i read something i have read over a hundred times i guess. but today, it jacked me up...read the following.
1 Sam 4:1-4 Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped beside Ebenezer while the Philistines camped in Aphek. 2 And the Philistines drew up in battle array to meet Israel. When the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield. 3 When the people came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the LORD, that it may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies." 4 So the people sent to Shiloh, and from there they carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. NASB
what through me is this...the lost was not blamed on the philistines, but attributed to the Lord as Him defeating them. in their eyes, the enemy did not then nor ever matter, they as a culture had come to know that the battle was the Lords.
of course they sent for the Arc of the covenant...it was the ace in the hole, their secret weapon, their confidence. but this time, there was sin to be dealt with. so the people lost a great loss that day.
not because of the Philistines, but because of their sin.
here is my point.
where did we lose that mentality towards God? when did it begin to matter what the Battle was, or the enemy? when did wins, losses, victory, success become part of our deal and not Gods?
what unsettles me is the way in which we view Holy God. as part of our lives...our weekend, our answer to struggles, but not as they viewed Him or the ark. when the ark showed up, the people had faith, had courage had hope.
i am working through this. trying to bring together the two cultures. trying to bring together the unchanging God with the fulfillment of the Law. trying to deal with this unsettled feeling when i read this. we explain away so much with personal experience. it becomes almost an excuse.
somethings cannot be explained that way.
this great God who is other than, fully holy, fully love, fully merciful, full forgiving, full of wrath...punisher of sin, yet we seem to have taken on some of His duties, so that we can explain away the fact we have become the object of our own affection.
this God who wraps himself in light, chases his enemies into the darkness, does not leave the guilty unpunished, supports his children, seeks out those who love him and blesses them, has plans for their prosperity...yet
his own children knew it was not the philistines who won the battle, but the Lord their God defeated them because of their sin.
for some reason yet to be determined, this jacked me up today. i guess maybe i just needed to sit in the reality of a God other than my ways for a bit. before i reason away my attitudes. before i try and dumb down truth so others can make it taste good and digest easily.
i dont want easy answers. i want to know this God. in all aspects he will allow. even so Lord.
9.08.2008
9.07.2008
Vision and not so much.
i always look forward to going to worship. seldom in my years have i not looked forward to it...except this time when we were...never mind.
anyway, today, our pastor talked to us about where the church started, when it started, and why it started. their thought was to create a place where people who did not normally go to church would want to come, so they could experience connections and encounter God. to teach in ways that actually met people where they were, real life. imagine that. thinking that jesus would actually be concerned with our situation, our pain, our fear.
they have stayed true to that vision from day one. he explained why. he explained what had been, and he explained what was coming.
we have all heard "with out vision, the people perish."
let me add that with true, passionate vision that is talked about, worked out in front of and with the staff and the invitation of the people to own it and come along with God to accomplish it...the people become intoxicated.
i sat there and almost wept at the simplicity of doing what God tells us to do and being surrounded by 2600 people who had come there originally because some one asked them to come.
i thought of what it meant for me to pour my life into a vision for the sake of being part of the body. not because i work there, not because it is my job to support the work of the church and the denomination...but because it was intoxicating.
i was pulled in by the Spirit and engaged and challenged to be part of a huge work. a simple work. an important work. a God work.
so i'm in. all in. having lusted in my spirit to be part of such team working vision casting, it seems sweeter just to be on the outside looking in.
something cool is going on here. www.lcbcchurch.com and i want to look back and say i was asked to help out and i did..all for the glory of God.
not so much in some places. when we were looking for a church to serve in, a pastor from another church who told me not to go there. "all they do is have a rock show for half hour, a 15 min sermonette, and they call that church." so i left there and drove over. tell me not to go somewhere is a sure way to get me to go.
what we have found is people with courageous leadership, passion for people...they actually like the people who come there, visible characteristics of Jesus and focus.
who knows what will happen, where we will end up. but for now, we are plugged in and serving. not because we had to settle...but because we get to part of what God is doing.
my prayer is that you never settle for where you worship, but that you would find, create, and be involved with vision. true vision. not maintenance, not the same ole junk, not someone who does not get the reality of life and speaks from personality. but genuine Jesus filled vision.
anyway, today, our pastor talked to us about where the church started, when it started, and why it started. their thought was to create a place where people who did not normally go to church would want to come, so they could experience connections and encounter God. to teach in ways that actually met people where they were, real life. imagine that. thinking that jesus would actually be concerned with our situation, our pain, our fear.
