Scott's Ponderings

God Provides

2012-01-14T11:44:00.000-06:00

Our God gives you everything you need, makes you everything you're to be. (2 Thessalonians 1:2 MSG)

I came across this verse the other day and I though "That's a relief." You see it is God who provides what we need, note it doesn't say what we want, but what we need. Just as He provided manna for the Israelites in the desert, He will provide for us. Does this mean we can just sit back and wait for the blessing? No!

What does the second part of the verse say? In short is says that He makes you what and who you are suppose to be. You see God has given you a mind to think, passions to pursue, skills to leverage and if you are a believer He has given you a spiritual gift. Your God given abilities, life experiences and learned skills all make you who you are and provide a way for you to get what you need. Not only that, but it gives you the ability to provide for the needs of others. Your spiritual gift is not for you to use for yourself, rather it is given to you for the benefit of others.

God can and does bring unexpected blessing: an unexpected check, a stranger offering to help, a job offer or simply a new relationship. These are all ways God provides for our needs.

What or how has God gifted you to earn a living or benefit others? Have you ever been the recipient of an unexpected blessing? Have you ever responded to a prompting from the Spirit to be the giver of a blessing to someone? If not, you might have to listen a litter closer to that still small voice prompting you to be generous.

Interesting Challenge

2012-01-03T06:29:00.000-06:00

While flipping through my Twitter feed I came across this challenge at the web site One Word 365. The challenge is to pick a single word that you will use to "sums up who you want to be or how you want to live or what you want to achieve by the end of 2012."

This past year that word for me would have been "transformation." if you read or want to read my 2011 reflection you will see how this word was applied in my life.

This year the word I am choosing is "integrity." I want to live a life where what I say and believe is mirrored by my actions and deeds. This should include all aspects of my life- time, talents and money.

If you were to let a single word transform you this year what would it be and what would that look like in your life?

Make An Impact in 2012

2012-01-02T09:52:00.002-06:00

Don't you see: It's not the cut of a knife that makes a Jew. You become a Jew by who you are. It's the mark of God on your heart, not of a knife on your skin, that makes a Jew. And recognition comes from God, not legalistic critics. (Romans 2:28, 29 MSG)

The passage above points to the idea that is not external actions that God is concerned about. Rather, God is looking for an internal, heart transformation to show that we have have turned to Him. We are all able to put on masks, say the right things and even do what looks right. God sees right through this. When He chose David as king He was not looking at external features as Samuel was, rather God was looking at David's heart.

A transformed heart reflects the internalization, personalization of the head knowledge we have of God. As this new year begins to unfold before you make the effort to grow in your heart knowledge of God. Draw close to Him. Spend time reading the Word, spend time in prayer listening to God's still small voice.

Spend time looking back at what God is teaching you, look though this to see the big picture of what God wants you to do, take a look around where you can join God and finally see what kind of help you might need to accomplish it.

In 2012, step outside your box and make the decision to make a difference for the Kingdom this year. If we all do a little we together (as a community of God's people) can make an impact on our little corner of the world.

Reflections from 2011

2011-12-30T08:18:00.002-06:00

I have spent the last week or so reflecting back over the last year. I am in the process of writing it up now to share with my wife, friend, and spiritual director. I won't bore you with all the details but I would like to share with you the highlights and then direct you back to a few blog posting from the past year that I think are worth a second look.

The process I follow for my reflections is call a grand examen. This is an old spiritual practice where you look back, look through, look forward, and look around.

Looking back there were a number of key events - a doctoral class' discussion on 2 John 12, thoughts about an encore career, scripture about being a new creation, love, practical faith, and my rather lengthy relationship with my old friend depression.

Now looking through these things the themes that came up were personal transformation, soul care, and the idea of coming along side others. The verse 2 John 12 really impacted me and caused a significant change in me - I can't really explain it any better than that. My dance with depression really brought into focus the need for soul care, relying on others (my counselor has been a real blessing), having spiritual practices you can do even when you don't feel like (lectio divina) and turning to my scriptural comfort food (James, 1 John, Haggai). A lot of things came together that made me realize that my ministry is focused on coming along side others and helping them move.... Where they move is base on the context of ministry - at work it helping with teaching and technology, at church its about helping people discover their gifts and listen to their stories, at Lino its coming along side guys helping them look at their beliefs and values and making sure they are ground in the Bible.

Looking forward is the tough part of this. One think I did was get involved with the HopeLink ministry at my church. I also jumped in with both feet as a GPS consultant (gifts and passion for serving). I have continued to work with the offenders at Lino's IFI program. I have also put out a number of feelers for adjunct teaching opportunities.

Looking around I have a spiritual director how helps me discern God's voice, I have a wife who tolerates my eclectic life, I have a great friend who listens as I ramble and I take the time to listen to God's still small voice to discern what is next.

I invite you to take a little time to do a grand examen and see where it is that God is leading you. If you need a hand let me know - my spiritual director shingle has been hung.

Now for some blog posts that you might want to reread:

Lost but also read Found, Knowing God Is In It, A Journey of Transformation, Position Desired: Soul Care Pastor, Becoming Who God Wants Me To Be (4 parts), and the transcript of a sermon The Praxis of Love (4 parts).

See you in 2012.

Random Thought on Transformation

2011-12-20T07:27:00.002-06:00

I have been in a desert place the last month or so. I have been unable to put together cohessive thoughts on things I have been reading and pondering. For me, in reality for all of us, I don't think this is uncommon. There are times when I feel close to God, thoughts come and I can articulate them well, and life goes on. These are productive times in one sense, but to be honest there is less transformation of me personally.

For me, transformation comes when I am stretched and tested. It is in these refining fires that I am open to deep transformation. Transformation that seems to create some of my life altering changes. I hope that this makes sense to you. It's not that either of these positions are better than the other - we need both times of rest and times of refining. A couple of my former seminary profs called this cycle a transformations crucible. In the center we can find rest, but around the edges we get our impurities burned away.

Our current message series at my church is called Inked (click here if you want to view) has been great because they have been focusing on the promises that God has given us in His Word. You see it are these promises that I turn to, that we all should turn to when we are in the desert places. As one of the Jasons said this last weekend (and I paraphrase), when you feel alone add 1 because God is there.

Don't run from times of trial, struggle, hurt or aloneness - rather lean into the promises of God, seek out others for support, open yourself up to the Holy Spirit's transformational work and see where God brings you.

Reflections from Life

2011-11-19T08:51:00.003-06:00

These past few weeks have been some of the toughest I have faced in a long while. Things that have happened, choices that have been made, and the challenges that I have be faced with have all weighted heavy on my soul. It is not just for me, news of ones mother facing cancer, fractured relationships, and a sense of lost hope. In the middle of this I am burdened but I am not overwhelmed. My relief comes from the community that I have around me, my wife, friends, co-workers, and others who are invited into the conversation. These people are my earthly anchors and it is God who is my eternal anchor, going back to His Word for comfort and strength.

Over the last year or so God has been showing me how valuable community is. The ability to rely on others in times of need. This has never been my strong suite and I have dealt with a lot of things on my own, where my burden could have been lightened if I has leaned on another. We see in scripture that no one person has all the answers, but rather we are a body of believers, each with a gift or talent that we can use to minister to others. What we need to do is reach out and ask (not always and easy thing to do) for help or when help is offered be willing to accept it (again not always an easy thing to do).

The most valuable relationship we have is our relationship with God. He is there to comfort and guide us in our times of trial. God uses our trials to transform us into the person God created us to be. I found my comfort in key pieces of scripture - Proverbs 3:5-6, James & 1 John - trust, wisdom in trials and being a child of God.

When trials and troubles come your way seek out those in your community of friends who will stand with you through the struggles, seek out God who will be there always, find comfort in His Word. Don't try and do it alone, the burden is just to heavy - let God and others help you carry it.

Back Thinking About James

2011-10-23T09:55:00.000-05:00

Well I am back in James again. This time I am getting ready to lead a small group of Bethel communter students in a study of James. As you may or may not know James is a book I often refer to as my spiritual comfort food. It is a place I go when I don't know where else to turn. It is interesting that every time I do return there seems to be something new that catches my eye. My current study is proving to be no different. Maybe it is the translation I am reading (The Message) but the last part of chapter 1 struck me differently. I have focused on the last verse or two of the chapter before, but this time I was also drawn to the the verses right before. The context is that we shouldn't just hear God's Word we should do something with it. Let me share a couple of passages that jumped out:

So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life. Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! (James 1:21, 22 MSG)
Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world. (James 1:26, 27 MSG)

To often we listen just enough to find a jumping in point to speak or we listen enough to get angry and speak. More times than not we are simply to listen. Listen to others who need our help or listen to God who is offering solutions. When listen to others take off the "fix it' hat and put on the "help them process it" hat. When listening to God take of the "I know whats best" hat and put on the "humble yourself" hat. I am only begining to process this now. I ponder what this will look like in my own life? How do you respond to these verses? I would love to hear.

The Praxis of Love (pt 4)

2011-10-01T13:32:00.000-05:00

This is from a sermon give at East Balsam Baptist Church 9/25/2011 (pt 4)

Iwant to shift our attention now from loving God with our whole being to lovingour neighbor as ourself. There are a couple of questions we needs to ask atthis point. First, who is our neighbor? Jesus answered this in a parable aboutthe good Samaritan. To summarize Jesus’ teaching our neighbor are those people in need who we can or dointeract with. They might be the person living next door or across the street.It might be your co-worker in the next cubicle. It might be a homeless personyou pass by with out even really noticing. It could a be a group of people youcould minister to on a missions trip. In short, your neighbor is the person Godhas placed in your path so that you can love them.

Second,how do you show them love? To be honest I don't know, you need to listen totheir story to see how you can love them. Don’t be worried that you won’t be able to help them because if God placed them in your pathyou will be equipped to serve their needs. It's important to remember that thelove we have to share is a love that comes from God. Take a look at what 1 John4:7 says, "My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other sincelove comes from God." We are being God's hands and feet as we love ourneighbors.

Aswe thing about how to love our neighbor we might want to think a about thequalities of love that we can apply. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is patient andkind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does notinsist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does notrejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things,believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.(ESV)

Thesedifferent qualities of love are the same qualities we need to display to ourneighbor for they are the same ones that God displays to us. 1 John 4:7 saysGod is love, and so if these are qualities of love they are also qualities ofGod.

Forme loving my neighbor is lived out in the passions that God has place on myheart. One way my daughter wants to serve others was by helping to change theirflat tires. She wanted to do this driving around the Twin Cities, but I didn'tthink that was all that safe. However, God knew her desire and has deliveredtwo people (strangers) into our driveway who needed help changing a flat tireand my daughter was there. If you are willing and listening to God, He willbring across your path people who need to be loved in practical ways and hewill equip you with the resources you need to show God's love to them.

Sowhat are the take aways today? First, the praxis of love needs to be carriedout in relationship. Love is not something that can be carried out in a vacuum.We know that one relationship is with God, but who are the neighbors you candevelop relationships with?

Second,when we love God we are to do it with our whole being. How are you showing Godyou love Him with your passions or heart? What spiritual disciplines are youpracticing to draw your soul closer to God? Prayer, meditation, solitude,silence? How are you studying (reading is a discipline, studying is theexercising for your intellect) God's word and other Christian writers? How areyou allowing God to transform you?

Finally,how can you show God's love to your neighbor? Have you listened to anyonesstory lately? Has God been nudging you to interact with someone? What are yourgifts and talents that God can use to minister to others? Brandon Heath sings asong “Give Me Your Eyes” and the chorus reads:

Giveme your eyes for just one second

Giveme your eyes so i can see

Everythingthat i keep missing

Giveme your love for humanity

Giveme your arms for the broken hearted

Theones that are far beyond my reach?

Giveme your heart for the one's forgotten

Giveme your eyes so i can see

Yousee loving our neighbors is nothing more than looking around with God’s eyes and God’s love looking forthose in need of a touch from God through you.

Takesome time this week to think about these things and then respond the way Godleads you.

The Praxis of Love (pt 3)

2011-09-30T13:30:00.000-05:00

This is from a sermon give at East Balsam Baptist Church 9/25/2011 (pt 3)

Aswe talk about loving God Jesus sets a pretty high standard - "Love theLord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence." Ourpassion comes from our heart, our prayers come from our soul, and ourintelligence comes from our mind. Jesus says that we need to love God with ourwhole being. As we serve others we are showing our love for God. As we spend timein prayer and listing to God we grow our relationship with and strengthen ourlove for God. As we read and study God's word we get a better understanding ofwho God is and again our love deepens. Loving God with our passion, prayers andintelligence leads us to a stronger, deeper relationship with and love for God.

Inmy life this is how I live these principles out - two things I want to be clearabout 1) I don't always succeed in doing these things but I do the best I canand 2) It is up to each of you to determine for yourselves how this will lookin your life. The passion God is stirring in my heart to the desire to comealong side people in their journey through life and help them in theirstruggles. I show my love of God by doing my best to put this passion intoaction. I have been serving the last four years at Lino Lake state prisonworking with offenders in the IFI program to better understand their beliefsand values and make sure that they are Biblically grounded. At work I helpfaculty better understand the use of technology are they prepare our futureChristian leaders. I am being trained as a Hopelink minister to come along sidea person who is in a rough patch of their life and listen to them for a while.I try and model a Christ-like life for my kids. All these acts of service comeout of my God given passion of serving others.

Ihave come to a deeper understanding of prayer and how vital it is in ones life.To be honest I haven't really taken a lot of time to develop this spiritualdiscipline in my life. God is working on me to change this. True prayer, notthe wish list prayer, is what God desires so that He and I can haveconversations together. Remember in prayer it is a two way street, don't onlytalk to God but be sure and take the time to listen for God's still smallvoice. I take time away from life to go on spiritual retreats where God and Ican spend time together alone. Finally, I do my best to spend an hour or soevery morning quietly waiting upon the Lord. I read, pray, ponder, and write.These things all add to and show my love for God by simply spending time withHim.

Iconfess that I am an educational junky or as I am referred to in highereducation, a life long learner. I have four post-secondary degrees, a graduatecertificate, and I am working on my DMin (Doctor of Ministry). I enjoy digginginto Biblical text to understand what the author is saying and then convey thatinformation to other. It is through these intellectual endeavors that myunderstanding of God has grown and by default my love of God has grown. Thiseducational experience is not so I can get a bunch of letters after my name,rather it is about the transformation that God is causing in me. It is about metrusting God, being obedient to His word, and allowing Him to complete a goodwork in me. It doesn't matter if you are pursuing God through a degree or not,rather the question is Are you pursuing God at all? Are you allowing God totransform you into the new creatiom you already are through Christ?

The Praxis of Love (pt 2)

2011-09-28T13:29:00.000-05:00

This is from a sermon give at East Balsam Baptist Church 9/25/2011 (pt 2)

In the Gospel of Matthew we havean encounter being played out between Jesus and some of the religious leaders.The leaders were trying to trap Jesus by asking the question "What is thegreatest commandment?" but what they got was a reply that silenced themonce and for all.

When the Pharisees heard how he had bested theSadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religionscholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up:"Teacher, which command in God's Law is the most important?" Jesussaid, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer andintelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there isa second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' Thesetwo commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs fromthem." (Matthew 22:34-40 MSG)

Frommy journal Dec 2010

I have found myself being drawn to these verses as the drivingvalues for my life. Love God and love others. But when I really dwell upon thisnotion of loving, what does it look like in practice? How is it that I expressthis sense of love? Maybe a more basic question is what is love? How does onedefine it? I want to inject here that I am talking about the love of others,not the love of things. I have to pause when someone asks me how I like myiPad. The first thing that pops into my mind is that I love it. Do I reallylove it? When I say I love it, what I mean is that it is a great tool for mebecause it allow me to consume information from the Web in a way that fits me.I don’t think that is a true definition of love, but because of the wide poolof definitions for the word love, maybe it is.

