Listening for God

Over the past few days I have prayed and listened for God more than I have for weeks maybe even years. In fact the other night I went to bed praying and woke up several times praying and got up before the alarm went off still praying. While this activity doesn't make me more spiritual it does raise my awareness of where God might be speaking into my life. So yesterday in a meeting when a very Godly woman said, "I've been thinking a lot lately about how our lives might benefit from the martial arts concept of absorbing the force exerted against us for our benefit." When she said this I kind of perked up and started asking is this true for me?
I think there is something to be said for this right now. It does seem that there are all kinds of forces coming at me right now and I have to wonder which of them I should be battling and whether or not the battle is taking more out of me than is appropriate. So in the midst of it all I keep praying and listening and waiting for God to speak into my life.

Thank a Friend

I don't know why I ever doubt God's power to step into my life and reset my balance but yesterday it happened again. Having gone through several months of intense emotional stuff and working hard to hold it all together I'm not sure if I was near my breaking point, but when the phone rang yesterday and Brian was on the other end I knew that I needed his wisdom and words. Sure enough Brian spoke words of God into my head and right to my heart. Today I have a lightness about my spirit that I have not had for some time and an even deeper trust in where God is taking me and my family. And having said that I can also say that I have no fear about God's leading where ever it might take me. I'm ready to say yes to more of God and pray that I might never again say, "No God, that is enough I can't take any more of you right now."

So thanks Brian for being a friend that follows God's leading and picks up the phone and calls to share a word of encouragement!

Simplicity and Christmas

Two words that don't seem to go together in our NorthAmericanUSA culture seem to be simplicity and Christmas. Everywhere I turn the last couple of days the question seems to be asked if consumers will spend enough money for Christmas to stimulate the economy and take our minds off the downturn in housing and the rise in energy costs. But I'm seeing more and more that says Christmas spending is not the best way to stimulate the economy. (Here's one take on things from last year.) So why have we bought into this whole attitude that Christmas just isn't Christmas unless there are major purchases wrapped up and given away to everyone we know?
This year I long for a simpler Christmas and because of some personal monetary issues we just might make it happen and start a trend that I hope will last into the years to come. Go ahead and call me Mr. Scrooge, but I'm going to choose to remember Christmas in my own way this year and not the way everyone else things is the only way to enjoy the season.

When Would Thanksgiving Stop

For some reason this morning I'm thinking of Job, the man in the Old Testament who lost everything. I guess why I'm thinking of him is because of Thanksgiving and I'm wondering if I was in Job's place could I give thanks? Now in the OT story Job does not give thanks in the midst of his trials but he also does not lose faith.
So much of the time my thanks is for things that make me comfortable and people who bring meaning and love into my life. But all these are really temporary, they are here for a season and will be gone at some time in my lifetime or in those who come after me. It isn't that I want to lose these things to see if I could still give thanks, I'm not into suffering just to suffer or test myself. It is just the question of where my thanks ultimately lies.
I'm going to have to think more deeply upon all of this.
How about you, what is it that you are ultimately thankful for?

Wow

The Worship Arts team pulled off a great weekend as they did "Experiencing God: The Musical" in the sanctuary services. It was a powerful reminder of the presence of God in all things and at all times. I was truly encouraged by it on Saturday night.

While the sanctuary services were filled up the gathering in HEbrews Joe was a little more relaxed, but not any less powerful. We had a baptism to celebrate at 9:15 for a beautiful little girl. During the services I interviewed the band and we talked about there personal experiences of God. So we talked about the miracles of birth and the power of following God's nudgings. It was a very powerful experience for me and I think for others as well.

All in all in was a great spiritual weekend. A great big thanks goes out to everyone who gave so much of themselves in presenting this powerful weekend. A special thanks to Common Ground for their faithfulness and honesty.

The Best Way to Recharge

I don't know about this but I find that just putting my feet up on my desk and leaving a book open on my lap closing my eyes doing some 'meditating' upon what I have read works just fine for me.

Working at My Religion

I just finished teaching a class on the Other Disciplines at church. For several weeks I lead the group in thinking about those things that have been a long part of the faith journey for people down through the centuries. We started with the Rule of Benedict and worked through a number of things that people don't incorporate into their lives any more. Things like simplicity, discernment, solitude, fasting, holding ones tongue, and other things. It wasn't that most of these actions or disciplines are unknown they just aren't practiced.
For me these things are necessary in my life if I'm not going to lose my religion. It is things like this that help me to stay on the path while of faith while everything else is weighing on me and pulling me away from God. It is through these things that I keep working toward faith even when I'm not sure what my faith is.
I highly recommend them!

