how could your concerns point to calling? Read a couple of question I posted at CEOKIDS.ORG
Category Archives: experience
#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.
Filed under culture, experience
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…
death surprises us
I was driving up north 29 yesterday morning in a heavier traffic than I expected. With that in mind, I paid attention to the traffic report which talked about both directions of a highway in a nearby city being closed due to an accident. On an update about an hour later, I learned that there had been a fatality. “Sad.” I thought, and continued on my trip.
I had no idea.
This morning I received an email from a former colleague. I learned that there had been not one, but two fatalities. One man about my age, and a young man, 23 years of age, his name was Michael.
I was privileged to have known Michael at Covenant. He graduated in my next to last year of serving there.
Over on my Facebook newsfeed, I see that there has been a lot of comment about Michael’s death. A lot of sadness is being expressed at the loss of this young man.
Death is a part of life, but when it comes to the young, death surprises us. We have difficulty making sense of it.
There have been a lot of very nice things said about Michael. Nice things are always said about those who have been lost to death, especially the young. But in his case, he really deserves all that is being said… and more.
I meet with a couple of guys for wings on the occasional Tuesday nights. These guys went to school with Michael. We spoke about him, and what a great person he was. I said he was without a doubt one of the nicest people I’d taught. I’ve thought about him from time to time today, and upon reflection, I can say this, Michael was was among the kindest, most thoughtful, most respectful and genuine people I have ever met… in my life.
There are a lot of nice people I have met and worked with, but Michael was in a class above. He never drew attention to himself, he was a servant, an encourager. He was mature beyond his years. And even though I’ve used the word already, yes, he was genuine.
I remember one time when I was having a less than good day, Michael took the time to ask if I was doing okay. That didn’t happen a great deal. But for him, it seems that it came naturally. To see someone who needed a kind word and then give it.
I have learned today that he has recently married. For his dear parents, and his sister, and for his bride, I pray. I pray that God would, as Paul described, grant them the peace that passes all understanding. May the Holy Spirit bring comfort. Jesus, in one translation, calls Him the comforter. Bring comfort to this family, O God, I pray.
In a few weeks, I will be a grandfather. As I write, I consider that I would quite proud for my grandson to be the kind of young man that I observed in Michael.
Kind. Truly thoughtful. Indeed, he demonstrated Godliness. Yes, I think I saw Jesus walking in those shoes of his.
I can hear him now, “Hey Reverend, How you doin today?”
Right now Michael, I’m sad. You will be sorely missed by those who knew you Michael. Sorely missed indeed. But, I have hope in Jesus and hope that we will be worshiping him together by and by.
O God, bring comfort to Michael’s family, I pray.
Filed under experience
scoffing prayer?
Consider this:
“And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!'”
(Luke 23:35 ESV)
Do we sometimes pray like these rulers?
What I’m thinking about it this… do we sometimes pray without belief? With no faith? No trust?
Like this: “You won’t do this, God; but I’ll ask just to see.”
What these rulers didn’t know, didn’t believe, is that he WOULD save others. He WOULD rise from the dead (thus saving himself).
God is at work on our behalf and he hears and answers our prayers. In this case, suggesting that this ‘snarling’ of the leaders, as they watched Jesus on the cross, was a kind of prayer (the way some of us pray… just for discussion sake), it WAS answered.
He did save others, by dying and rising. So, if this HAD been a prayer, a faithless prayer, it was not answered according to their terms, it was answered according to God’s will – in His way, In His time.
See, I think that a prayer, in belief, in faith, may be specific (like for $X by Y date for a certain need). But we must trust God enough to know that His answer will be good. And that no matter what His answer is (like $Z – – which is way below X), we truly rejoice in it (Hab. 3:17-18)!
Why?
Because we really trust that God is good.
Someone asked me why I don’t worry about money the way I once did? I replied that after what I’ve read in the Bible and what I’ve experienced in my life (READ BIG SUMMER STORY), I’d be a fool to not trust.
I pray in faith that God has our situation under control.
How? How have you moved from fear to faith?
Through what Willard called ‘the training of the heart and mind’ through dwelling with God in Scripture and prayer. Dwelling with Him in deepening relationship empowers me to trust Him to produce the right fruit, in and through me.
So, are we training our hearts and minds?
How many of our prayers are unbelieving prayers?
“God, please help us get deep enough with you that our prayers are in your will before they arrive in our mind.”
kingdom travelin' 