Iwant to take a deeper look at this passage in Matthew and unpack with you whatit might look like to put love into practice.

WhenI look at love in the context of the passage above, I see that love has tohappen in a relationship. To love God I need to be in a relationship with God.To love my neighbor I need to be in some type of relationship with them. Youcan't love someone in isolation. Love is about doing, love is active - in 1John 3 we read:

By this we know love, that he laid down hislife for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyonehas the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heartagainst him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not lovein word or talk but in deed and in truth.

(1John 3:16-18 ESV)

Loveis active and can only be carried out in relationship. The only love that canbe carried out alone is loving ourself (I'm talking about the narcissistic typeof love) and loving the world. To develop relationships one needs to spend timewith the other person(s) in the relationship. So what does that look like withGod and what does that look like with others?

The Praxis of Love (pt 1)

2011-09-27T13:28:00.000-05:00

This is from a sermon give at East Balsam Baptist Church 9/25/2011 (pt 1)

We don't yet see things clearly. We'resquinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before theweather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all asclearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! But for rightnow, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward thatconsummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. Andthe best of the three is love. (1 Corinthians 13:12, 13 MSG)

Paul was writing to thechurch in Corinth to encourage them in their struggles and hardships. In theseverses Paul writes that while we are doing life we don't always see or know theanswers to our "why or how or when or who" questions. When we stand beforeGod we will have the answers, but for now Paul tells us to hang onto our faith,hope and love.

Our faith is in God who was, isand always will be with us. This faith does not promise us a trouble free life,rather is promises us we will always have someone to lean in good times andwhen things get rough. Our hope is in the new life and restored relationship wehave through Jesus Christ. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3 to "always beingprepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hopethat is in you." We have a hope to share with other and a faith thatanchors our trust in God. Then we have love - in The Message it says "loveextravagantly." Paul tells us of the three: faith, hope and love, thatlove is the best. Two questions come to mind here: What does it look like tolove extravagantly? and How do we know love is best? The answer to the first iswhat we will be exploring today and the answer to the second is 1) Paul'swriting were inspired by God and 2) it is a reflection of what Jesus taughtwhen ask the question about the greatest commandment.

God at Work

2011-09-22T20:39:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I have posted. A lot of pondering going on, but not a lot of time to write. I do want to share my experiences from the last couple of Monday nights.

As you may or may not know I have been going into Lino Lakes state prison for the last four years working with groups of offenders who are completing an 18 month program called IFI. It is a faith-base prison ministry that is part of Prison Ministry Fellowship. The latest group I have been working with (8-9 months) are finishing up working through A Rattling of Sabers by Greg Bourgond. It is an in-depth look at themselves and putting down on paper a Biblically grounded set of beliefs and values they are choosing to begin living by. This is done through a lot of personal reflection and the working of the Holy Spirit.

A couple of Mondays ago I sat in the room with them and listened to the striking of key as 9 men began to type out their personal life platform, putting into words what they have been thinking and what the Spirit has been stirring in their hearts. Then this last Monday each man read to the rest of us what God has been doing in their lives. What wonderful stories I heard from each of them. God was working in each one of these men in unique and special ways. It was wonderful to see the hard work these men put into what I hope is only the beginning of a transformed life and that when I are released I am trusting that God will use these men to do great things for the Kingdom.

Family Experiment

2011-08-26T07:48:00.000-05:00

Relations in our family have been a little stressed this summer. there are a variety of reasons but I think is comes down to two things. We have lost our focus on God and/or each other. It's not like we all sit in different parts of the house and not talk to each other. No the stress shows up in those times when you would expect conflict in a house with a couple of teenagers and parents. Our life is no different than that of a lot of other families but as a family of Christ-followers we have the right foundation to allow us to restore our relationships both vertically wiht God and horizontally with other family members. I guess you could say that we are putting to practice what I was preaching about in early Aug, with me taking on he role of Haggai (see this blog posting).

This experiment will last about 30 days so that we can begin to develop the habits of listening to God, thinking about the other in our family, and taking the focus off ourselves. This isn't about gaining more head knowledge because we all know what we should do. The goal is to move our head knowledge to heart knowledge and then put it into practice.

Don't know how it will work but so far (ok we have only been at it a day) so good. Yesterday the task was simple. All we did was send two text to the others in the family to encourage them or complement them on something they do well. The texts had to be at least 2 hours apart so you actually had to think about the task twice. The Proverb we reflected on was:

Start with God-the first step in learning is bowing down to God; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning. (Proverbs 1:7 MSG)

You see in this process we need to make sure our relastionship with God is strong so we can then use that to strengthen our relationship with others.

Today the task is to do the encouragement text again plus with $3.73 create something that the whole family can enjoy. We'll see what happens.

Trust In The Lord

2011-08-19T07:41:00.000-05:00

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. Proverbs 3:5-6 The Message

As I listen to the news, experience our own families problems, as I reflect on my own personal journey the above verses gives me great comfort. With this idea of trusting God as a key component in my world view, I find myself shaking my head sometime (a lot of the time) with the antics of our political system. Political parties try and convince us that they have the correct answer to our nations, states or local problems. They are convinced that they are right. And if numbers hold true, at least on the national level half the people would agree with them and half would not.

Politicians claim they have a mandate to make a change in government even when they have been elected my less than 50% of the vote. Politicians and political parties look at the facts surrounding a particular issue, draw up their battle plans based on their particular ideology, wet their finger and get a read on with direction that the political winds are blowing and propose a solution, dig in their heals, accuse the other party or oppenent(s) of being wrong and hold the government system they represent hostage. They all seem to saying the same thing - trust me or trust our party, we have the solution, we have the answers.

Don't get me wrong we have a great democracy and every couple of years I participate in the election of candidates, I have a basic understanding of the issues and where various candidates line up. For me it is the idea that we are to trust them - no I would rather put my trust in God. Do I live in a Christian nation? To be honest, I don't even know what that means - whose definition of "Christian" are you using?

You see its not about trusting poliitians or governments to do the work God has called us to do as Christ-followers - love God, love our neighbors and make disciples - come along side others invite them into a relationship with God and then help them grow in that relationship. Take on the challenge of the unwed mother who is consider an abortion, walk along side her so she sees she has an alternative, don't condemn but comfort. What could you or your church do for the neighbor how is struggling to put food on the table everyday? Are there some odd jobs around that you could offer the neighbor who hasn't seen a paycheck in a while? I don't know what a Christian nation is, but I do know what a nation full of Chrst-followers would look like when they are allowing God to direct their hands and feet to minister to those around them. We don't need to solve all the worlds woes, just those around the block and around the church. Let politians do what politicians do, but we should go and do what Christ-follows should do.

With A Little Help From My Friends

2011-08-11T07:29:00.001-05:00

The Beatles sang about "getting by with a little help from my friends." I don't think they were that far off in this idea. Over the past couple of years I have come to appreciate the role that community plays in helping us through those tough times.

My default response to tough times has alway been to withdraw into my own little world, put up walls and work things out on my own. To be honest, in the long run that hasn't worked out very well for me. I always thought that I was simply wired that way and I didn't need anyones help. I don't know if it was arrogance, pride, embarrassment or some other reason I didn't want to seek the wisdom of others. There were times when I wouldn't even seek the wisdom of God. It was the attitude that I can do this on my own. I think that Satan was dancing with delight as I would withdraw from the world because this would cause me to cut myself off from others and from God.

From my studies and from pratical application I have come to see that we are in fact wired not to be alone but to be in community. We each bring into our own communities different gifts, talents, experiences and view points that can help the rest make better sense of life and the things that life throws our way.

The early church is a great example of this. In Acts we see the people coming together sharing wath they have for the good of the community. I the time I spend in jail with a group of men we help each other shape our lives and our life stories. My spiritual director has help me by asking questions that help me thing or rethink about thinks going on in my life - to bring clarity and understanding. My councilor has helped me to work through some of my stumbling blocks. I have a friend who asks me the tough questions about what is going on in my life. I have a small group with whom I can share prayer requests. Finally, I have a wife who comes along side my on the eclectic journey I call life. I also know that God is apart of this whole process for it is His still small voice I listen for, it is the Holy Spirit who helps me as I reflect on where God has been at work in the past and is helping me connect the dots.

Doing life really is about community - about "getting by with a little help from my friends." How healthy is your soul care community? How healthy is your relationship with God?

A Granddaughter's Blessing

2011-08-05T17:00:00.000-05:00

On Saturday Aug 6 2011, my granddaughter will be dedicated. Below is the blessing my wife and I have written to celebrate the occasion.

Topanga Noel
Joy | Transition | Unique

Three words that describe the blessings that you have brought to us and that we in turn can give back to you.

Joy - God has gifted you with the ability to wash away the harshness of the day with a simple smile or smirk from your beautiful face. You are so joyful in turn you bring joy to those around you. May God continue to use you to brighten the hearts of those who come across your path. May you continue to find joy in your life as you grow and become the person God has created you to be, with the giftedness of an encourager and the joyfulness of a joy giver.

Transition - God is using you to shape and transform a lot of people. You mom and dad have been transformed into caring, loving parents doing the best they can with this wonderful gift they have been given. You have transformed your grandma and grandpa into a new role in life, watching their daughter grow into a wonderful mom and taking on the responsibility of proud grand parenting. We in turn will walk along side you as you are transformed into a child of God.

Unique - Though you do not know it yet, God has created you to do things that you may not believe you can do. Things that on your own you can't, but by leaning on God you can. As you grow we pray that God will open your eyes to the things you see around you, your heart to His gentle nudging and your ears to His still small voice so that you may know the unique role you might play in being His hands and His feet as you sojourn through life.

Anyway

2011-07-31T09:43:00.000-05:00

I was sitting in church yesterday when I heard the song Anyway by Martina McBride sung by the worship team and for some reason it really struck me. In a nut shell the song is about persevering despite not always knowing the results or the results not being what you expected. The chorus sums up how we as Christ-follower should face our daily struggles:

God is great, but sometimes life ain't good
When I pray it doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway

Sometimes in life we face situations that in short suck. The thing that we need to remember is that God is Great and with His wisdom and guidance we can persevere. It is the same thing when we pray. God doesn't always answer like we think He should, but that isn't the point. God wants us to pray not with a with lists, but with a desire to build and strengthen our relationship with Him.

The song encourages us to build, dream, love and sing - anyway. We need to put ourselves out there - win, loose or draw. We also need to keep in mind no matter the results - God is great, but sometimes life ain't good - just do it anyways. Go ahead and dream, build, love and sing - anyway!

God Is With Us

2011-07-28T08:27:00.000-05:00

Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message, "I am with you, declares the Lord." (Haggai 1:13 ESV)

In a couple of weeks I will be preaching in Becker and the text for my sermon is Haggai, talking about the remnant's lost focus. This morning as I was reading the verse above jumped out at me. The promise that is contained in this verse is so wonderful - "I am with you, declares the Lord." With this final word of encouragement from God the people said we are all in, we will complete the task we were called to do.

These people gave up on the initial task because they lost their focus on God and started to focus on the dangers that were around them. I don't fault them we do the same thing today. We are affraid to stand up for what we believe as Christ-followers. We give in to the persecution we might face if we declare our commitment to Christ. We fail to follow through on the things God has called us to do. What we need to do is lean into our fears knowing that God is with us. Erwin McManus defines courage, not as the absences of fear but as the absence of self. This is what the remnant did, they let go of their own fears and turned to the promise that God gave them. Notice that He didn't say things would be easy, He simply said that He would be with them in any struggles or trials that may come along.

Do you have a God given task that you are struggling with because of outside pressures? As we take the focus off of us and put the focus back on God, knowing that he is with us, we can continue to allow God's purpose for our life to unfold before us.

Next Move

2011-07-26T10:31:00.002-05:00

I have spent a lot of time thinking about the "what" questions as I ponder about my encore career. I have already had four or five career changes so what's one more? The answer I have come up with to the question of purpose is simply to come along side others and walk with them in their sojourning, offering advice when asked and helping them to draw closer to God. In my current job the only tweak is that I am helping people navigate the use of technology in their teaching, but then again maybe this helps them draw closer to God as well.

In ministry context, this is what I am doing with my work at Lino on Monday nights with my group of men. In the fall I begin training for a new ministry opportunity through my church where I will be trained to work one on one with a person who is in need of someone to listen to their story for a while. These two opportunities begin to answer the "how" and "where" questions I am thinking about now.

How do I carry out my purpose is the question of the hour now. Do I keep on doing what I am doing - part-time volunteer ministry, full-tme career? Do I seek a different career path all together in a church or para-church setting? Do I start some sort of ministry on my own?

I share this with all of you because these questions are ones that I think we all thing about at times. My thinking and pondering has probably risen to the level of obsession, but that is simply the adventure that God has brought me on. My question to you is what are the gifts and talents that God has given to you to use to build up the body of Christ? These could be spiritual gifts, natural talents or acquired skills. They are probably the same gifts and talents you use everyday. Have you ever thought about how you could use them for Kingdom work as well? In Romans 12 Paul writes about every believer not only knowing their part but doing it to the benefit of others and to glorify God.

Position Desired - Soul Care Pastor

2011-07-24T10:24:00.000-05:00

For the last few days I have been thinking about what kind of position I may be looking for as I continue to discern my possible new adventure. What you will find below is a made up job description of what I would think is a good fit for where I sense God leading me.

Sometimes as we listen to God speaking into our life, it help to take the bits and pieces we are gathering and put them together into form where they make sense to you, to your understanding of a possible future.

What are the bits and pieces in your life that you can piece together to create a new ministry opportunity. I am not necessarily talking about a career change, rather I am asking the question, "Is God leaving you some clues as to something He may be wanting you to do?" Maybe there is a new ministry opportunity waiting for you just around the next corner and God is simply waiting for you to catch up to Him.

Job Posting - Soul Care Pastor

Job Description

The soul care pastor will be responsible for creating an environment where people can grow and develop into the person God is calling them to be. They will meet people where they are - spiritual & emotionally and walk along side them for a period of time. This is not a counseling position, but the ability to recognize and refer people to a counselor is important. The soul care pastor will also develop a team of individual who can work with the soul care pastor in ministering to others. The soul care ministry may be carried out with individuals, couples or small groups.

Job Functions

Help people discover and apply their spiritual gifts
Listen to peoples stories and help them edit them
Help people connect the dots of their life experiences to see what it is the God my be telling them or guiding them to do
By personal example show others how to use different spiritual disciplines to grow in ones relationship with God
Lead individual and group spiritual retreats
Encourage other to live out in their lives - loving God with all you have, loving others, and making disciples

Experience and Education

The candidate for this position should have lived long enough to have a variety of life experiences. They should be maturing in their faith. They need to be able to discern how the Spirit is leading the the soul care of the person(s) being ministered to. They should be able to develop clear beginning and end points, but be willing to let the journey between the two points to develop and shift a needed.

The single most important skill that this candidate will have is the ability to listen - listen to the care receiver, listen to God, and listen to the Spirits leading. This is best done as the candidate them self is in their own self soul care process.

The candidate should have a Masters level understanding of the Bible and theology. They should have a strong background in the are of spiritual formation, the spiritual disciplines, and faith development.

Reflections From My Blog

2011-07-22T09:14:00.000-05:00

As I browse through my blog postings I have noticed a couple of things - randomness and themes. Yes I know that these two things seem to be opposites but it is true. Surronding my themes there are a lot of random thoughts. Two books of the Bible that seem to come up again and again are James (theme practical faith) and Haggai (theme regaining focus). The links are to a couple of older posting from my thoughts about James and Haggai.

