Imagine what could happen…

I have heard people say, “I can’t see God, how can I know he is real?”  It’s a valid question.  I believe there is an answer, but that answer starts with me.  It starts with people like me and you being the hands and feet of Jesus to others by the way we live our lives in our world.  Imagine what could happen if a group of people decided to go beyond words and put their faith in action?  Action that demonstrates the love of Jesus to the world.

On  October 11 we are attempting to do just that.  We are going to put our faith in action by going out into our community and neighborhoods and be the hands and feet of Jesus.  Join us!

Zillah FIA from 2008

Friends are Important

I recently was directed to a friend’s blog.  My friend lives in a truck.  Check it out at,  http://www.joshua24-15.blogspot.com/  If you scroll down the page a ways there is a post titled, “An Ode to Dorothy.”  There she gives tribute to a friend and shares her heart about their meeting, their adventures together, and the reality of how distance and time separates friends.  So if you have a moment… read her post, reflect on your friendships, and make a decision to reconnect if needed.  I remember a night of sharing stories, laughing, playing cards (I think it was spoons) on our living room floor with good friends many years ago.  May we use our living room floor more often in the days to come!

It’s Not Complicated…

I’ts not complicated… simply invite.  Don’t judge, point fingers, or put down, simply invite.  Invite people to experience what you have experienced in your own life.  I think people are asking, even begging us to not talk about Jesus, but show them Jesus, by loving them.  We can love people by inviting them.  Invite them into your life.  Invite them into your home.  Invite them into your pain and struggle.  Invite them into the gatherings you attend.  Invite them to discover the one who gives you joy.  Invite and don’t give up on them.  Don’t give up and invite them.

Swamp Gas and Crocs

Wow…what a week.  We have been hanging out at Crocodile Dock learning to fear not!  God’s story of hearing the cry of his people and freeing them from slavery is what we need to hear today.  Consider all that can hold us captive.  Money, relationships gone bad,  addictions, crippling fear, and the list goes on and on.  It’s a great thing to share with children that they can live their lives free from fear and full of life from an early age.  It’s a truth that applies to all of us regardless of our age.  We all can be kids at heart, and that’s what makes a place like Crocodile Dock the place to be no matter who we are.

So Busy

This morning I was in the backyard making sure all the plants were watered.  My mind was spinning trying to order the day’s events and tasks and I allowed the thought to enter my mind, “I am so busy.”  The reason that bothered me so much is that I have made a commitment to not use the word “busy” and instead replace it with the word “active.”  I want to be active.  I want to order my life around living every moment strategically and with purpose.  May I use every waking minute effectively to bring about good and and say yes to everything that is beautiful in the world. 

The problem with having a mindset of always being busy is that we become too busy.  It’s easy to fall into the trap of being too busy to stop and chat with a neighbor, too busy to celebrate God’s creation (that’s way it’s ok to take time to water the backyard), too busy to listen to someone who is lonely, too busy to invest in the life of a kid without a father, too busy to pray, too busy to worship, and on and on the list goes.  I know it is true for me…if I feel too busy, hurried, that life’s out of control, or begin to think I’m in a rat race…then I end up being just that, a rat!  A rat that ends up going nowhere, but in circles or at a dead end.

May we live in a way that allows us to live free and never too busy.  May we live free to bring about good and beauty.

New and Fresh

What’s new in your life?   It seems so easy to live day after day and miss all that is good and full of beauty that is all around us.  Last evening I watched a humminbird sitting on a dangling drip line a few inches from a feeder.  I have seen many humminbirds, but it was like I was seeing one for the first time.  The little creature was amazing!  It quickly flew away, and if birds have thoughts, the little guy probably was thinking, “That big creature is amazing!”  May I live today not only seeing beauty, but creating and nurturing it as well in the way I live my life toward others and all of God’s creation.

Politics, Life, and Real Answers

While I was hanging out at the coffee shop this morning the topic of choice was politics.  Views were flying left and right, and of course I was slinging mine as well.  Rarely do we converse about romance, the arts, great music we’ve listened to, or the challenges we face in our own family relationships (occasionally someone else’s comes up).  Funny how we don’t spend much time talking about some of the most important questions we would like to have answered.  Crucial questions like: Who am I?  Can my life be changed?  To whom do I belong?  Is there hope for the world?  Can these questions really be answered by President Obama and other political figures?  I know they try.  I suspect that these real questions can be answered only by God.  A real God and not the one that we put in a box!  But that is a subject for another post.

“Calling All Youth” by Daylen

“Well, lately I have been thinking about how after every event we, as a youth group, partake in (i.e. mission trips, teen retreat, Main Event, etc.).  Every single one of us are on an outreach/missions high. After these events, all of us have awesome ideas about what we can do and express those ideas in our little meetings. …. Two weeks later, we all know what happens. All of us go back into our routine lives and forget all about our ideas or “don’t have time” for them.

Now, I am not writing this to point fingers at anyone. The purpose of this is to help us realize what is happening. Guys, things are not going to change all on their own. It takes initiative and people with a drive to get the ball rolling…. Well, I have a plan…..

JUMP START THE HEART FOR MINISTRY Youth Campaign. This is my vision: A youth ran and operated (with help from adults) outreach program designed to cover a large spectrum of needs. This program will, over time, incorporate all of our ideas we have come up with from “Under The Bridge” type ministries to the same kind of thing we did that one Sunday, “Be The Church”.

Obviously, we can’t accomplish all of that from the get-go. My plan is for this program to grow over time and become as large as we want it to. Also, I am not calling you to take a leadership role in this thing. All I want from you guys is to know that I have you behind me and are willing/wanting to help out. I am willing to be the spearhead behind this, along with some others. If you are wanting to see this become a reality too, let me know. Finally, if you DO want to have a leadership role in this let me know too; I would very much like to hear that.”

A Year of Hope

What could happen this new year, 2009, if we looked into the future with hope?  As I read the newspaper and watch television it seems that much of what is forcast is gloomy.  The exception might be the contestants on American Idol before hearing what Simon has to say about their singing!  They are so hopeful while in the waiting room.  As door of the new year begins to open may we enter with hope and expectation that God is on the other side.  Here is the good news…God is no Simon.  He is for us, not against us.  God proclaims promises of victory for us as we follow him into this new year.  May we be a people full of hope.

Desire and Want: Proverbs Project Continued

Getting it to stick is the challenge.  My journey continues to commit a verse from each chapter of Proverbs to memory.  I shouldn’t be too discouraged since it only takes a few brief moments to forget where I placed my keys or glasses!  But, I am not going to give up.  Today’s verse is Proverbs 9:9, Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.  I think the question that I have to ask is, “Do I have a desire to be wise; do I want to be a righteous man?”  I am pretty quick to to say, “yes, of course I do.”  However, to answer that honestly, it must include a willingness to walk the path that will bring about wisdom and righteousness in my life.  A subtle danger is that my motive for wanting to be a wise and righteous man, ends up being a desire to be known as wise and righteous!  If I allow that to come into play I am a fool and pride dominates my life rather than righteousness.  “Lord, may my desire to be wise (in your eyes) and especially to be in right relationship to you (righteousness) be my only desire and want.”  What do you think?