Category Archives: experience

October 18, 2013 · 09:31

shrinking the cross

I was excited to start “Gospel Centered Life”* with another friend on Tuesday. I always look forward to the journey through those 9 lessons because, even after going through it 30+ times, I am always drawn back to God.

At the beginning, we consider the concept of “shrinking the cross.” I had a new insight on that concept this morning… but I need to give a bit of background first.

The basis of these 9 conversations is the fact that we need to have a “growing awareness of our sinfulness” and a “growing awareness of God’s holiness.” If this is the case, the cross is growing in our awareness and therefore the importance of Jesus’ work gets larger and larger as time goes by…

If our awareness of these two is not growing, we may have plateaued… then we “shrink the cross.” The cross is not looming larger in our lives, it is smaller or stagnant (which, it seems to me, if not growing, is shrinking)…

This morning, I was praying and thinking about what it means to “shrink the cross” (as I see that I have been doing of late) and this is what occurred to me:

When my awareness of God has shrunk and my awareness of my sinfulness has shrunk, the cross is not as large as it was… maybe what is really going on is that as I have drifted way from God, I have tried to climb up on the cross and become the Savior.

Who are we trying to save anyway?

*This is an incredible 9 week journey published by World Harvest Mission LEARN MORE

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October 5, 2013 · 01:33

in the lap

I’ve been thinking more about sitting in God’s lap (this is attributed to Calvin) since I have had this little guy sitting in my lap lately… When I see him, I wish to have him, awake or asleep, sitting with me.

I find such peace and rest when I climb up into God’s lap for an extended time of prayer. Last week, someone tweeted that we should feel guilty if we were to fall asleep in prayer. The writer implied that God is not bothered by our falling asleep in His lap. As I think of Little Will sleeping in my lap, I really get this idea. To have sat with God long enough to relax and rest is, I think, what He longs for with us. He longs for such intimacy with us. Plan to climb up into God’s lap with His word in yours and rest with Him.

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Filed under experience, photos along the way, spiritual questions/musings/wonderings

October 4, 2013 · 10:33

concern

how could your concerns point to calling? Read a couple of question I posted at CEOKIDS.ORG

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Filed under experience, seeking understanding

September 16, 2013 · 16:17

#balance

This video has been making the rounds, you may have already seen it. But I think it is an important warning to us all that have smartphones that we need to keep watch on our behavior and maintain some balance in life and pay more attention to people than screens. That phone in your hand, it’s a tool, its a device, its not a person.

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Filed under culture, experience

September 16, 2013 · 09:06

reboot part 2

This is part 2 (but it includes the intro that was part 1 – consider it in draft form please)

Sometimes the best thing to do with a PC is just to turn it off count to 10 and turn it back on. I think that, especially if, like me you’re running an older laptop and seldom turn it off, this is the case. We just get too much stuff going at the same time and stuff starts messing up and we need to shut it down, let it rest and start over.

I think we are like that too.

I was talking to an old friend recently who said that prayer and Scripture are dry. It would appear that this is true from time to time for us all. Well, at least those who pay attention.

So, what do you do when this happens? Well, I suggest a reboot.

People in vocational (paid) ministry that are in ‘secure’ positions, often have the ability to and so, take a ‘sabbatical.’ These sabbaticals sometimes last a couple of months. Its like when someone gets sent to rehab for this or that. They often don’t go until they are in trouble, and for many, its too late. I was once told that many ministry leaders wait until its too late and change jobs soon after the sabbatical. The have burned out too far.

But for most people, that is all totally impractical anyway.

So, I thought I would suggest the idea of what I call a “sabbath rest”. The background is that I had been unwell and dried out and blah, blah, blah and was asked the question “Can you take 2 weeks off? Over time a plan developed that wound up being 10 days (which is only 1 day longer than a week of vacation with weekends on each end).

The plan is simple but not necessarily easy. It does require discipline, but if you’ve read this far, you are on the right track and you need help planning and accountability during and after.

1. Go away. Alone. But keep the place simple. You don’t have time to establish routine so you must get there with enough familiarity to walk right into your plan. It’s called solitude.

2. Be quiet if not silent. Really. Keep your talking to the absolute minimum that you can without being rude to people. It’s called silence. If you are married, call daily to stay connected. But be careful about trying to answer the “how’s it going? question every day. That can be frustrating because progress is measured in longer increments not shorter.

More to come…

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Filed under experience, seeking understanding, spiritual questions/musings/wonderings

September 8, 2013 · 13:47