Both these books are ones that I go back to time and time again to read, ponder about and pray about. These two themes of living out our faith and maintaining focus are parts of my sojourn that I am continually evaluating, refining, and living out. These are also areas of my life that I at times struggle with. I think they are things we all struggle with.

I am preaching in a couple of weeks at a church in Becker. MN and Haggai is the text I will be speaking from. It is a simple message - don't get so busy you forget about God, but it assumes a couple of things. First, that you know what it is God wants from all Christ-followers (love God, love others, make disciples) and that you are willing to do them. Second, that you have taken the time to listen for God's still small voice and have reflected on what specifically God is asking you to do. You see the remnant that Haggai was talking to knew what God wanted of them but they got distracted and lost focus.

It is a lose of focus that causes us to struggle. So the question I leave you with today is how are you doing at loving God, loving other and making disciples? Also, have you taken time lately to sit down and listen for God's still small voice?

Becoming Who God Wants Me To Be (pt 4)

2011-07-19T07:48:00.000-05:00

In late 2007 I was reading a blog posting my Josh Kesler about a stupid sheep. I took a different perspective than Josh, thinking rather than being stupid, he was being a barbarian sheep (see my original blog response. To be honest, it is only now as a read back over my original response that I am beginning to make the connection as to why this moved me the way it did. At the time though all I knew was that my mind was whirling.

It was about this time that I started my ministering at Lino, I applied for and got into the Doctor of Ministry program at Bethel, and I was engulfed in this wondrous time with God. It was during this time that I wrote about online community and social justice. I started my twitter prayer project. I read more books than I had in a long time about a lot of different things. During all this, a funny thing happened, I began to change - it was subtle but it was happening. God was transforming me into who He wanted me to be. The themes of community, relationships, and transformation began to jump out at me. I rediscovered the book of James and the practice of my Christian faith. I began to listen to the stories of others and how we as a community can help edit each others stories to strengthen our relationship with God and with others.

So what does this have to do with the stupid sheep? It is about stepping out of your box (comfort zone) and being willing to do what it is God has called you to do. I was comfortable being a geek, integrating technology and learning, but God has other plans for me. This became clear in my last Doctoral class - there were a lot of great conversations but I was drawn to one we had about what I call the ministry of proximity. Actually what I was drawn to is the tension that exists between the need to be in proximity to minister to someone and what we can do at a distance. Right now I am pondering what is meant by "proximity."

So there you have it. After sifting through the last 30 years as a Christ-follower, I think I know what I will do for the last season of my life. I know God has used me in different places at different times with my rather eclectic life. I know sense that there is a new and quite different adventure ahead for me.

It's time to be pushed out of the confines of my sheep pen and to embrace the adventure God has for me. I look forward to coming along side my fellow sojourners, walking with them for a while, helping to edit their story and strengthening their relationship with God and with others.

Becoming Who God Wants Me To Be (pt 3)

2011-07-18T08:44:00.001-05:00

These past 10 years have been marked by God ordained events, a willingness to say yes, slowing down and taking the time to listen, and struggles. Any one of these happening on their own would have been good, but the combination of all these together has led to an exponential impact on all areas of my life.

Two events that stand out to me involve the same man, Greg Bourgond and his Heart of a Warrior ministry. The first happened in the fall of 2003 when I was in his office on a work related matter and he said that he was getting a group of men together for a study and he thought I should be involved. The interesting thing is that I didn't go to his office that often and the study happened to be starting that night. reflecting back I am reminded of the disciples reaction when Jesus said "follow me." With little hesitation I said "why not." Little did I know what would follow. Nine months later I would be done after talking about beliefs, values, worldview, motives, and behaviors. It was the ground work for what I later called my personal life platform. This lead to teaching the material to a number of groups of men and later in a way much life the first, being invited to join Greg as he brought this material to a group of men in Lino Lakes state prison - office, invitation, acceptance, new adventure.

There was a final exam, if you will, to my studies with Greg. This final exam was not part of the curriculum, rather is was given by God. You see shortly after I finished the study I ran in the Twin Cities marathon, 26.2 miles of questioning my sanity for doing such a thing at the age of 44. As tough as the race was the real test came a week or two after the race when I received in the mail a letter for the marathon saying congratulation, hope you enjoyed the race, yada, yada, yads. Behind the letter was a check for $3500 made out to Scott Strand. I thought for a moment that I found my new career, I would be come a professional marathoner. I reasoned that if I could make $3500 finishing in the mid-6000th place I could make a lot more moving up a couple of places. I only thought this for a moment though. You see I some times Google myself to see what the web has to say about me and so I knew that there was another Scott Strand who is a world class marathoner who also happened to run the race and finished in the top 10. I had a friend who asked me earlier if that was me. Leagly, I don't think the marathon could have done anything to me if I had kept the money and cashed the check. It was made out to me, and there was no indication in the letter or the check on why I received it. I believe it was God testing my integrity, something that I had just spent the last 10 months learning about. I called the marathon, selected what I though was the right person from the phone tree, there were now choices for returning your prize money because it was sent to the wrong person. I told the person who answered who I was and explained what had happened. After a few seconds of silence the person respond with the statement "I'm glad you were an honest person." Yes, I aced the final, at least for this day. In the end I got a variety of marathon merchandise including a sweatshirt that I joking say cost mey only $3500.

Much of the mid-2000's was given over to reading, pondering, listening, and reflecting. It was a time when I put into practice a number of spiritual disciplines that help draw me closer to God.

This brings me to the fall of 2007 and a blog posting about a stupid sheep. This is what really got me going with regards to what God has been doing to me, through me, and for me. But the rest of the story will have to wait for part 4.

Becoming Who God Wants Me To Be (pt 2)

2011-07-16T10:24:00.000-05:00

A couple of days ago I wrote about what I feel God calling for me is - to come along side others in their sojourning through life. But the question to answer today is, "How did I arrive at this point?"

This journey for me has been a, borrowing from The Beatles, a long and winding road - educationally, spiritually, experientially, and personally. It began on a fall night in 1981, though the ground work was laid long before that, when I said yes to Christ. Adventures and challenges have been part of my life ever since - marriage, moving, living, growing, listening, and obeying. My internal wiring, living, learning, loving, and laboring has been part of the transformational process God has had me on for the past 30 years.

There have been some key people and events that I look at as markers that define this adventure. Jim Duncan, the man who first discipled me in what it meant to be a Christian. We were brought together from Ohio and Minnesota in Havre, MT for a 3 year crash course in Christianity. While in Havre, I preached my first sermon, it wasn't that good, it wasn't that long, but I know that it was the message God had for that congregation that day.

From Havre, there as a nomadic phase where we learned to trust more fully on God as we spent time in Minnesota, Missoula, MT, back to Bemidji, MN before finally settling in Grand Rapids, MN. It was in Grand Rapids where my leadership skills were developed, my preaching skills were honed a bit more, and I took on a variety of teaching opportunities with in the church and a private Christian school. The latter experience once again proved God's faithfulness. It was during this time that we adopted both our kids, built our home and thought that we were there for the long haul. It was here that I also learned that my plans aren't always God's plans.

In 1997 I was in Washington DC for a Promise Keepers event, when I heard that still small voice of God saying it's time to go to seminary. I didn't know why, but in the fall of 1998 we packed our things and move back the the Twin Cities. Just before I was to begin seminary my dad died and while we were down for the funeral, my wife interviewed for a number of of jobs and by weeks end had a number of job offers. I know that God was in it.

Seminary was good, I got a lot of head knowledge, but by the end of my time God had become more of an academic pursuit rather and a relational pursuit. It was at seminary that I started doing something call instructional technology - the art of using technology to enhance the learning process. When I graduated in 2001, I was offered a job at Bethel doing what I have been doing for the last three years. I thought that this was what God had in plan for me for the rest of my working career. To be honest this is a question I am pondering right now. More on that later.

None of this would have been possible if it weren't for the gift God gave me in my wife who has been with me through this whole adventure. God gave her a talent in the medical field that has allowed her to find work and in a large part finance the adventure called life that we have been on. She has put up with my educational endeavors, occupational changes, home relocations, and me, her rather eclectic husband and sojourner in life these past 29 years.

This is the background that I have needed to lay in order to answer the questions "How do I know what God wants for me and from me?" The third and hopefully finally part of this pondering will tie things together - spiritual disciplines, spiritual director, being open and willing to say "yes", and believe it or not a blog posting about a stupid sheep.

In short these last 10 years have been the most transformation years of my spiritual life.

Becoming Who God Wants Me To Be (pt 1)

2011-07-13T07:23:00.000-05:00

I am who I am becoming. No this is not some philosophical, pie in the sky statement, it is an idea taken from the Apostle Paul in his writings to the church in Corinth:

Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!
2 Corinthians 5:17 The Message

As a new creation I already am who I am, the goal now is to do the work of stripping away the old and letting the new shine forth.

I will admit that it is easy to strip away some of the old, those things that stare you in the face and you know are not honoring to our newly created life. I sometimes talk about this using an onion as my illustration. Take an onion and around the outside is the dried, papery layer that easily falls away. As you move in the layers of the onion become harder and harder to separate. As new creations we are able to put away some of our old habits that are not needed or wanted in our new life. These things are the outer layers of the onion. But then we get into the tough stuff. Those habits, actions, sins that we try to keep "hidden" in our new life. These aren't as easily reomoved. Let me make a point here, God can and at times does remove these hard, hidden things, but I believe that going thought this transformation process is what gives us the Godly character and wisdom that the world needs to not only hear from us but see lived out in our life.

For me this has not been an overnight, a ha moment. I have been a Christ-follower for close to 30 years. I have completed 2 post graduate degrees, a certificate and I am currently working on my Doctor of Ministy degree. Though all these years, through all this education, though all my life experiences this is what I have learned - God wants me to be someone who walks along side others as they do life, listen to their stories, offer advise when asked and help them move one step closer in their relationship with other but more importantly in their relationship with God.

This is getting a little long so tomorrow I will share with you how it is I got to the point where I could make the above statement with confidence and clarity. The question I leave you with today is "Who does God want you to become?"

Distractions

2011-07-06T07:42:00.003-05:00

There are a number of Bible books that I keep coming back to - they just seem to resonate with me. One of these books was written by the prophet Haggai. In this short two chapter book, we drop in on the Isrealites who have lost their focus, they have become distracted. I know I have written about Haggai in the past, but what I want to focus on today is the idea of distractions. I am coming off a five day staycation. We were going to travel, but ended up staying home. I had great plans of spending a couple of days reading and pondering and then spending some time doing things with my wife. Unfortunately I lost my focus almost immediately.

Bathroom redo, new rotors on the car, roof vents, extra shift running a camera at church - don't get me wrong these were all good things, but they became distractions for me when what I wanted/needed was some time alone with God. I got that in the mornings, but as I thought about what needed to get done I would run to Ikea or Menards, I would Google how to replace a rotor(not really that hard), and sometimes I would just let my mind wander- it goes to a lot of interesting places. This all added to an interesting sermon prep as I was living out what Haggai was warning the remnant about. It was as if Haggai was speaking to me in a way that it hadn't in the past.

The question that is forming for my sermon is "What is distracting you from your God given focus - loving God, loving others, making disciples, or making use of your spiritual gifts?" Haggai wasn't condeming the people for living their life, rather he was talking to them because they seemed to have forgotten God in the process.

Knowing That God Is In It

2011-07-02T07:10:00.003-05:00

I don't know why, but I am often surprised by how God is at work orchestrating things so that I am able to use the gifts and newly formed passions that He has stirred in my heart. Let me explain.

For the last 4 years or so I have been spending my Wednesday night being locked up in Lino Lakes state prison, working with a group of offenders who have finished or are just finishing their 18 month long IFI program. I work with the me n to help them understand their core beliefs and values and encourage them to live them out in specific ways. This is a ministry that energizes me. In June I was asked if I could switch to Monday nights as the IFI staff was going to me doing some different things on Wednesday with the men. I didn't mind the switch, but I didn't know why we had to move. The question "why" was rolling around in my head. Some times God has us do thing where He knows the "why" but we are just to follow.

Jumping ahead a couple weeks now, I have decided to become part of our HopeLink ministry team at my church. This is a ministry where you come along side an individual to help them through a tough time in their life. This is the type of ministry the God has been stirring in my heart for a while now. To wrap this rambling up, I applied for and was accept into the training program for this ministry. So how do I know God was in this, training starts in September on Wednesday nights. If the IFI program hadn't shifted, if I hadn't agreed to switch come September I would have had to made a choice between IFI and HopeLink. But due to, I believe, God's timing I am able to do both.

So do you have a story of where you know that God is in it? Have you been inconvenienced or asked to change something and you're not quite sure why? Maybe God has something new and exciting for you to try or do. Be open, be listening, Be willing.

A Journey of Transformation

2011-06-24T15:40:00.000-05:00

I have been silent for a while now. In part because I have not had time to process all the things I have been pondering - though I have at least 3 blog topics. In part because of the journey I have been on. And in part because I have simply been tired - mentally, emotionally, and spiritually - a good tired, but tired none the less.I

I had two seminary professors - Steve Sandage and LeRon Shults who wrote a book on spiritual transformation and used as their model a crucible. This crucible is where we go to have our impurities cleaned out of us. How we respond to this firing really determines how “pure” we become.

For the past few months I have been repeatedly jumping into and out of the crucible. A process that has made me so very tired. Through this process I have been pulled & stretched, I have been pushed to the limits and then reeled back in to find rest, I have gained clarity to where God seems to be directing me to go. I have to admit that it is not where I was headed when i began my doctoral work. I seem to be coming to a junction where a step of faith my be needed to get me over a rather large obstacle.

So what has been the results of this process? I have come to a deeper, richer appreciation of community. I’m not talking about community light, I’m talking about community where we allow transformation to happen to each other and we are their to help each other edit our stories.

I have come to see that I enjoy coming along side people who need some assistance I allow me to be their sounding board or to offer some words of encouragement or wisdom. I am not their to fix them, rather I am their to help them hear God’s still small voice and how they can respond to it. Or perhaps it simple helping them rethink how they can accomplish their goals in new ways.

Living out these changes has resulted in getting involved in a new ministry at church and the prospect of another possible ministry opportunity. This has also got me thinking about what I might have to give up to pursue these new opportunities.

It has also led to a number of questions that I am looking to answer - How do I recharge myself? What is my “land between” looking like?

Sabbath Soul Care

2011-06-11T09:53:00.003-05:00

I am reading a book by Wayne Muller called Sabbath. You see I at times have trouble with rest. By rest I don't mean the physical activity of sleeping - though I have issues there too, but that is another story. No, I think that Sabbath is more than that - it is a mental, physical, & spiritual resting from the business of life by quieting ourselves and coming into the presence of God. Muller puts it this way:

When the moment of rest had come, the time for healing was over. He (Jesus) would simply stop, retire to a quiet place, and pray.

Muller goes on to say this about prayer.

When Jesus prayed He was at rest, nurished by the healing spirit that saturates those still, quiet places. In the Jesus tradition, prayer can be a practice of simply being in the presence of God, allowing the mind to rest in the heart.

The take away here, the thing that we need to remember and practice is that the Sabbath is so much about a specific day or time, it is the practice of recognizing when Sabbath rest is needed and then stealing away to the quiet place to pray and enter into Gods presence.

Half a Century plus 1

2011-05-17T19:09:00.004-05:00

On Saturday I will begin my 51st year sojourning on this earth. Thirty or so of those years I have spent following the Lord, some times closely and other times not. I have spent time reflecting on the past and pondering the future. I have begun to look at choices made - both good and bad. At time I wonder how things may have been different with different choices - not better or worse, just different. I have enjoyed seeing how God has used me in a variety of situations to impact the lives of others and thus transforming my own life.