they have stayed true to that vision from day one. he explained why. he explained what had been, and he explained what was coming.
we have all heard "with out vision, the people perish."
let me add that with true, passionate vision that is talked about, worked out in front of and with the staff and the invitation of the people to own it and come along with God to accomplish it...the people become intoxicated.
i sat there and almost wept at the simplicity of doing what God tells us to do and being surrounded by 2600 people who had come there originally because some one asked them to come.
i thought of what it meant for me to pour my life into a vision for the sake of being part of the body. not because i work there, not because it is my job to support the work of the church and the denomination...but because it was intoxicating.
i was pulled in by the Spirit and engaged and challenged to be part of a huge work. a simple work. an important work. a God work.
so i'm in. all in. having lusted in my spirit to be part of such team working vision casting, it seems sweeter just to be on the outside looking in.
something cool is going on here. www.lcbcchurch.com and i want to look back and say i was asked to help out and i did..all for the glory of God.
not so much in some places. when we were looking for a church to serve in, a pastor from another church who told me not to go there. "all they do is have a rock show for half hour, a 15 min sermonette, and they call that church." so i left there and drove over. tell me not to go somewhere is a sure way to get me to go.
what we have found is people with courageous leadership, passion for people...they actually like the people who come there, visible characteristics of Jesus and focus.
who knows what will happen, where we will end up. but for now, we are plugged in and serving. not because we had to settle...but because we get to part of what God is doing.
my prayer is that you never settle for where you worship, but that you would find, create, and be involved with vision. true vision. not maintenance, not the same ole junk, not someone who does not get the reality of life and speaks from personality. but genuine Jesus filled vision.
9.05.2008
Why I ride a Harley
This is my Harley. I have named her Mavis. after Mavis Stapelton of the Stapleton singers. just for the way she sang "I'll Take You There." an old spiritual they made in the 70's i think.in this picture, we are about to enter the famed Monument Valley in Utah and AZ. She is pack up and ready to go.
Mavis takes me there, whether it is to the cigar shop, Church, across the counrtry, mountain ranges, deserts or even to the local store. 24000 miles in 13 months. you figure out why i like it so much.
but why i ride is kinda complicated. the way i feel, the attitude...or maybe the marketing that is aimed at me.
"America, Please don't buy a Harley because it gets 50 MPG. MPG describes riding like biology describes sex. History has shaped this tank, not the whims of foreign oil. American workers pour their soul into it.
Let's chase sunsets whether gas is 6 bucks or 6 red cents.
let's ride to parties like rock stars.
Let's fill the tank that gives back more than we put in.
So Screw it, Let's Ride! Harley Davidson.
this pretty much sums it up, says it like i would, with attitude and a smirk across my face.
when the wind is in my face, the bugs are in my teeth, or the rain is soaked me to the bone.
i ride. i don't just got the shirt...i got the Harley.
so. let's ride!
9.01.2008
face time
i get glimpses of her smile through out the day. not always the same place or even the same smile. but definitely the same face.
she whispers her love for me each morning to rouse me from my slumber, often waking me from dreams of looking at her.
as i stumble out like a drunkard from a hard night sleep, she greets me with a smile like she has not seen me in years.
it is always with expectancy that she looks at me, knowing that i am hers and she is mine.
i am confident that God has allowed me this great love to have a small understanding in how he loves me and pursues me.
as i seek his face, he shows me his love through her. as deep calls to deep, as he covers me like the waves of water, so her love causes me to ponder the wonder of such a gift.
face time. hers leads to his.
and all they could come up with as a name for this great experience was marriage. dont quite cover it. need to get a new word.
she whispers her love for me each morning to rouse me from my slumber, often waking me from dreams of looking at her.
as i stumble out like a drunkard from a hard night sleep, she greets me with a smile like she has not seen me in years.
it is always with expectancy that she looks at me, knowing that i am hers and she is mine.
i am confident that God has allowed me this great love to have a small understanding in how he loves me and pursues me.
as i seek his face, he shows me his love through her. as deep calls to deep, as he covers me like the waves of water, so her love causes me to ponder the wonder of such a gift.
face time. hers leads to his.
and all they could come up with as a name for this great experience was marriage. dont quite cover it. need to get a new word.
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