet I have a flock of duck 10 or so that come flying by my office at home every morning. I don't know where they are going to or where they are coming from but to me they seem a little out of place in a Minnesota winter (they just circled by a couple more times). If this were summer we wouldn't even think twice about seeing them flying around. They would blend right in to the surroundings. They would be a natural fit.

As a Christ-follower, I should be like the ducks in the winter. I don't simply want to blend in with my surroundings or culture. I should instead standout. I would hope that people would see something different in me, the way I act, the way I respond. I believe that it is Paul who says we should be in the world but not of the world. This is not a case of being better than others, just different in how or why we act the way we do. My beliefs and values should compel me to do things differently than what the culture might dictate, what "religion" might dictate.

My challenge this week is to go out and be a duck in the winter, to standout and make a difference, not so that I can be honored but so that the love of God might be shared with others.