Looking forward it is with a sense of anticipation of how I am going to minister in the next season of my life. As I an finishing up work on my doctorate I anticipate a new chapter of ministry in my life. I think I am beginning to clarify what that my look like.

I am looking for a way to focus my next season of ministry helping people to discover who it is God has created them to be and to help them understand what this means in their life. I am interested in coming along side people, listening to their story, and helping them discover how they can be God's hands and feet and minister to the people around them.

I have some ideas of what this may look like, teaching, spiritual direction, writing, and preaching. I don't know if these things are lay ministries while I continue doing what I am doing now or if there is a ministry setting where I can do these things or perhaps it is starting a ministry of my own. If anyone is in need of a speaker for a retreat, conference or class where I might be able to minister I would love to talk with you.

This has been a fun exercise for me, reflecting on where I have been and how God has been a part of it and then ponder the future and what God may have in store for you. There is a spiritual formation exercise called "The Grand Examen" that takes you though four questions that help you ponder these things. This exercise is a great faith builder and helps give definition to how you are wired and what God may be calling you to do.

It's What Happens In The Middle

2011-05-05T07:34:00.002-05:00

I have a rather simplistic educational philosophy: I know where we're starting, I know where I would like to end, and what happens in the middle is where the learning happens. This is the philosophy I think about when I'm a teacher, when I'm a learner, when I'm a sojourner in life. It goes from a single class period, to an entire course, through a degree program, and then spills over into life.

You see it is in the middle between the start point and the end point where transformation can happen. This is where we can journey together,to come along side each other and edit each other stories.

One thing about the journey, we have to be willing to follow it, flex with it, and at time endure the hardship of it for change to happen. We might have one idea of where a particular journey is taking us, but God may have another plan in mind. We need to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit as we travel through life.

As a teacher I read the students, as a learner I listen for God's promptings, and as a sojourner I wonder what's around the next corner as I travel the path I call life.

The question I leave with you is "What's happening in the middle to you?"

Simplicity

2011-04-19T20:41:00.002-05:00

If there is one word that I have been thinking about lately with regards to my life in general, that word would be simplicity. Simplifying what I eat, things I possess, life in general, commitments, and engagement with technology (I have turned off my work email on weekends & seldom do I have my cell phone on weekends). I want to live simply, not necessarily cheaply or frugally. I love to bake and should do that more often.

I think with simplicity comes a slower pace to life. I take the time to enjoy things as life goes by. Some might say that I am living a balanced life, but what does it mean to be balanced? Rather, what I strive to do in my simplified life is life a Christ-centered life. In my Christ-centered life I live out Matthew 22:37f - that is I love God and love others. Where do I spend my resources(time, money, energy, etc.)?

Do I have this simply life all figured out? No, but I am working at it. As I write these words I have to chuckle know that I am about to begin the writing of my Doctoral thesis. But perhaps this simplicity is something with needs to be woven into it. I need to think about that a bit.

How can you simplify your life? What is one thing you can do to slow down? What would a Christ-centered life look like to you?

Now If Only...

2011-04-11T08:25:00.002-05:00

Now if only - three little words that in my journey through life that means "I agree God but..." The "but" could mean a viariety to things from I don't really trust You to not right now but when I am ready to any other excuse I can come you with. You see that is what I mean when I say "now if only."

I've noticed that God really isn't interested in my excuses, rather He is interested in my doing. Proverbs 3:5-6 talks about trusting the Lord, Joshua was commanded to be strong and courageous and not waiver from the path layednout for him.

Trusting God is one more step in our faith journey. Remember how God has been faithful in the past will help you know that God will be faithful in the future.

Found

2011-04-06T07:21:00.003-05:00

This is a follow-up to my blog posting entitled "Lost" a couple of weeks ago. That was a look at depression from the inside. Today I want to talk about depression from the outside.

In the weeks since that posting my fog has lifted. I want to thank all my friends who wrote words of encouragement and offered up prayer, they really do help. I wish I knew how or why the depression lifts, I guess I could do some research but I don't have the time right now. It is really a rather odd experience - life is good, life sucks, life is good - a cycle that keeps repeating itself. The intervals of good vs suck ebb and flow. Triggers that move me into or out of the sucky state, beats me.

So what did I learn? Well, found out that I need to follow up with a couple of people about life things. That God is there even in the darkness though friends, family, and others. That I may have a voice speaking into subject of depression - don't know what this will look like yet.

I think I have more to say, but right now I am still processing things. Again, thanks to those who wrote, prayed, etc for me.

Reflections on The Gospel of John - Chapter 1

2011-03-28T07:24:00.003-05:00

Our small group from church has begun to read through and study the Gospel of John. It's been a while since I have spent a lot of time looking at this book of the Bible and I had forgotten a lot of the finer details of the Gospel. I think the best way to get the overall feel for a biblical book is to read the entire book in one sitting. This allows you get a good feel as to the flow of the story.

As I have looked at chapter 1 a couple of things jump out. First, in the first dozen verses we have John developing a wonder image of who Jesus is, His unity with God, His role in creation, His light shining in the darkness, His rejection, and His reward (Grace) to those who do believe. I love the fact that we are God's children with all the rights and responsibilities associated with this new identity.

The second thing that struck me was John, not the author John rather John the Baptist. His role in life was to point people to Jesus. That was it. He came to prepare the way. This was the testimony that he gave. What an honor to be the proclaimer of Jesus the Christ. If you think about it though that is what we are called to do as well. Our testemony, our story, our life should also point people to Jesus. As Paul writes in his letters, we are God's ambassador.

The question I leave you with is this, how does your story point others to Jesus? What has God done for you that you can testify about?

Lost

2011-03-24T12:11:00.008-05:00

It's been almost a month since my last post. I haven't even tweeted much. Why? Feeling lost, alone - much like David in many of the Psalms where he cried out to God in despair. I do what I need to do, but it is just that, doing. Few things bring me the joy, the comfort I have had in the past. Work is just that, work. Life seems like a giant whirl wind and I don't know what direction it is headed at any given time. I feel as though I have lost purpose or meaning. Lost hope? No. Lost joy? No, but it is hard to find.

I find it interesting that I am so aware of my situation and at the same time unable to respond to it. Maybe I should be calling this blogging from the dark side. I have given up asking why, rather I think about what I am to learn. Who can benefit from my dark side ramblings?

Let me try a poem -

Hello darkness my old friend,
You've come to call on me again - yeah I know Simon and Garfunkle but it is a great way to start

In reality that is all I have - darkness is an old friend who has been calling for years. Some times its a brief visit, other time it seems like a prolonged stay. I can put a name to this darkness, it is depression - not sadness, not spiritual warfare, not not doing enough "spiritual" things, no it is as chemical imbalance in my brain that results in me entering into dark times. My dad suffered from the same thing at about the same age I am at now.

Today as I write this I can feel the darkness lifting. I am again able to listen for and to God's still small voice. Hey, I'm even able to blog about it. I know my old friend will be back, may next week, maybe in a couple of months or a year. I just don't know.

If you are like me and know this experience, remember that even in the darkness God is there, seek Him out for comfort. Seek out a medical or mental health professional to help you through this time. Let a trusted friend know so that they can intercede for you in prayer.

If you know someone who is in this situation don't try and fix them, rather just be there when they reach out, pray for them. encourage them.

I have been living with depression for the last 15 years or so. I lived the first 7-8 without diagnosis, and the last 7-8 under the care of my doctor. I don't have all the answers, shoot I don't even know all the questions - but what I do know is that God is faithful in all things and He will be with you even when darkness falls.

Not a Place to Dwell or Running from God My Way

2011-02-28T07:23:00.007-06:00

To be honest, I don't really know what to call the place I am in right now. It not the dark side of the soul, nor is it a place of deep, intimate relationship with God. I am not in a crisis of faith or belief. I am trying to listen, but don't always hear or it seems all I hear is silence. It may also be that I hear but choose not to listen.

For me, right now, I don't think is is any of the above reasons. No, what I believe is the issue is that I have chosen to run from God. I'm not talking a Jonah moment where God said do this and Jonah ran the opposite direction. No, my running from God looks more like a guy caught up in the things of life, to "busy" to do the things God wants him to do. Not all things, just the things that make my mind swiril. I find myself engaging in mindless activities instead of engaging in the ponderings that God has set before me.

By mindless activities I don't mean spending time with family and friends. This is a good use of time. But did I really need to watch that TV show or movie, when I had carved out time to do my pondering? Did I need to check emails and see what is happening in the world during the time I had set aside for reading and tweeting? Did I have to let my mind wander and daydream about spring and new projects around the house when I had set aside time to work on my doctoral studies? You see its not about being to busy, I have carved out the time I need, but I then fill those times with activites that don't need to happen when they do. I have time carved out for emails and such. I set aside time to watch my TV shows on Hulu or TV.com. There are times when I can daydream, but I need to keep that in check.

Just like Jonah, I am guilty of running from God. It is not a physical running, rather it is an intellectual running. It really doesn't matter how you are running for the result is the same. Something that God wants me to do is not getting accomplished. Maybe I need to spend a couple of days in the belly of a fish (though I would rather not) to cry out to God, quit running, and to return to the what it is God wants me to accomplish.

Caribou Ponderings

2011-02-16T17:39:00.001-06:00

I often wonder what I should be when I grow up. I have come to a point in my life where I have a pretty good handle on who I am, how I'm wired, what drives me, and what stirs my soul. The question that I come to is how do I tie that all together in my life? I very much enjoy what I do, and it does fit who I am. Does it fit perfectly, no but it meets the 80/80 percent Greg talks about when it comes to what we do. The thought goes like this - you are in a good fitting job when 80% of who you are is 80% of what you do. The other 20% of what you do are simply the things that need to get done to do the other 80%. As for the 80% of me, I don't think it is possible to find a job, task, activity, etc that you exercise 100% of who you are.

That said, to fulfill the missing 20% we take on other ministries, activities, or tasks to use our neglected skills & passions. I guess I need to figure out how in any give day, week, or months I can in fact use all the different skill sets, talents, or gifts to server others and extend God's love to them.

Sometimes...

2011-02-16T07:52:00.002-06:00

Sometimes life is great and my time with God is wonderful and productive. Sometimes life sucks and it seems my time with God is like the car stuck in the mud simply spinning its wheels. So where do I learn more? I guess the answer to that is what it is God is trying to teach me.

The "sometimes life is good" learning is deep, rich and rewarding. Writing, teaching, blogging, and tweeting simply flow out of the things I am learning.

The "sometimes life sucks" learning is a lot harder to understand. Often this is where I have to roll up my sleeves, strap me into a chair and start doing the "mechanical" things of being a Christ-follower. In the moment it doesn't seem like I am learning anything. I wonder why I even bother. Writing is tough, teaching is dry, and my social presesence goes away. When life is a little less sucky, and I reflect back on this time I see that I have learned valuable things - perseverance, finishing well, dependency on God and other, and often times I have a new perspective on scriptures I may have studied in the past.

I don't wish the life sucks times on anyone, but then again it can be a time of crying out to God, read many of the Davic Psalms [David had a lot of life sucks moments], it is time to fall back to the basics, it is a time to rely on others in your community [not always an easy thing to do].

If you find yourself in a life sucks moment, turn to God, turn to others, reach for that daily devotional, and persevere in your pursuit of God. He is there with you, walking along side you, just waiting for you to reach out your hand so He can take hold of it.

Knowing God - Through a Psalm of Lament

2011-02-11T05:33:00.003-06:00

I have suffered froim bouts of depression for years. Maybe that is why when King David writes about his times of despair they ring so true to me. Granted I don't have peole trying to kill me, at least I don't think I do :), but depression can cause one to feel very alone, affaid,tired, and more - all thinks David writes about in his lament psalms.

The thing that David knows about God and what I need to remember is that God is with us. God is our shelter we can run into when times are tough, when our struggles over whelm us. Knowing God and knowing that He is alway there gives us the glimmer of hope that can light up the darkness that at times can engulf us. From Psalm 57 David writes:

7 I'm ready, God, so ready, ready from head to toe, Ready to sing, ready to raise a tune: 8 "Wake up, soul! Wake up, harp! wake up, lute! Wake up, you sleepyhead sun!" 9 I'm thanking you, God, out loud in the streets, singing your praises in town and country. 10 The deeper your love, the higher it goes; every cloud is a flag to your faithfulness. 11 Soar high in the skies, O God! Cover the whole earth with your glory! The Message

Knowing God - knowing that God is there, that He loves us, know that He is our shelter even when we feel alone and so far away. So in those moment of lonelyness, despair, or trouble - don't run away but rather run toward God who is there for you.

Knowing God - Haggai

2011-02-05T08:57:00.002-06:00

I don't know what it is but I really enjoy reading Haggai. Maybe because it is a story set within a larger story or maybe it is because every now and then I need a Haggai to come into my life and ask the question "Why are you spinning your wheels in vain when God wants to engage with you?" I have to admit there are times when I get caught up in my own stuff and forget about spending time with God. This leads me to another "Knowing God" point.

In the case of the Haggai and the remnant they had neglected working on the temple while they went about doing their own thing. To the remnant the temple represented where God would meet with them. It was where the priest would enter in and make the sacrifices to God. God desired to have this meeting place, but the people turned their back on it.

From this I know that God desires to meet with us, to have a place where we can worship Him, a place where we can spend time with Him. This happens at both the community level - church, small groups, etc. - and at the personal level - quiet time, reflections, pondering, prayer. What I need to do is not get so busy in my life that I forget to meet with God at both these places.

What is next?

2011-02-03T13:00:00.002-06:00

I recently completed my week long intensive for my DMin program. I was a great class with a wonderful professor and a great group of fellow learners. The question posed in the title is looking at both the short term and the long term. There were so many great ideas talked about in the course - there were six great books we read prior to the class and I now have three or four new ones to read. My short term project coming out of the class deals with the concept of "the ministry of proximity." But there were a number of other ideas and topics that have become relivent to me. Also, I have my "knowing God" project to continue as well.

Longer term I am beginning to pull together thoughts for my doctoral thesis project. It seems as though all my ideas of polar opposites - online community & ministry of proximity, sinners save by Grace vs saints who sin (who we are in Christ), relationally & story editor vs silence & solitude. My goal is to bring these things together in some coherent question.

Still futher out is what I am going to be doing for the last 20-25 years of my active working life - don't really know what retirement will look like. Just need to keep listening for the answer to this question.

Knowing God - Joshua 1

2011-01-19T05:57:00.004-06:00

Joshua is one of my favorite characters we meet as we read through the Bible. In Joshua 1 Joshua is introduced as Joshua, Moses' assistant. In the chapter 24 after Joshua had died he is referred to Joshua, son of Nun, a servant of God. In the chapters of this book we see Joshua undergo a wonderful transformation as he lived out the life God had in store for him. From an assistant to Moses to a servant of God. This transformation came about as a result of Joshua knowing God.

In Joshua 1, I find two more characteristics that I want to start applying to my life. The first characteristic is that God is an encourager. God tells Joshua to finish the work that Moses began and that He (God) will be with him, He tells Joshua to strong and courageous, and to stay the course. These same words of encouragement given to Joshua God has given to all Christ-followers. He promised to be with us. He gave us the Holy Spirit to help us stay the course. He wants us to be strong and courageous. As we endeavor to carry out God's plan for our life, know that God will be with you.

