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.

7 Day Love Challenge Video

Take the challenge and win a Free Weekend Getaway: 7 Day Love Challenge

“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.”

7 Day Love Challenge

Have you ever received an awesome gift, but when you opened the box you discovered it needed to be assembled?  My marriage is like that.  It’s an awesome gift, and yet I have to put in hard work to get it to work.  My experience has been that without help and some instruction it can end up pretty rocky at times.  There is hope though. 

On Sunday, February 8th, I will be starting a message series called “Hope for Marriage.”  God cares about your marriage.  If you have great marriage it can get better.  If you think your marriage is over, don’t give up!  It’s not too late.

Join me in signing up for the 7 day love challenge.  Couples during the week of Feb. 7-14, 2009 will choose to commit to show their love for one another in ordinary, and extraordinary ways.  Each day a simple challenge by email will be sent to couples in hopes that they will take it on and see a new spark start within their relationship, or will continue to fan the flame that is already burning.  Here is the link: 7daylovechallenge.com.  If you sign up you can win a free weekend getaway at Skamania Lodge!

 

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.

Quiet

We need quiet. 

“But mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”  Luke 2:19

It is in the quiet that we are able to ask ourselves questions that can change our future.  Leonard Sweet in his book, SoulSalsa, suggests these questions in times of quiet:  Am I doing what God is calling me to do?  Is my life pleasing to God?  Am I a change-the-world-person?  Could it be that we keep ourselves busy and surrounded by noise because we are afraid of asking the kinds of questions that connect our past with our future.  How have I lived my life so far?  And, how will I live from this day on?

This week I challenged myself and the people gathered at our Sunday service to create a quiet time each day for the next seven days.  During that quiet time do nothing but ponder and ask honest questions about your life and where it is going.  Share what you discover.

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?

Love Poll

When I viewed the site it seemed to be out of balance, so I thought I would add a poll asking about the things we love.  Rob Bell has a great Nooma video called “002 flame” that explores the three Hebrew words for love used in the Song of Songs.  We throw the word love around very casually in our culture. For example (from Rob Bell) we say, “I love tacos.” And then, we turn around and say, “I love my wife.” Hmmm, something to think about.  Watch the video at www.nooma.com   It is only about 11 minutes long.

Hate: Proverbs Project Continues

When is hate a good thing?  My quick response, and probably yours as well, is “never!”  Of course it’s OK to hate spiders (unless your name is Charlotte), rats, and other things that annoy us.  Don’t you just hate getting a sunburn on the first day of your vacation in Hawaii?  I personally hate grilled onions on my hamburgers.  What do you hate?  That’s the problem we run into with hate.  Things that annoy us long enough we begin to have a hate relationship with, especially when a person gets thrown into the mix once in a while.  Then there is the issue of evil and sin.  Do we hate these things?  Proverbs 8:13 says, “To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.”  Is it possible that when we see these things reflected in our own lives we have become comfortable with them?  May we look into our lives and when evil behavior, pride, arrogance, and perverse speech are revealed, let us hate them enough to end our relationship with them altogether.

Learning From Clouds

Moving Clouds

 

When was the last time you sat down and watched the clouds go by?  When I was a kid I would kick back in the grass and watch the clouds form various shapes hoping to see something come to life.  As a kid it was easy to imagine lions, monsters, the hand of God, two lovers kissing, or all kinds of shapes dancing across the sky.  The fluffier the clouds and the faster the wind the more real those shapes would become.  Oh those were the days. 

Today I found myself in the grass watching the clouds go by for a few minutes.  I tried to remember the last time I had done that, and can only remember doing it as a kid.  As I looked across the valley I was able to see where the sunlight and the shadows met on the hillside.  Beyond that the clouds were thick and you could tell it was raining with little hope of seeing the sun there.  Where I was sitting the sun was bright and the view was beautiful.  All of a sudden I realized that over across the valley in the midst of the dark clouds there was someone looking out their window at the rain and seeing only grey.  If only they could have the perspective that I had.  If only they could see the beauty, the majesty, and that beyond the clouds there is a sun shining brightly.  Perspective.  May I see what God sees, even when it is raining in my world.