Naming It What It Is

"Naming things gives us power over them. If you label all your crap "crap," you'd probably feel a lot better." David Allen (whole article found here)

David Allen apparently is a Get Things Done guru who I will need to read a bit more of to see what I can learn from him. As I was reading his brief article though the above quote jumped out at me in relationship to the life of simplicity that I have been wanting more of these days. I have to ask myself if I'm willing to name the things in my life that really are crap? The feelings of resentment over words spoken years ago, the anxiousness over what might come in the future, and all those other things that are stuffed inside of me, are they really worth holding on to? I know that simplicity is usually thought of as the stuff on the outside that we live with, but for me it starts on the inside and that is where I need to simplify my life to start.

Making the Most of Time

When reading an article in Fast Company about time management a number of questions came to mind about the way I use my time. (I won't summarize the article because you really need to read it for yourself so that you can think about it. HINT: read it in the morning and think about this afternoon.) I find myself waking earlier these days and wanting to get started with things. I've been wondering if it was because I am feeling stressed about all the things that I have to do or if I'm just getting old. It used to be that I would get up and either run, walk, or lift weights first thing in the morning and then get around and make it into work after that. I've been starting earlier mentally but then not getting as much exercise as I want. So if I'm going to maximize my time and brain power, maybe I need to go ahead and start the day out early with the brain and then make sure that I get my exercise in during the early afternoon.

This is making me think. I'm going to have to spend some time this afternoon thinking about how to make the most of this.

Simplicity

"Tis a gift to be simple,
tis a gift to be free,
tis a gift to come round
where we ought to be."

The old shaker hymn rings with truth yet today.
Simplicity is a gift and yet it is a gift that most of us find difficult to embrace let alone give. This week I have been in two separate settings teaching / leading discussion on simplicity as an important part of the Christ like life. [I should note that I'm teaching this not because I have it figured out, but because I believe it is important and I'm willing to wrestle with what it should look like.] In both settings there have been people who have expressed a deep longing to simplify their lives of all the 'stuff' that surrounds them. Yet in all cases there was a frustration that followed the conversations with how difficult it would really be to embrace a simpler life style.

Why?

What would really change if I simplified my life in a very intentional way?

Any suggestions as to how you might have simplified your life and what you gained as a result of that change?

Mission-wiki

As you might have noticed if you are reading this at any regular interval (not sure actually if anyone is, but for the sake of my fragile ego I'll assume that there is more than one person who reads this on a regular basis) the leadership of the church has been talking, praying, and thinking a lot about our Mission Statement. The general feeling has been that the statement is accurate about what we are to be about, but the wording might not be as helpful as it could be.
So in an effort to continue the conversation we have asked the leaders to take a stab at writing the Mission Statement using the words that they feel might best reflect what God is calling this particular church to be about. What we are really doing is taking a stab at wiki-ing our Mission Statement. To put it into the process of refinement and testing that is common in many places on the web. If you would like to join in the more the merrier.
The current Statement is:

• To be a New Testament Church
• To reach the unchurched
• To develop fully mature disciples

So how might you take this statement and bring it into the 21st Century for North East Allen County?

Can We Make a Difference?

So this morning I'm reading this article by Rick Warren on the power of the church to network for the relief of suffering and the power of the gospel to impact change in the world. I'm reading it because Dave Ferguson wrote about it on his blog.
All this made me begin to wonder, "What could we really do in our community if we seriously worked together not just as an individual church but as a network of churches?" What would it look like if the churches of Fort Wayne decided that No Child Left Behind was not going to be left on the pages of political history, but actually was a goal worth embracing? What could we accomplish together if every church in Fort Wayne decided to adopt a school in their immediate neighborhood as well as one that was in a lower economic area of the region? What would it look like for churches to create Community School Organizations?
If each CSO brought people from different churches together in conversation with teachers, administrators, and parents to see what can be done in supporting the educators and students with supplies that might be needed, mentors that might work alongside students, and prayer that supports and encourages the work of everyone in the schools (off site and out of sight because this shouldn't be a political issue). Could we change the future of this community? could we give kids in Fort Wayne a chance to succeed beyond what they expect? If each church in the City of Churches contributed to a scholarship fund, could we send every kid to college or trade school?
Where would this idea go if we could network together to dream bigger than any of us could dream alone?