The second characteristic that I see in Joshua 1 is that God has a purpose for me. Joshua's purpose was to lead God's people into the promise land. And as stated above God was Joshua's encourager. We are all created unique with a certain mix of natural talents, learned skills, and life experiences. God then takes all these properties and provides for us the opportunity to impact the lives of others to point them toward a relationship with God and to allow God's glory to shine on the world. We do God a great disservice when we use statements like, "Oh, God could never use someone like me to..." Actually God has a purpose for each of us to impact this world. What we need to do is be aware of this and be looking around to see where God wants you to be His hands and feet. Your purpose may impact a large number of people, like Joshua, or it could simply mean coming along side that one person who needs that special touch from God. We only need to be open and willing, God will take care of the rest.

In these opening verses of Joshua 1 I am beginning to better know God as an encourager and as the One who sets the course for my life.

Knowing God as:
- Creator
- Authority
- Relations
- Encourager
- Giving Purpose to My Life

Knowing God - The Beginning

2011-01-12T06:07:00.003-06:00

This is the beginning of a series of postings on the topic of knowing God. As Christ-followers we are called to be "imitators of Christ." Matthew 5:48 says we should "be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Reading this in context, I don't think it is as much about our perfection as it is about being imitators of God. If we are to reflect God's characteristics then it stands to reason that we need to know what they are and how we can live them out.

Let me step back for a moment and talk about my motive for knowing God. My life is driven by a number of key passages of scripture. One of these passages if found in Matthew 22. Here we have an interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees around the question "What is the greatest commandment?" The answer was simple - Love God with all you are & love others as well. To love God with all I have I need to know who God is. As I get to know God better, I grow to love him more. As I love Him more, I want to get to know Him even more... It just goes on - know, loving, loving,know. Don't forget as we are getting to know and love God, we are also to getting to know and love our neighbors.

As I begin this adventure of know God better, I reflected on the first couple of chapters of Genesis and picked out three characteristics to ponder on - God as creator, God as authority, and God as relational.

Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created..." What did God create? He created order out of chaos. Out of nothing He created all things and "it was good." As I reflect on this characteristic the question that comes to my mind is "How can I create order out of chaos?" How is it that I can be a calming force in troubled times? In crisis or conflict am I a voice of reason or do I add fuel to the fire? As a Christ-follower I can bring the message of HOPE that can be found through a relationship with God through Jesus. In a time of crisis I can stand confidently on the promises of God. I can be that calm voice in anxious times. How can you create order out of chaos in your own life's circumstances?

Early in Genesis 1 we also see God's authority - He spoke and it was so. When God speaks His authority is evident. People don't always listen and as a result stumble and tumble through life. When we speak about our relationship with God, about the truths of scripture, and our life as Christ-followers we too need to speak with authority and boldness. This is not our own authority, rather it is our positional authority as one of God's adopted children. That said, when you speak about God and the Truths found in the Bible, speak them boldly and with authority.

The third characteristic is that God is relational - that is He lives in community. First, there is the Divine community with Father, Son, and Spirit. The Trinity. The book The Shack painted and interesting picture of what this Divine community looked like. God also values an intimate relationship with us. In Genesis 2 we have God walking in the garden, interacting with Adam & Eve. Adam & Eve knew His voice and the sound of His steps. Before they ate of the fruit it appears they drew close to God, but after their disobedience the hid from Him out of shame or fear. In the last chapter of Revelation, we see this intimate relationship finally restore as God once again walks among His people. The chapters and books between Genesis 3 and Revelation 21 spells out the story of the restoration of this intimate relationship. This restoration was made possible by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ - our Savior, our Reconciler. Relationships matter to God. Community matters to God. Relationships - with God and others - is our greatest commandment from Jesus - Love God, Love Others (Matthew 22:34-40). Paul in his New Testament writings refers to the body of believers, the church in Acts was about community, the gifts and talents we have are not for ourselves, but for use in community. What I need to do is live a life where God and others truly do matter.

These are the first three of many characteristics of God that I will be exploring though out this coming year. At times I will drill down to see at how I can apply them to my life. At other times, I will simply marvel in the awe and wonder of who God is and deepen my love for Him by simple getting to KNOW Him.

Year End Reflection 2010 - Looking Back

2011-01-02T11:02:00.000-06:00

Year End Reflections 2010 - Looking Back

As 2010 draws to a close I have started to reflect on where I am and where I was a year ago. What things has God taught me over the last year and where do I believe I am headed this coming year? To do this I am following the format of The Grand Examen, a tool used to reflect and discern the events of the last year.

Looking Back -

The question here is what has God been teaching me this last year? Three things almost immediately jumped into my mind - community, personal soul care, and practical faith.

Community has been a thought that i have spent the last couple of years on. I should clarify this by saying the importance of community with regards to ones spiritual growth. It is vital that we not only write and edit our own story, but it is important to allow others to edit our story and if allowed edit other peoples stories. As Christ-followers we grow and mature as we learn to tend to our own soul care, but we need the eyes and wisdom of other to look at our blind spots or help us make sense our of what God is doing in our life. Community is also important in the exercising of our spiritual gifts.

In terms of personal soul care, I have three documents that help guide me in this area. One is my personal life platform that spells out the beliefs and values I hold and helps to see that I am living them out in my life. The second is my personal life mandate. This is a document that I can use as I evaluate different opportunities, to see if they fall within the trajectory that God seems to be laying out for my life. The third writing is my personal action plan. This document lays our some specific action items I need to work on in all areas of my life. I regularly return to these documents, read them, make some personal assessments, update where needed, make course corrections in my life to continue to deepen my relationship with God and others.

The last thing I have been learning is the value of a practical faith or practical theology. It is about living out what I say I believe. It's about being God's hands and feet on planet earth. This notion really began to stir in me in late 2010 so I haven't fully grasped what this will look like for me or in me.

I have one writing theme that has emerged - actually it is more a consolidation of a number of ideas - and my be the topic of my doctoral thesis. It is exploring the idea of "Becoming who we already are." If we are, like Paul states, a new creation in Christ how does this effect our theology, beliefs/values, Christian praxis, and our relationships with God and others?

The next section will take a look forward.

Masterpiece

2010-12-02T12:22:00.001-06:00

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

2010-11-29T08:13:00.001-06:00

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

2010-10-22T06:26:00.002-05:00

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

2010-10-02T10:46:00.003-05:00

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

2010-09-20T12:33:00.003-05:00

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

2010-09-08T12:56:00.004-05:00

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

2010-09-01T08:34:00.004-05:00

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

2010-08-17T12:36:00.003-05:00

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

2010-04-12T06:49:00.002-05:00

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

2010-02-12T07:58:00.004-06:00

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

2010-02-07T09:04:00.002-06:00

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

2010-01-26T07:51:00.003-06:00

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

2010-01-07T08:18:00.005-06:00

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.

30 More Days of Daily Prayers

2009-12-31T23:16:00.000-06:00

30 More Days of Daily Prayers

Today's prayer - Lord I often fall short yet Your love abounds. Show me what I need to change so there is less stumbling & more soaring. Amen

31 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Creator God, show me what I am clinging to with clenched a fist so that I may let go & come to you with open hands & an open heart. Amen.

30 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Lord God, what is it I need to do, that I'm not, to know You that much more? Now help me to do it. Amen.

29 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Abba Father, help me to know You better so that I can known myself better. Amen

28 Dec 2009

Today's prayer-Lord, let Your righteous anger convict & correct me while Your loving mercy engulfs me. Let me be still & know You. Amen.

27 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Father God grant me Your wisdom & understanding so that I might see the wicked and righteous paths and choose properly. Amen.

26 Dec 2009

   Today's prayer - May God find favor with you on this day, the day we celebrate the birth of our Savior, so that His peace may engulf you. Amen.

25 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Abba Father, search my heart, clean it of those things that can harden it or make me prideful. Open my heart to you. Amen.

23 Dec 2009

   Today's prayer - Lord God, help me to pray- when I'm troubled, when I'm happy, when I'm sick- direct my prayers to conform to Your will for me. Amen.

22 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Lord God, let me stand strong, to persevere, to be a voice for You in an ever darkening world. Amen.

21 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Gracious Father, let me be strong & courageous as I lean into my fears knowing that You are with me always. Amen.

19 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Father God, give me patients as the unknown future opens up in front of me. Let me trust in You with all my heart... Amen.

18 Dec 2009

   Today's prayer - Lord, You have shown me the beliefs/values You want me to engage in. Thanks. Now I ask that You help me to live them out. Amen.

17 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Lord I desire wisdom so that I might know your desires, passions & will so that I might make them mine so that I can serve others. Amen.

16 Dec 2009

   Today's prayer - Lord God, help me to see the things that crowed You out & then help me to do something about them. Amen

15 Dec 2009

Today's prayer -Lord listen with me to the words I speak, if they are displeasing to You help me change my heart to reflect Yours. Amen.

14 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Heavenly Father, let my beliefs & values (being) be lived out in my praxis (doings). Amen

13 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Father God, as You have shown mercy to me, help me to show mercy to others. Amen.

12 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Lord God, my tongue both curses and blesses - help me to eliminate the first & increase the second - towards You & others. Amen

11 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Lord show me how to give voice to the voiceless & how to serve those whom society has forgotten or rejected. Amen.

9 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Lord you want me to listen & do. Tune my ears to hear Your voice & my heart to do Your will. Amen.

8 Dec 2009

   Today's prayer - Father God thank you for choosing me to be part of your plan here. I am humbled & lean on you to complete your purpose. Amen.

7 Dec 2009

   Today's prayer - Lord Almighty, I desire to be in relationship with you living a life focus on your purpose for my life not my purpose for my life. Amen.

6 Dec 2009

     Today's prayer - Lord Almighty, stir up my spirit so that I remember to set you first in my life. I rejoice that You are with me & I with You. Amen

5 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Lord Almighty, as I remember the things you have done for me I want to honor You by being someone who fears You and serves You. Amen

3 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Abba Father, I desire to know you in a new way, in a way that transforms me into who you want me to become. Amen

2 Dec 2009

   Today's prayer - Lord Almighty, let me view my life with an eternal perspective knowing that in the end I will reign with You forever. Amen.

1 Dec 2009

Today's prayer - Lord God, I want to be one who is distinct from the world, serving others for your glory & honor. Amen.

30 Nov 2009

Today's prayer - Holy Spirit send your purifying fire to melt my heart & release its impurities so that they can be replaced with things pleasing to God

29 Nov 2009

Reflections from my hermitage

2009-12-31T09:51:00.008-06:00

Sunday afternoon I left for Pacem in Terris for a 3 day retreat into silence and solitude. My plan was to do some writing on a doctoral project that is very over due, reflect on the past year, and do a little reading in preparation for a class coming up this winter. Plans and reality don't always come together when one is getting alone with God. I had my agenda, but I was also open to God's agenda. This is something I have learned from numerous retreats to the hermitage's of Pacem in Terris.

The first night is usually a time of rambling around the hermitage trying to decompress from the world I have just left and enter into a time of silence and solitude to meet God with a quieted heart. One that is open to His leading. A place where one is able to listen for "that still small voice." I simply sit and listen. The mind wanders and I put it back. The view out the window, sitting in the rocker allows one to be open to the Spirits leading. It was a time spent reading and pondering what the prophet Hosea was writing the God's chosen people. Despite their sin and abandonment of God, He still loved them. Sleep, rest, peace.

Monday came and I was going to write, but God had other plans. I had begun to read the book The Gift of Being Yourself by David Benner on Sunday and found myself drawn into the questions being posed he posed. The book is about the need to get rid of our false self and become our true self. Benner proposes this is done by knowing God and through knowing God we can then know ourself. It is about the idea that our existence is ground in God's divine love or us. I started to make a connection to what I was reading in Hosea. I love when God helps me to connect dots. Benner talks about hiding and holding on to pieces of our false self and how they need to be given up. More dots to connect. I was later reading a book by Henri Nouwen called With Open Hands. In this book about prayer, Nouwen says that it when we grasp onto something with a clinched fist we are unable to come to God with open hands and receive from Him what he wants to give us. To often what I don't want to give us is a part of my false self. By holding so tightly I do not or can not fully embrace who it is God is calling me to be. I am still pondering this question and others raised by Benner.

In short, I did get some writing done, but more importantly God met me in my heritage and started be down another transformation path that He is using to shape me into the creating He wants me to become. I know that this is a life long process and will require a lot more trips back to the hermitage where I can once again find the silence and solitude I long for so that I can hear God speaking and where I can ponder the things that He has said.

Portable "Standing Stones"

2009-12-05T13:33:00.007-06:00

I have always been fascinated with idea of standing stones, those rock towers we read about in the Old Testament where when something fantastic has happened God's people will create this memorial so that when people pass the young can ask the old what they rocks mean and the story of God's grace or provision can be passed along.

The Strand family has our own standing stone that we created while we shared those things that God has done for us. It's a really cool idea that is part of one of our patios. However, it is not very portable and at times I need reminders of the things I believe and the awesomeness of God. To this end I have established a couple of portable standing stones. These "stones" are in fact not stone nor were they created initially for this purpose. They are however markers from a couple of significant God things in my life.

This first standing stone is the pendant I received when I first finish a personal journey of transformation that helped me to clarify my central beliefs and core values. This material has taken on even greater significance since I started working with men in the IFI program at Lino Lakes State prison. My central beliefs have expanded into my foundational beliefs (in my case made up of three biblical meta-narratives) and my operational beliefs. I carry this in my pocket so that when I slip my hand I and I feel the pendant I reflect on the things I say I believe and value and do a quick self assessment to see if at that moment I am in fact living them out. If I don't keep reflecting on these beliefs and values they are doing me little good.

This second marker comes from a recent series at my church where we were give this "stone" to remember to pray for a specific person. I now us this stone to remember to pray about God. To be specific I pray about the attributes of God that make God God. This actually came out of one of my new belief and value to remember who God is. This was brought about by Malachi his proclamation that the Israelites had forgotten who God what and what He had done for them (Malachi 1:1-10).

Are there things that you do to keep God in proper alignment in your life?

30 Days of Daily Prayers-

2009-11-28T10:33:00.004-06:00

What follows are prayers based on scripture readings from the day. They were sent via Twitter so they were limited to 140 character.

Today's prayer - Lord, search my heart today & show me those things I need to change so my faith may rest fully in you. Help me change.

November 28, 2009

Heavenly Father, Creator God, I choose this day to sing your praise and honor your name by the things I do and the words I say. Amen.

November 27, 2009

Today's prayer - Father God, you give us your best, in return we should give you our best. Show me where I fall short. Amen.

November 26, 2009

My prayer - Loving Father, you have shown your love to me in numerous ways. Let me dwell in your love & share it with those around me.

November 25, 2009

Today's prayer - Father God, help my unbelief so that when you call on me I will respond by faith in obedience to you. Amen.

November 24, 2009

Lord God, let me look to you for my strength, for my contentment. It's not about what I have or don't have, it's about trusting in you.

November 23, 2009

Today's prayer - Father God, you have been generous to me, let me then be generous to others with my time and resources. Amen.

November 22, 2009

My prayer - Father God, search my heart & show me those things I do that man may value but are unpleasing to you. Help me change. Amen.

November 21, 2009

Today's prayer - Jehovah Jireh, let me pursue the things you are teaching me & be content with what you have provided. Amen.

November 20, 2009

Today's prayer-Father God, let me use the treasures you have provided me to invest in the lives of people you bring into my life. Amen.

November 19, 2009

Today's prayer - Jesus, let me honor you by giving of my time & recourses to serve those whom society has seemingly marginalized. Amen

November 18, 2009

Today's prayer - Abba Father I want to know & do your will - transform me, renew so that I may know & do your good & perfect will. Amen.

November 16, 2009

Today's prayer - Father God, give me wisdom as I stand in the gap for those whom society has marginalized or rendered voiceless. Amen.

November 15, 2009

Today's prayer - Lord, as I serve & work this week let me do it with the attitude that it is you I am serving or working for. Amen

November 14, 2009

Today's prayer - Heavenly Father continue you're transforming work in my life & use me to encourage other's as you transform them. Amen.

