My story, God's story...

It has been a week since my last post and I have my reasons. I headed to Kentucky last Sunday after church to the Asbury campus for a week long summer intensive. It was an awesome week and although it was now my 7th trip there I still longed to stay. It is such a Spirit-filled place, that campus, that town. It is absolutely a sign and foretaste of the Kingdom. Who wouldn't want to live there?! I am taking two classes this summer, one online "Communication as Christian Rhetoric" for which I will write speeches and sermons and have to videotape myself so that I can be critiqued by my classmates and so that I can critique them, and the other was this intensive, "Narrative Pastoral Counseling". This class was great. It taught me how to better care for the stories of others along with ways to help people tell their stories and own them.

So many of us believe the stories we are told about ourselves without ever knowing why, asking why, or writing our own story. Jesus Christ has rewritten the story of my life and I know I will never be the same. Stories inform and stories have the power to transform. Consider the Israelites in Egypt, they were oppressed slaves that had no stories of their own. They believed what they were told about themselves, that they weren't good enough, weren't worthy, weren't human, the Egyptian's story was their story, but God heard their cries, and God sent Moses to lead them out of their captivity and to rewrite their story forever.

Perhaps you are the Moses that God is sending into someone else's life, who has no real story of their own, that has believed they are who the world has told them they are, who believe there is nothing more than what they see going on. Perhaps God has heard their cries and is sending you to set this captive free?

The world deludes us into thinking God wants to be a part of our story, guess what, he already is, he created us, and wants to redeem us. The truth is we get to be a part of God's story, and we know how it ends. The question is how can we live into it?

What I learned from my father...

It's Father's Day and it got me to thinking about what I have learned from my father. There's a lot but these things stuck out in particular.

Persevere: I have come to realize that he has walked through a lot in his life and he always has done it while maintaining a respectable composure, never compromising his character or integrity, rarely saying an unkind word about anything or anyone (unless you're a democrat :) )

Work Ethic: Work hard and you will be rewarded. Don't be afraid to work hard. Don't be a wimp. Suck it up and do what you have to do.

Spend carefully and save: Think about where you are spending your money and how it can do the most for you.

Faithfulness: Say what you mean and mean what you say. Stand by your loved ones and make yourself available even when they don't reciprocate.

There is plenty more but these are all qualities that are a very big part of who I am, and I am because he is!

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Grown Not Made...

Heinz is running an advertisement now that starts with a tomato plant and what looks like a tomato growing yet it slowly morphs into a heinz ketchup bottle. The catch phrase is "grown, not made". This has really tickled my theological ponderings.

Are we grown or are we made? God created us in His image, perfect and complete.
Yet now we are covered by the stain of original sin that distorts this image.
I have thought repeatedly about whether we are grown or made. Is the perfecting power of the Spirit "growing" us into our intended form or does the Spirit instead, through his sanctifying power uncover our original form or, how we were "made"?

In pondering this I have come to the conclusion that it is a bit of both because we only have access to the power of the Spirit through the blood of Jesus. The acceptance of God's grace filled gift in Jesus unleashes incredible power within each of us that goes to work refining and growing us into God's original intent, uncovering His image, removing the junk that the world has sold us, that we have bought, removing the lies about ourselves that we have believed. The Spirit convicts us when we digress back to these places, believing that we are who people tell us and not who God tells us. I am rambling now, but I guess the conclusion I have come to is that we are made to be grown.
What do you think?

"This is the written account of Adam's line. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God." Genesis 5:1

The logical progression of things...

The logical progression of things...I have said those words to others repeatedly this year in order to emphasize how often we make decisions and turns without really thinking things through. For many it's about what might be easier or more fun at the moment, what might feel good, or whatever. I see this play out in the way people relate with their spouses at the long-term expense of their marraige, with the way parents parent their children or put better, parents don't parent but instead do what is easiest at the moment so their child will stop acting up or begging for something or whatever. Essentially training this child to act accordingly with greater frequency to get what they want. I see this with young people choosing to do things they shouldn't be doing or lying to their parents or....the list goes on.

We really are such an instant gratification society. We have to have it now. We have to feel good now at the expense of tomorrow. The amount of debt the average individual is in is quite an example. Act now and worry about the other stuff later. But do we? Or do we instead just let it all fall apart bit by bit? Once we choose foolishly the first time doesn't it make it easier to do it the next? Sin is like that really. Our hearts grow hard and our minds grow dull until it all just gets way too bad.

I'm thinking that if we were made for eternity our decisions and actions should reflect that.
What do you think?

Hmmm...

Today was interesting. I had the privilege of doing a dialogue with the senior pastor of my home church for all three of our services. We are in the midst of a sermon series on World Religions. Three services back to back is a lot to do. The first one was awkward because we were finding our ways and looking for smooth transitions, the second time was awesome, totally smooth, the third time I was beat and thinking wow, seriously I'm doing this again? Really it was all great and a wonderful learning experience. I received a lot of positive feedback which was so encouraging but I kept wondering if people were just saying that. I told one person how much I appreciated their positive remarks but realized how much my church family loved me and wondered if they were being truthful. I mentioned this later to a friend who happens to be the wife of another pastor. I told her I wondered if the senior pastor would get any emails and hoped they would be positive too. She said something like yes, well it's funny how you would take those negative emails to heart but you question all of the positive feedback. Hmmm. She has a point there. What is that all about?

Really I just want honesty. If I need to stretch myself in some areas that I am not seeing I would like to know about it. I want some constructive criticism and feedback. That's all. Another challenge to move me forward and push me further. (not that I am not being pushed soooo far it is unbelievable already). That is part of my desire for transparency and authenticity though. If I disappoint people or if I have it all wrong I want people around that will tell it like it is. I can take it. I feel like I have a responsibility that I didn't before. I feel accountable in ways I didn't before. I want to be the best for God and I need everyone around me to help me be more fully formed in His image. No man (woman) is and island. We need each other.
Great day really. Full of wonderful life altering stuff. Wow, I get to be a part of that! Unbelievable!

Growing pains

From time to time my 10 year old will ask me to pull on her arms and legs because they ache and the pulling brings temporary relief. She is growing like crazy and I keep looking at her and thinking to myself "she is looking less and less like a little girl and I don't like it!" Needless to say she will go through some awkward stages. I wince to remember the same time in my life. I was just starting to wear glasses and soon thereafter braces. I was all arms and legs, very scrawny. Anyway all this to say I am feeling some growing pains of my own.
I told someone recently that I feel in a way like I am going through adolescence and young adulthood all over again. This journey that I am on is very rewarding but I'm not gonna lie, it's hard. See what I am doing is not anything I ever thought I would be doing. Honestly it was not even close to being on my radar. Now the trajectory of my life has changed dramatically. Honestly this is all hard for some people to understand. It's not something I chose, I'm just trying to be obedient to what I know God has asked me to do. It is not comfortable, easy, or natural for me. It is quite uncomfortable really. I am constantly trying to figure out who I am and what is next. It's disconcerting. I'm having a bit of an identity crisis I guess, some growing pains.
What I do know is this: God knows who He called. My creator knows me better than I know myself. God equips the called. With God all things are possible. I am a new creation that is for sure but sometimes I feel like I don't even know myself anymore. I am kind of hoping this is my awkward phase and that I am grwoing out of my awkward phase. At the back of my mind (and heart) constantly is that I want to be the best for God. I want to live an extraordinary life for Him. I guess I am trying to find times of temporary relief from these growing pains, pulling on my arms and legs won't do. I just keep looking up for answers and looking in the mirror for my reflection and not recognizing what I see.