November 13, 2009

Today's prayer - Gracious Father thank-you for counting me faithful & allowing me to serve others for your glory & honor. Amen.

November 12, 2009

Today's prayer - From the apostle Paul - Father God pour out your spirit of wisdom & revelation on us so we can know you better. Amen

November 11, 2009

Today's prayer - Creator God, you wired me with certain gifts & talents - let me use them to honor You and serve others. Amen.

November 10, 2009

My Prayer – Father God, let me rejoice in the things you have done. Let me share your story with other. Amen.

November 9, 2009

My Prayer - Abba Father, let me seek you each day to refresh me & to restore me so that I can do the ministry you have called me to.

November 8, 2009

Today's prayer- Father let me grow in knowledge of you today and let me nurture my relationships with other. Amen.

November 7, 2009

Today's prayer - Father God, may the stories of you & your children continue to strengthen my faith & help it to grow. Amen.

November 6, 2009

Prayer-Abba Father, your desire is for me to live in bold relief to the culture around me so as to bring glory to you. Help me be bold.

November 5, 2009

Today's prayer - God, give me your eyes & heart so that I do respond to the thinks going on around me with mourning, fasting, & prayer.

November 4, 2009

My prayer - Heavenly Father, today let me do and serve, not to seek praise from the world, but so I can bring glory and honor to you.

November 3, 2009

Today's prayer - God of the universe Jesus is my master, I am his apprentice - Holy Spirit teach me to be like Jesus. Amen.

November 2, 2009

My prayer - Creator God, you are the refiner of my life - put me in the crucible, remove my planks, I want to live a transformed life.

November 1, 2009

Today’s Prayer - Lord, now that hear voice give me the wisdom to understand it and the courage to do it. Amen.

October 31, 2009

My prayer-Abba Father let me draw near to you, rest in you, and honor you by the things I do, the words I use, and the stories I write.

October 30, 2009

My prayer today - Lord, let me be still so I can listen, let me listen so I can hear, let me hear so that I can serve.

October 29, 2009

Today’s Prayer – God, let me show your love to others so that they may see you. Amen.

October 28, 2009

Today’s Prayer – Father God, bring to me this week someone who needs to be reconciled with you. Help me to help them. Amen

October 26, 2009

Today’s prayer – Father God Almighty, show me who to give voice to, who to server. Show me who, show me how.

October 25, 2009

My Sojourn - So What Is Next?

2009-11-02T10:19:00.001-06:00

So, this is who I was becoming in the fall of 2008. I had been pushed and pulled, shaped and molded, challenged to step out of my comfort zone, and as described by Erwin McManus (a passive mentor of mine) I was beginning to walk the barbarian way. I didn’t know it at the time, but events, readings, and life experiences had fallen into place to send my on a wild sojourn to places hadn’t really thought of going before. What was needed was a trigger, some event, some writing, some still small voice to launch me into the transformational crucible were I would be shaped by different events, molded by readings from the Bible and other authors, transformed in my theological understandings (my beliefs and values), and where my contemplative nature would be allowed to flourish as I would spend hours pondering about who God is, what I believe, and how He has transformed me into the person He wants me to become.

So what was the trigger? It was a blog posting my Josh Kesler about a stupid sheep they had encountered while driving around the countryside. In his telling of the story Josh referred to the sheep as a “stupid sheep.” To this day I don’t know how or why I resonated with that stupid sheep, but rather than thinking it was stupid I saw it as barbarian, wanting break free of the thinks that confined it. Maybe that is the metaphor for my life experience, until now I have been listening to the people who have been telling me to get back in, instead of listening to God say break free, get out, think outside the box, don’t be conformed rather be transformed by the things I am teaching you and showing you.

I will be thinking again about this to see where I am headed...

My Sojourn - Where It Began

2009-10-31T21:34:00.001-05:00

I have been a Christian for some 25+ years. My spiritual transformation during this time was one of crisis or experiential transformation. As situations presented themselves I was shaped and molded by them. I could choose to embrace the transformation or ignore it and escape the process. I was dumped into what has been called the “Transformational Crucible.” This was a place where I was refined to become more like Christ. It was during this time that I preached my first sermon, struggled with infertility issues, struggled with depression, spent years moving from place to place, going to school, and trusting God. My crucible experiences grounded me in a lot of ways. I didn’t see them then, but as I reflect back ten, fifteen or twenty years removed from the experience I can see God’s hand in my life, the potter shaping and molding the clay which became me, the person I am today.

After graduating seminary in 2001 I felt a little lost, tired, and complacent. I was working, taking leadership roles in my church, teaching, and simply doing life. There was little “transformation” going on. I had hit some sort of spiritual plateau. It was here where God chose another type of formation process to again begin to shape and mold me. For lack of a better word I call it process formation. By process formation I mean that you are guided through a series of exercises, questions, or processes to produce in the end a transformation in my life.

My Sojourn - Setting the Stage

2009-10-29T08:27:00.003-05:00

This is the first a number of blog postings I am calling "My Sojourn."

This past week I have been feeling odd or should I say odder than I usually fell. In talking to others, I haven’t really been able to describe the way I have been feeling. Maybe it’s a deeper sense that God is real, that God is working in my life, or that I am being prepared for some sort of wild adventure, a barbarian adventure. I simply don’t know. Content walks in the rainy weather, hours of pondering and resting in the Lord, the sense that I have something to write but unsure of the content, this is what I have been feeling, sensing, experience this past week. What follows is a reflection back over the past couple of years, a reflection to try and help me figure out what God is doing in my life and calling me to do in the future. I am writing this for me, but if others can glean some insight from it too, so much the better.

Let me set the context for this sojourn. My Christian life was a lot like the Dow – highs and lows but generally headed in an upward direction. Seminary, which should have been a time of meeting God, was in reality a time where academic pursuits replaced relational intimacy with God. I learned a lot about God, about how to interpret the Bible, about how to theologize about God, but I didn’t spend time with God. It was a time of intellectual transformation, but not heart or relational transformation. So was this experience good or bad? I don’t know, but God has used it to shape who I am today. In reality, all of my life experiences had shape who I am and how I live out my life.

Next Up - A Little Bit of Context...

Personal Life Platform - Text Version

2009-10-05T08:30:00.002-05:00

Here is the text version of my PLP -

Personal Life Platform – Oct 2009

What follows are the central beliefs and core values upon which my faith has been built. As a Christ-follower, and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit I will endeavor to firmly establish this beliefs and values as the platform I stand on as I sojourn through life.

Foundational Beliefs

The foundations of my beliefs are built on three meta-narratives found in the Bible. These are the stories that I use to anchor my faith in God. They are used to establish and guild my operational beliefs and core values and to shape my worldview.

The first foundational belief is the Creation Narrative found in Genesis 1-3. We see God and humanity living in a rich intimate relationship ...when man disobeyed the relationship was broken, separation from God occurred.

The second foundational belief is the Jesus Narrative that begins in Genesis and goes through the Book of Revelation. This is the story of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration. Foretold in the Old Testament, lived out in the Gospels, put into practice in the New Testament.

The third foundational belief is the Eternal Narrative found in Revelation 21. We have the image of the new heaven and earth coming down and God and humanity once again living in a rich intimate relationship.

Operational Beliefs and Core Values

My operational beliefs and core values are the specific beliefs and value that I believe God has called me to live out in my life. These could be life long beliefs and values lived out in all aspects of my life daily or they may be apart of who I am for only a season of my life.

· It is God in whom I will trust (Proverbs 3:5-6)

o Belief: Ultimately God is in control

o Value: Obedience

§ When I trust God fully He will guide my path. It is God’s wisdom that I need to use to guide my life.

§ I am living out this belief/value by taking on additional education without know what the end holds.

· I need to lean into my fears and push forward (Joshua 1)

o Belief: God is my source for strength and courage

o Value: Courage

§ When I step our and embrace my barbarian way, I need to “be strong and courageous.” I do this when I worry about doing what God has called me to do and who He has called me to be.

§ I am living out this belief/value by doing things that are outside my comfort zone (jail ministry).

· The heart is to be guarded (Proverbs 4:23)

o Belief: My body is the temple for the Holy Spirit

o Value: Purity

§ I need to have in place protections to keep my heart pure.

§ I am living out this belief/value by meeting with an accountability partner.

· Serving Him by Serving You (John 13:12-17)

o Belief: Being a Christ-follower is not about getting but giving

o Value: Servanthood

§ Jesus humbled Himself to serve others and then commanded us to do likewise.

§ I live out this belief/value by donating platelets once a month

· I must give a voice to the voiceless (James 1:27)

o Belief: All people are create in God’s image

o Value: Compassion

§ This is one part of the duality we live as Christ-followers. We are to “DO”, that is live out our faith.

§ I lived out this belief/value by volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. I am currently living out this belief/value by working with a group of men in IFI

· Loving God and loving my neighbors is what I am called to do (Matthew 22:37-41)

o Value: Holiness

§ As I learn to love God and others more, I become more like Jesus and grow closer to God. This is the second part of our duality as Christ-followers. It is the “BE.”

§ I live out this belief/value by setting aside time with God regularly, blogging, reading, and tending to my spiritual formation on retreats.

Motives

Why do I do what I do? I am motivated by love, love of God and love of my neighbor. Loving God is about the internal transformation that takes place in me as I go through the spiritual formation process. Loving my neighbor is about serving their needs or giving a voice to the voiceless. It is about being and doing.

Visualization of My Ponderings

2009-09-15T08:04:00.004-05:00

What you can see here is one of two visualizations for my current ponderings. Now if I could just figure out what it all means.

The adventure I have been on the last couple of years has been interesting to say the least. In a conversation this morning I reflected back on where this current thread started. I find a number of preliminary events, seminary, Heart of a Warrior, reading a lot of Erwin McManus, and spending time in jail (doing ministry, not time). All these experiences equipped me, encouraged me, or excited me in different ways. However, the event that really got my mind going was a blog posting my Josh Kesler a couple of years ago about a stupid sheep (Stupid Sheep or Barbarian Sheep?). From there my mind has been going a lot of different directions.

The interesting thing is that there seems to be a synergy as I reflect on all the different components. What I am doing now is looking for the connector, the idea that God is trying to teach me, the focal point of my ponderings. This is the key for my future work, doctoral studies, and spiritual transformation.

I can not simply sit back and remain where I am. That would not be honoring to God or to my formation. What I need to do is continue to embrace who God is transforming me into, knock on doors that are closed and look into doors that are open to see if I should enter, continue to write, speak, and teach about the things God is showing me, and finally be prepared to lean into my fears, embrace change, and accept the path that God has prepared for me to follow at this time in my life.

Convergence of Thoughts

2009-09-02T08:29:00.002-05:00

I have been rather sporadic with my posting of late. It seems as though my mind has been a whirl wind of thoughts from all areas of my life: work, studies, ponderings. The odd thing is that they seem to all fit together in ways I really didn't expect and at times don't understand. Don't get me wrong, I find it exciting, I feel like I did a couple of years ago as I began to explore my doctoral studies.

My problem is that I get wrapped up in making connections that I don't always take the time to write about it. Oh how I wish I has some rich benefactor who would underwrite my ponderings. :-). Short of that I find that I need to make better use of my time and energy.

For now I think I will just sit back and see were God is going to take my next.

What is your passion?

2009-08-21T22:33:00.002-05:00

I love the way God enters into my life to help me ponder the meaning of my life. There is a new show coming out on Fox this fall called Glee. The show is the story line is a group of preceived misfits or loosers who simply love to sing and their advisor who himself is trying to figure out what a meaningful life is. As I watched the pilot a question was asked of the advisor about what type of life example he wanted to live for his unborn child, one where money is the answer or one where the life he is living, he lives because it is his passion. The line goes "the only life worth living is the one you are most passionate about." As it turns out he is passionate about music.

This ties in with an event we had at my church tonight where both the executive pastor and senior pastor shared their passion about bring Christ to people who live in the Northern and Eastern suburbs of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. The life they are living is the life they are most passionate about. One of the most exciting this is that they were inviting 1000s to join them on the journey God is taking them on. We were invited to be ignited by their passion for serving others and sharing the message that Jesus brought to us 2000 years ago.

My passion is the fusion of my work, doctoral studies, and the spiritual formation of myself and others. I am not one to make first contact with people but I love to come along side them and help them grow deeper in their relationship with God and others. I have been pondering the last week a framework to help me in this task be it in a face to face setting or in the virtual world.

My question to you is what is the passion that make your life worth living and are you pursuing that passion?

Stuck on a Thought

2009-08-14T07:52:00.002-05:00

OK, I admit it, I believe that I have moved from passionate pondering to obsessive preoccupation with phrase "God's Will" or "the will of God." I have been hanging out in 1 Peter and Peter uses both phrases. Where I really got started was 1 Peter 4 where Peter tells his audience to put the things of the the world behind them and live for the will of God. In my last posting I explored the idea of what I see as a corporate understanding of the will of God or God's will, but as I think about it now the ideas that I expressed in my last posting are the beliefs that move me to action. Other people may key in on other beliefs. That is not to say we can accept some beliefs and reject others, rather I see God putting a passion in our heart to really focus our energy in one or two areas so as not to over extend ourself. We need to do one thing and do it very well.

I think what I was doing was making a connection between God's will for our life and God's purpose or plans for our life. I think there is a connection there, but not the way I was thinking. The connection I see is that "God's will" is the internal calibrating beliefs and values that we live by. Our purpose then is to act on those beliefs and put them into service for God. In James we are told to put our faith into action, not to earn our salvation or rewards, but rather to show others the faith that we proclaim.

My question is what beliefs are you living out? How have you grounded your beliefs, in the Bible or in the world? Do your actions truly reflect what you say you believe?

God's Will -

2009-08-11T07:40:00.002-05:00

In 1 Peter 4 we are told to not live as the world around us lives, but rather our lives should reflect God's will. This has gotten me thinking about this subject of God's will, not the "Oh this must have been God's will", rather I am wondering if there is not a "universal" God's will as well as God's will for our life as an individual.

Here are a couple of thoughts about God's will for all Christ-followers. I start in Matt 22 where Jesus is confronted by the Pharisees and responds to their question about the greatest commandment by telling them that we need to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbors. From this I see God's will as loving Him and loving others. This to me seems the foundation for living out God's will. If we love God and love others we will naturally want to share the Gospel message with them (i.e. the great commission). Loving God would hopefully lead us into wanting a deeper, more intimate relationship with Him, growing to be more like Him, allowing the fruits of the Spirit to flow through us and out of us to those around us.

More to come on this later...

Taking Time To Ponder

2009-08-08T09:10:00.002-05:00

These last couple of weeks have been a little busy. Writing for my doctoral studies, Oshkosh for the air show (great time with my small group), and preparing for and presenting at a distance ed conference. I'm glad I was on a study break from work, though I was pulled in a lot more than I had planned. Oh well, that will allow me a a little more time to ponder and write at a later date.

All that to say I have not had as much time to ponder or blog as I had hoped. What I have been pondering is the beginning of 1 Peter 4, where we are told to have the same attitude as Christ as He suffered, not live as the world around us lives, but rather live out the will of God. So what does it mean to not "live for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God" (1 Peter 4:2). I understand the first part. There are things in our life that we need to put to death, borrowing some Pauline wording there. Things we have done or things that we are doing that do not honor God, enhance our relationships with God and others, or that cause other to ask why we don't do the things the world does. I get this. I don't always succeed but I get it.

This putting things behind us is a process. When we begin it is easy to peel away the things we don't want to do, but as we dig deeper it gets tougher. Here I am not really talking about the behavior, rather we need to get to the root, the belief and values that result in an unwanted behavior. Change these or replace these with Biblically ground beliefs and values and desirable behaviors will follow.

What comes next will take a little more pondering. How does one live for the will of God? Is there a universal "will of God" or is this different for each individual? I think that it is a both/and. More thoughts on this in my next posting.

White Space

2009-07-20T11:17:00.004-05:00

White space is the unused area around text. To much white space and your words look lonely or maybe important, to little white space and you have textual overload. I run into this when I read the comics, if there is to much text in the panels I just skip over it. White space in itself is neither good nor bad, it's all a balancing act.

In my own life I think I have just come out of a time of not enough spiritual white space, I was functioning in a time of God overload (if that is even possible I don't know), there was to much "text" and not enough time to process. Now my spiritual life seem like there is way to much white space, or maybe I am just at a point where I can rest in the Lord and process the things that I have been taking in. My thoughts are few, but they seem to really stand out - community, spiritual formation, serving others, and the digital culture. I need to put these things into a cohesive document to turn in for my DMin work, but the words have not yet fully formed in my mind.

I really don't know where this was going yesterday when I started writing, so I think I will simply release it into the blogosphere and see what happens.

Setting Christ Apart

2009-07-13T09:31:00.005-05:00

I am enjoying the first morning of my month long study break. I am setting aside this time to work on my doctoral studies and recharge my batteries. I don't know what all will come out of this time but I am looking forward to it.

The tone for my study break was set yesterday in the sermon I listened to and reconfirmed in our small group study last night. Jason Strand (no relation) a teaching pastor at Eagle Brook Church spoke on Jesus as the "Bread of Life" out of the Gospel of John and last night our small group was looking at 1 Peter 3 and how we are to set Christ apart in our hearts. The key to both these messages was the idea of setting Christ apart, making Him the priority in our day to day life. For me this means e-mails and Facebook updates will have to wait a couple of hours. Focusing on Christ first can set the tone for your whole day. In 1 Peter we see that it will help calm our fears and is will tune our heart so that when we are asked about the hope we have we will be prepared to give a defense.

What can you do or perhaps delay doing to set apart Christ each day?

Renovare Reflection, Day 4

2009-06-26T08:41:00.002-05:00

The final day, entered with mixed feelings. Sad that the time went so quickly, but anticipation growing about returning home to wife and family (knowing there was a 2000 mile drive ahead of me). To be honest, my mind really wasn't set to engage to deeply, but I still picked up a few nuggets for John Ortberg in the morning general session. To sum up his conversation in a few words it would be "Don't quench the Spirit." It was through the Spirit that Jesus was baptized, it was through the Spirit the Jesus ministered, and it was the Spirit who Jesus sent for us. Another person at the conference described the work of the Spirit as "happening in the back ground." We don't always see the work, but we benefit greatly from the results.

As I think about this I would say that I am guilty of quenching the Spirit at times. The business of life, unwillingness to respond, or thinking I know better. I wonder about the things that I may have missed as a result of my inaction. I need to be more diligent about responding to the Spirits promptings.

I was blessed by following what may have been one of these encounters on my way home. My goal on this trip was not to venture more than about a mile off of I-35. This interstate highway connects Minneapolis to San Antonio, so I didn't have to veer much off the path. On the way home after stopping at a Kansas rest stop I picked up some material about the Flint Hills region of Kansas. The material was for a future return trip, remember I had my sights set on home. The gal at the information desk then mentions something about a tall grass prairie preserve in this area, I knew I had to go. This 3 hour side trip was quite the blessing, the drive was beautiful, so relaxing and refreshing. The preserve itself was an old ranch built in the mid to late 1800's. I took about an hour walk through the prairie and experience the wonders of God in His creation. Leading by the Spirit, I don't know for sure, but God met me on this road.

How has your response to the Spirit been lately?

Renovare Reflection, Day 3

2009-06-24T06:30:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was a day to slow down and begin to digest the things that I have begun to ponder. I gave myself permission to miss a session or two so that I could slow down, slow down, and reflect. I will be posting more about these reflections and ponderings later. For now I want to share with you some thoughts about the general sessions I attended.

The first one focused on this idea of holiness. The speaker was pastor Robert Gelinas. The question that he posed was this, "What does it mean to be holy just as God is holy?" He pointed to Jesus saying He is our model of holiness. The way of the cross is the way of holiness. Eugene Peterson defined holiness as happening when "the ways and means of how God works penetrate the ways and means of how we work." When we act, think, and respond the way God would we are reflecting God's holiness. This is what Jesus did. Look at the Jesus narratives to see how He responded when confronted, when criticized, when crucified. How do you respond in these settings? I know how I respond, it's not always with holiness.

The second session I attended dealt with the idea of Words. Richard Foster was the speaker. He spoke of the overshadowing of words by the visual arts; the trivialization of words by the blogoshpere (not always the initial postings, rather the often unreasoned responses); the corruption of words by doublespeak. These are all great thoughts and as I am in the blogosphere I am being careful about the words I use to share my message. Foster came to this conclusion about words, they must be grounded in and grow out of silence; they must be significant in content; they should be crisp, clear, and imaginative. These are things that I need to work on when I use my words.

Day 4 brings a conclusion to the conference, but not my pondering on the things that I have heard. My prayer is that after bouncing around in my head for awhile those things that I truly need to apply to my life will begin in me the transformation process, to grow in holiness, to be more careful with the words I use, ideas I present, to become more like Jesus and as the theme of the conference says walk in the Jesus way.

Renovare, Day 2

2009-06-23T07:46:00.003-05:00

There is a lot that still needs to be processed from day 2. My workshop track prompted a number of great questions to follow up on in my DMin work. Definitions, ideas, and practices that need to be deconstructed and then reconstructed so that I can better understand them.

The general session created there own series of great thoughts to ponder. Rev. Joshua Choonmin Kang, a Korean pastor and writer posed this thought based on the story about Abraham and his willingness to sacrifice Issac, he stated that "we can't see the best God has for us until we give up what is most presious to us." Abraham was willing to give up his son, and then he saw the ram. Are there things you are hanging onto in your life that is preventing you from seeing what God may be wanting to give you?

In another session pastor Randy Frazee we were challange to take an honest assessment of our spiritual walk, using the Fruits of the Spirit + humility as our criteria (on a scale 1-6). This is a two part process, first there is a personal evaluation and then you are to invite three people to also assess you. We don't need to fear that these evaluators will learn some deep dark secrete about you, they already know where you are at, the fear we need to lean into is our willingness to hear their words and embrace a plan to move toward our standard in this are who is Jesus Christ.

In the final general session Dallas Willard spoke on a subject that I have a passion about, servanthood. Dallas put a twist on the old WWJD, instead asking HWJDI (How would Jesus do it?). His answer, Jesus would do it as a servant. He went on to say that servanthood as Jesus lived it was more than just participating in a couple of service projects, but rather it is living a life of service.

I am looking forward to day 3.

Winnie-The-Pooh Spirituality

2009-06-22T07:50:00.003-05:00

Last night at the Renovare conference Eugene Peterson spoke about how for many our spirituality is not unlike that of Winnie-The-Pooh. Now I must admit it has been some time since I have read about Pooh and the company of characters that surround him, but I could relate to what Peterson was saying. You see Pooh would often come up with some rather unique thoughts or ideas that were then accepted by his friends as true. For the children reading the story or having the story read to them they to would find Pooh's observations plausible and accept them as well, while we being the mature adult would look upon this with a bit of skepticism at the very least.

Peterson pointed out that as a culture, we are often falling into this Winnie-The-Pooh mentality when it comes to spiritual things. Someone comes up with an idea, revelation, inspiration, or theological position and then gathers around them a group who buy into what they are proclaiming and you have a "new" type of spirituality that will cure your problems and bring you happiness. Some of these new ideas are easy to spot and debunk, but others may be much more subtle and harder to identify.

It is one thing for the culture to deal with these different forms of spirituality, but what about when they creep or leap into the church. Are we ready to call them out? Are we even ready to identify them? Jesus said that "I am the way, the truth and the life..."

This will take a lot more pondering than I have given it here, but I will return to it. What are some pieces of Pooh spirituality that you have seen or heard?

Blessing and Blessed

2009-06-19T07:32:00.003-05:00

I had the honor and privilege last Wednesday of being part of a baptism event that involved about 35 men. What was most amazing to me was where this baptism took place. It was inside Lino Lakes prison. The men being baptized were offenders who are serving their time for crimes they have committed. They are all a part of the IFI program run at Lino.

I was blessed by the courage these men showed, by their obedience to scripture, and by the transformation that God is doing in them. They are turning their back on who they were and are now focusing on who they are and who they are becoming. Many of the men thanked me and share with me how we volunteers were a blessing to them. What a join it is to be a blessing and in return be blessed myself.

I have enjoyed my last 1 1/2 years of serving the men in IFI and I look forward to continuing serving them and blessing them in what ever way God leads.

Our Storied Life

2009-06-11T06:57:00.003-05:00

If we take time to sit back and listen to other peoples stories we can learn a lot from them, about them, and in some cases how God is working trough them or in them. I have really been struck the last couple of months as I have been reading and writing about online community and community in general and how important our stories are. NT Wright says that we are all storied beings, stories waiting to be told, experienced, or pondered. I had the privilege the other day of writing a blessing for a man who has mentored be for a lot of years. What may have been a struggle for some was for me not difficult because I knew the stories of this man's life. I knew the stories of his professional career, his ministry passion, and his devotion to family.

God used stories (The Bible) to share with us His power, His wisdom, His love, His plan, and His purpose for our life. The Bible begins with the creation narrative and ends with a narrative about our eternal home. In between these stories we see stories of disobedience, consequences, redemption, blessing, God's people, God's church, etc. This stories taken together are what should shape our life, give us hope, give us purpose, and transform us into the women and men God is calling us to be.

My encouragement to you is to take time out of your busy day and immerse yourself into the stories that God has given us; get to know God just a little bit better. Then take a little more time and start to listen to the stories of people you meet. Take an interest in what is happening in their life and be prepared to offer them the hope that we have though Jesus Christ.

Why do I do this thing called Spiritual Formation?

2009-05-29T08:12:00.004-05:00

I was asked this question a couple of weeks ago, not in a negative sense (since the person asking has been part of a men's ministry that looks at transforming the heart), but rather as a point of clarification. The context of the question is that if we, as Christ-followers, are covered by the blood of Jesus does it matter how "transformed" we are? When we stand before God, He will not see our sins rather He will see His Son and the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. So why do we concern ourself with becoming more like Jesus?

My first response reflected back to what I have been reading in 1 Peter and how living a life that reflects God can silence the ignorant talk of unbeliever. Our transforming life can be used as a witness to those around us. Do I live a life that reflects who I am in Christ? Is their evidence of becoming more like Jesus? Does the way I respond in different circumstances silence the ignorant talk of the unbeliever? A mentor of mine talks of this notion like this, People aren't going to listen to what you have to say unless they see it lived out in your life. How we live our life matters. So we do spiritual formation so that we may be a witness in the world.

As I have pondered on this a while longer a second reason is that it is a matter of obedience to God. In the Old Testament we see that we are to meditate on scripture day and night, we are to draw near to God, we are to listen for that still small voice. In the New Testament we are called to be perfect just as God is perfect, we are to love God and love our neighbor, we are to seek wisdom. All these things are part of spiritual formation. As we meditate on God's word how can we not be transformed. As we draw near and listen to God we gain a greater understanding of who God is and what He wants for our life. As we love others, as we care for the widows and orphans, those who have no voice in society we are transformed through this exchange.

A third reflection on why we do spiritual formation, and for me this is key, is that it draws me in to a closer relationship with God. In order to gain an intimate understanding of God we need to be transformed so that we can better understand who He is. As a new believers we have a certain level of understanding, but as we grow in Christ-likeness our understanding increases. This increased understanding draws us into a deeper relationship with God. As we are then drawn into this deeper relationship, we are better able to reflect God back to the world around us and we are better equipped to carry out the plans God has for our life.

Leaving a Legacy

2009-05-25T08:48:00.004-05:00

We spent the last couple of days in Grand Rapids, MN, a place we called home for more than 10 years. It was a fun time, building a house, helping build a church (Grand Rapids Alliance Church), adding to our family, and growing in the Lord. I often wonder what impact I may have had in my time there. I was given a glimpse of the legacy, the mark that I had left on the church we were a part of for so many years. The mark I left that is still going strong today is a Monday morning mens prayer breakfast. It came to be after an elder's retreat in a deer shack in the woods. I was prompted to pray and invite others into this time also. Pastor Randy believes that all the great things that have happened at the church (and there are a lot) is a result of this group of faithful men praying on Monday mornings. Some 15 years later (11 since we have left) there are still a dozen or so men who still get together and pray and God is still at work in this church, reaching Northern Minnesota for God.

I often wonder where my passion for prayer has gone. I often engage in conversational prayer and pondering prayer, but I seem to have lost that desire to pray for those specific things for my church, my work, etc. I need to pray that God my reenergize this area of my life.

Its funny I had been pondering on this the last few weeks and now God has presented me with an answer from a very unexpected place. But a place where this passion once was very strong.

Pondering, Passion, and Procrastination

2009-05-22T07:45:00.002-05:00

It has almost been a month since I last blogged. It's not that I have been off-line, but I think the title says it all. I have been pondering a lot. The Trinity, Divine community, educational technology, online learning environments, online community. Work, personal, and doctoral studies seem to be melding together into some sort of synergistic pondering. I will start on one subject that then shifts to a different topic linked together by a common thread. As I talk to people about what I am studying I am getting a lot of positive response from a variety of different people in a number of different fields. At times I wonder what I am doing or perhaps why I am doing it, but then I get encouragement from an unlikely source and I am reenergized to push forward.

That is the pondering and passion parts of the title, but what about procrastination? That is why there haven't been any postings since the end of April. In part I haven't made the time to post, in part I haven't taken the time to refine my ponderings into some sort of coherent idea to post. As I think about it, this blog will continue to be my ponderings on God, life, doctoral studies, etc. and I will be starting a new blog at http://educationaltechnology-bethel.wetpaint.com to continue on in my work related ponderings. Some of my ponderings may be cross posted some certainly won't.

What's in an adjective? or My Identity Crisis

2009-04-26T07:06:00.004-05:00

OK, so this is the last time I do an energy drink late in the afternoon. I go to bed thinking about this question with regards to the term Christian or sometimes people in general. What does it mean to be an Evangelical Christian as opposed to a Born-again Christian or simple a Christian? What does it mean to be a Baptist or Lutheran or CMA or Methodist? Am I a liberal or conservative? Do I lean right or left or am I a centrist? I oppose abortion but am uncertain about stem cell research. I think global warming is real but that government imposes itself into to many areas of our life or society.

I am a Christ-follower, someone who loves God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength. I try to love others with an equal passion. I am compelled to minister to those in our society who do not have a voice due to their life circumstances. I am prepared to tell others of the hope that I have if I am asked. Finally, as I am out doing life, I come along side others to help them become more like Christ, to live transformed life through the power of the Holy Spirit and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Am I a liberal or conservative (political labels), Evangelical or Main Line or Religious Right (religious labels), Baptist, CMA, Lutheran (denominational labels)? I don't think that I wan to have an adjective added to a description of who I am in Christ, rather I simply want to be describe as on who follows the teachings of Jesus and live a life that brings glory and honor to God.

Actions do speak louder than words

2009-04-13T08:10:00.003-05:00

As I ponder on the teachings we find in 1 Peter I come upon these words from Peter:

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 1 Peter 2:11-12 (NIV).

Peter is telling his listeners to stay pure, abstain from doing wrong things. Why is he telling them this? He is doing so not so the people can be glorified, but rather so that God may be glorified.

You see, when we live in a manner that is consistent with being a Christ-follower, it is not to draw attention to ourself, rather it is present God in such a way that He is glorified by what we do. How we conduct our daily business, how we treat others, how much road rage we exhibit on our daily commute can all have an impact on others.

Our Christ-centered life is not about following a set of rules to ensure we are doing what we are suppose to do, rather it is about living our life in a consistent manner with how Jesus lived his life. Our actions should speak louder than words. Our action should be such that when people look at our life, God may be glorified. Our actions are a reflection of our beliefs and values, a reflection of our heart condition. Are you living out what you say you believe and value? Are you living out your life in as Jesus did? Are you doing this consistently? I know that I have areas that I need to work on, what about you?

Life or Living

2009-03-30T20:36:00.001-05:00

This is my first attempt at something akin to poetry... at least it is not prose...

Life

I am a sojourner –
Watching, pondering, wandering
Not knowing where the journey began,
Not caring where it ends

I create a map –
Passions, talents, dreams
God has implanted these,
It is His fingerprints all over my life

I am being transformed –
Shaped, formed, molded
Transformed by forces,
Both from within and without

I am called –
To love, to obey, to respond
Action is expected,
Courage and strength are required

I am and I am becoming –
Transformed heart, transformed mind, transformed soul
I am, but I have not yet become,
The creation that God has intended me to be and become

God, are you speaking?

2009-03-28T07:31:00.005-05:00

I have been restless of late. I am pondering the journey I am on and where it is leading. I get this way every now and then. Erwin McManus in his book The Barbarian Way tells us to dream the dreams that God is laying out for us. Sometimes this can be scary, sometimes it can seem unrealistic, sometimes it may be that your desire and God's dream converge but you just don't know what to do or how to achieve it. Or maybe you ask the question, Is this my dream alone and am I imposing it upon God?

As my sojourn continues I wonder what's next. I was at Elizabeth Hunnitcutt's CD release party last night and not only did Elizabeth talk about what it is like being on a journey, but so did one of her warm-up singers. He spoke about french fries, salt, his daughter and his wife. The essence of the story boiled down to the notion that we should do things because Jesus did it. We don't always have to know why or what the result will be, but if Jesus did it so should we. Elizabeth sang a new song called Finally Feel Like Living. This is one of those songs for me that instantly makes me stop and ponder for a while. My deeper reaction to this song will be another post in the not to distant future after I have pondered it for awhile.

How do we respond when God has given us a dream to fulfill? What if it seems to big, to impossible, or simply to weird? How should we respond? How will I respond? How will you respond? Another question to ask (and another posting to write) is are you even listening?

Help Wanted - Haggai Type Needed

2009-03-20T06:02:00.003-05:00

It has been awhile since I have really interacted with this blog. I look at it as a reflection on my life. I have been tired - physically, mentally, and spiritually. I have lost my focus.

If you were to read the book of Haggai, you would find that the Israelites were going about their business taking care of their own needs and ignoring God. A little context for this story. Israel had returned to Jerusalem and had begun to rebuild the temple and the walls around the city (see Ezra 1-4). While they were doing this the people living in the area where causing them some problems. At the end of chapter 4 we read that the "work on the house of the Lord had come to a standstill." Now they had received word from the king to stop work, and I think they had become weary of the problems of the world around them and may have even been relieved to stop work. This is the picture we get in Haggai. The people weren't moping around, they were living their lives in paneled houses, planting, harvesting, going on with life. They justified their lack of work on the temple by saying that "the time has not yet come to build the house of the Lord" (Haggai 1).However, this life seems to have been one of futility.

For me there has been opposition, business of life, lost focus on the building of my walk with the Lord. This temple of God has been left uncompleted. I am looking for a Haggai to come along and stir up my heart (I don't know if this is a figurative or literal Haggai). I need to regain clarity and focus in my walk. I think that acknowledgment of this is the first step in the restoration process. I been here before, we have all been here before. It is part of our maturing process.

Here is an interesting side note to this story. As you may or may not know, on Wednesdays I meet with a group of men in Lino Lakes prison as we work through some Heart of a Warrior material. I always begin the night with a random question to get the men engaged and then I share a little bit of what I have been thinking, reading, or blogging. Last Wednesday I was going to share my Haggai thoughts, but didn't have a question. One of the offenders offered up the question, "Where is your faith today?" It fit with where I was going with my thoughts, so I opened it up to the men. The first interactions were the "fluff" answers. You know, those that you don't really put a lot of thought into. I then shared about my lost focus and spiritual drifting which then in turn led a couple of the other (one was the one that ask the question) to express their own lost focus. I was interesting that they all thought that they were alone in this "lost state." We were then able to have some great follow-up conversations.

My question to you is, "How is your focus?" Are you in need of a Haggai or can you play the role of Haggai in someone's life? Read Haggai and Ezra for the job description and see if you qualify.

The joy of different

2009-03-12T05:45:00.002-05:00

My family and I have spent the last four days in the Florida Keys. It's nice to get away from the ruts we sometimes find ourselves in. That is where I am in my spiritual sojourn right now. I have had no ponderings to post because I have been ponderless. I have been lost in the academics of my faith, not in the relationality of it. If one is going to err in this balancing act between knowing God and knowing God (about, relational) I want to err on the relational side. We need both, but for me at this time relationship trumps knowing.

The Rewards of Ministry

2009-02-20T06:28:00.003-06:00

I really enjoy Wednesdays, not because it is a 12+ hour day, but because by the end of it I am truly blessed. The first 9 hours or so are like any other day. Get up ponder, go to work but then the fun starts. First, I turn in my drivers license and get my photo ID, I then pass through a metal detector, scan my ID through one door (it closes), hand stamped with UV ink, through another door, walk a 1/4 mile across and razor wire enclosed compound and then meet with 19 men who have been convicted of various crimes. I then lead a study with them about integrity, authenticity, beliefs and values. What great conversations we have. These guys are intelligent, reflective and engaged in the conversation. To be honest, I don't think it is so much the material that we study, but rather the fact that there are a number of us from the outside who come in regularly to share with and minister to these men. On Wednesdays there are 6-10 of use who make this trek regularly. For me, it is my attempt to live out Matt 22 and James 1, verses about loving your neighbor and caring for those forgotten by society.

I believe the men are ministered to through my presences and I know that I am ministered to and blessed by them being a part of my life. My challenge I leave with you is how can you be a blessing to those people God has put in your sphere of influence.

Sunday Morning Reflection

2009-02-15T07:42:00.003-06:00

Ah, the quite of a Sunday morning. Coffee, the paper, pondering. The church we attend has a couple of Saturday services which we like to attend. This frees up Sunday morning to attend to the resting, relaxing and spending a little more time in God's word or blogging. The rest of the family is busy getting ready to go and serve others in the church so I get a nice quite house. The perfect time to ponder and reflect on life.

By now you must be wondering if there is anything useful coming out of this posting, well I don't know. My words of wisdom for this post are take the time the God has given you to listen to that still small voice, ponder on what He says, and then put it into action.

Trinitarian Community

2009-02-07T08:48:00.004-06:00

My thoughts of late have turned to the the relationship between God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. These thoughts are focused on how they relate to and with each other. I guess in part my thoughts are shaped by the images created in the book "The Shack" and how the author described the three sitting around a table talking, relating to each other. Their relationship leads then to a divine community built on these relationships.

My thoughts are now turning to what are the characteristics of these relationships? How do the Father, Son and Spirit interact? I believe that we are invited into this community, but we do not or can not fully partake in it. In Genesis Adam and Eve were living in this community, but then sin entered and the restoration process began. In John 10:10 Jesus talks about bring the abundant life to those who believe. How may of us fully embrace this abundant life, this divine community? Can we on this side of heaven? What would that look like? What impact would that have on our life? How would that affect our spiritual transformation? How would that impact the communities we are apart of?

I am sure there will be more to come.

A thought about Community and Relationship from Dietrich Bonhoeffer

2009-02-01T07:58:00.003-06:00

Although my Doctoral research was to focus more on Web 2.0 technology rather than content, God has stirred within me exploration of community and now relationship within community.

I was reading a devotional book filled with classic devotional thoughts and I came across this writing by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian who was killed due to his willingness to live out his beliefs and stand against Adolf Hitler. His best known book is probably The Cost of Discipleship.

The reading I was looking at was from another one of his books Life Together. In this book Bonhoeffer is exploring the ideas of community and faith. In one section Bonhoeffer writes "Therefore, the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God's Word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belying the truth." You see we as Christ-followers need one and other to come along side our brothers and sisters when they have stumbled to help pick them up, dust them off and set them on path again. We do that for other and we need to allow others to do that for us.

Are you in a community where you are willing to help, come along side someone who is struggling? Are you willing to allow others to lift you up? Bonhoeffer puts it this way, "The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother's is sure." Be the voice of Christ who can speak into the life of others.

Relationship and Community

2009-01-28T06:32:00.002-06:00

These two topics have been apart of my pondering for a while now. Well, community longer than relationship. Can one happen without the other? It seems to me that one requires community to develop relationship and that relationships create this thing we call community. I have to add my disclaimer here that for this extreme introvert to be talking about community and relationship is one place I never thought my pondering and studies would take me.

In a sense I am wondering if community is the structure in which relationship (personal interaction between two or more people[off the top of my head definition]) gather. Community and relationship exist in a symbiotic relationship, unable to survive apart, but together they can grow strong and healthy.

OK, I admit that I don't know where this thread is headed. I have just begun to even thing about the relationship between relationship and community. It will be interesting to see where it goes. Any thoughts from you?

It's been awhile

2009-01-18T07:12:00.003-06:00

As I look back, I see that even though we are 18 days into the new year this is actually the first posting I have made for 2009. Why is this, well for lack of a better reason, I have been consumed by the urgency of the world around me. Cold, work, car, computer, studies, have all conspired against me to distract me from what I am to be about.

At church last night, there was a great message about being connected to or close to or sensing the presence of God in our life. It got me reflecting back on the last year and how a simple blog posting has launched me on an incredible adventure of discovery about who God is and allowing Him to guide my steps. In this pass year I have allowed God out of this tiny box in which I had placed Him. In a story told me the other night expanded my understanding of God even farther. What type of box have you placed God in? Is it a conservative box? A liberal box? A traditional box? A ___________ box? God is not a prepackage commodity that we take off the shelf and use as we choose. How have you tried to conform God into what you believe about Him?

I think the most intriguing thing about church last night was how God spoke to me through a song that was sung by Brandon Heath called "Give me your eyes." In this song the request is made of God that we might see people as He sees them. By doing this, we can then be His arms and hands and minister to the people we interact with in a way that God himself would. What powerful words and message this portrayed. What a challenge this has left me with. The prayer that I need to carry now. The action I need to execute. I challenge you to find the song (.99 on iTunes), listen and ask God how you should respond to its message.

Making a Difference

2008-12-28T21:55:00.002-06:00

I just finished watching one of my favorite movies "Amazing Grace", the story of William Wilberforce. This is a man who not only received a calling from God, but one who also allowed that calling to become the passion that drove his life. The movie itself really focused on Wilberforce's crusade to abolish slavery, but his passion went beyond that to many of the social issues of the day. What really excites me about this movie is not Wilberforce's calling, though I am very much intrigued with the issues of social justice and the social Gospel, rather I am moved by how William listened to God's call and then acted on it.

I have blogged about both these topics in the past and invite you to look back over past posting to see what I have said, but what I want to do today is once again invite you to recline your ear, still your heart and listen for that still small voice calling you to action, what ever that action may be for you. For each one of us this call will be different, in the broad sense it will be about serving God and/or serving others, but what that will look like in your life or mine could be very different.

Tonight I am struggling to hear, I am confused, I am overwhelmed. At times I seem to have great clarity in my call, at other times I feel quite lost. Now is a time of being lost. There seem to be to many paths, some leading in different directions other moving parallel to each other, separate yet together if that can be. Perhaps it is my Möbius band and sometimes I am on the inside and other times I am on the outside but always moving in the same direction. I need to be still, I need to listen, as William did I need to sit in the wet grass (ok its winter here so I would sit in the cold snow and look at spider webs) and wait upon the Lord.

What about you? What passion has God ignited in you? Have you reacted to it?

Thoughts on Community

2008-12-22T09:13:00.004-06:00

I have reached a nice two week break from work with the Christmas holiday to celebrate. My thoughts will turn to a further study of 1 Peter and my doctoral studies. As the new year approaches I will be looking at the way to use different Web 2.0 technologies to engage people in the area of spiritual formation.

Part of this research will revolve around the idea of community in on the online or virtual world. I am currently conducting a research study to gather some data and thoughts about this think we call community. I would appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to complete a survey on "community." Just follow the link below to complete the survey. Thanks for your input into this study.

http://CTLSilhouette.wsu.edu/surveys/ZS86859

Where our HOPE lies

2008-12-16T05:51:00.003-06:00

Times are tough right now. The economy is in a tailspin, unemployment, job cuts, recession, war, environmental issues, social issues. It is no wonder that a lot of people may have a sense of hopelessness. As Christ-followers we are not immune to these problems, we may even be swept up by them. Contrary to what some may claim, following Jesus does not guarantee a trouble free life.

Peter, in his first letter to the scattered tribes talks about standing firm in times of trials. It is not that we won't suffer, but the suffering will help refine or purify our faith. What we need to do is set our hope on what Peter calls "the goal of our faith, the salvation of our soul" (1 Peter 1:9). Ultimately it is not about the here and now, but rather it is about eternity.

So what can you do now to prepare for the trails that will come your way? The solution is not to bury your head in the sand or run away from them. No, Peter tells us to "prepare our minds, be self-controlled, set your hope fully on the grace to be give you when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:13). Preparing your mind may mean having the proper attitude about the situation. When we were in Colombia adopting our daughter, there was a couple there who was just miserable. They grumbled and complained as the went through their "trial" of having to spend five weeks in Bogota while the adoption went through the Colombian courts. Their problem was they had the wrong attitude. The didn't leave the hostel where we were staying, they didn't take advantage of exploring the country, they simply chose to suffer. The time to begin to prepare for trials is not when you are in the mist of them, rather start right now. Spend time in prayer, spend time in God's word, spend time taking the action you need to do to be ready.

We need to focus on our inheritance in heaven, the grace that Jesus Christ provided though his death on the cross and his resurrection, we are called to be holy just as God is holy. What are you going to do to prepare for your trials?

Bloggers Block

2008-12-08T08:29:00.003-06:00

Writers get writers block so I guess bloggers get bloggers block. I haven't written for a while because I haven't had a lot to blog about. The business of life has intruded upon by pondering time. It's not that I don't take the time, but I am tired so sometimes I sleep or sometimes my mind just wonders away from what I thought I should be doing or thinking about.

My focus of late has been upon my doctoral studies and the idea of community. I read an article by Steve Sandage about community and I have been thinking about how to incorporate some of his ideas about community into the online world. His article focuses on community with regards to councilors. I am putting together a survey I will be sending out to get input about my thoughts and see how the virtual world and the face-to-face world compare. That is, what is ones perception in the virtual world vs. their perception in the F2F world. This seems to be a key factor in my studies and looking forward to how the church will reach and minister to the digital culture.

1 Peter

2008-11-29T08:02:00.003-06:00

I have spent the last couple of weeks reading and rereading 1 Peter. Its not that I am a slow learner, I simply want to get a feel for the book before I settle in for a more in depth examination. I chose this book as my next study because Peter seems to be writing the the same groups of people James addressed some time earlier. Peter and James seem to also be addressing many of the same concerns.

I invite you to read and study along with me as I begin to explore this letter written to the "exiles scattered to the four winds" (1 Peter 1:1, The Message).