Lens of Love

Ok so it has been way too long since I followed up on the Spiritual Inventory post. I hope some of you are actually giving it a shot but here is something I should have said last week. If you have the courage to process through those questions there is a very real reality that you could become discouraged, feel shame or condemnation, and actually do more harm to your journey (I know I did when I first started). No one likes the realization of being off course - of realizing that they are headed off track in areas of their life - of feeling like they are failing.

But when the Holy Spirit reveals truth to your heart and life His goal is NEVER to condemn you. For there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). Wow that is freeing isn't it? His purpose of bringing truth into your life is because he loves you. Let me say that again, it is because he loves you that he gently corrects, restores, and guides. So as you begin to evaluate the condition of your journey look at it through the lens of love - not the lens of failure.

Here are a few lens creating verses to meditate on as you begin this journey...

John 3:16 (trust me - just read it as if it were the first time)

Psalm 25

Psalm 32:10

Psalm 51:1-2

Ephesians 3:17-20

1 Corinthians 13:7

May you view your journey through the Father's lens of love!

Changing Trajectory

With plenty of time sitting and waiting for bears in Alaska (yes, that is me sitting on that hill), I was able to do a full personal spiritual inventory in the middle of nowhere! It was a time of reflecting and evaluating on where I have been and where I am headed. Proverbs 22:3 says, "The prudent man sees danger and takes refuge but the simple keep going and suffer for it." What amazes me about this verse is that both the prudent man and simple man see the same thing - they both see the danger up ahead. The simple man sees the danger, keeps going and suffers for it but, the prudent man sees the danger, takes refuge and changes trajectory to avoid the destruction.

I want to be a prudent man. I want to regularly stop, reflect and evaluate my own spiritual journey to see what danger may lay ahead of me so I make a coarse correction - so I can act and make a trajectory change! These are the questions I worked through in Alaska maybe they will be helpful to you on your journey.

• How is my marriage?
• How is my parenting?
• How is my ministry?
• How are my relationships? 
• Which relationships do I need to invest more in?
• Which relationships do I need to phase out or end?
• What does my spiritual journey look like right now?
• How is my leadership?
• Where is pride surfacing in my life?
  
• What is the condition of my heart?
• What 3 things do I need to stop doing?
• What 3 things do I need to start doing?
• Who do the people around me say I am? 
• What blind spots do I need to be aware of and correct?
• What area of gifting do I need to work on and continue to improve?
• What would God say about the way I am living my life right now?
• What do I really believe? 
• Are my actions proving that I actually believe what I say I believe? 
• What am I doing in my life that requires faith right now?
• What has God asked me to do that I am not doing?
• What dream do I need to die to?
• Where do I need to forgive myself?
• Where do I need to forgive others?
• Where do I need to ask for forgiveness?
• What is still somehow holding me back from my journey?
• What do I need to focus on for the next three months?

After reading these questions you can see how I spent 9 days processing and reflecting and still didn't get through them all. But I can tell you that my "spiritual inventory" was a tremendous blessing and definitely encouraged me on my journey! Do you have the courage to give it a try?

I'm Back!

I'm Back!

Wow - what a trip! 10 days in the middle of "nowhere" Alaska. I have to say that this trip was way beyond what I thought it was going to be. It was literally the most physically exhausting hunting trip, or any trip for that manner, that I have ever been on. We hiked 5 miles from the road to the brush cabin with 80 lbs. backpacks on full of gear, food for the week, and clothes for both cold and warm weather. Then everyday it was about a 2 hour hike into the high-country just to get to where we started hunting (that means it was a 2 hour hike back at the end of the day). I am laughing even as I write this thinking about how physically demanding the trip was.

But it was amazing!

Being in a place where there were no people, no stores, no noise, no wi-fi, no cell service for an extended period of time was more refreshing than the trip was exhausting. This was the first vacation I have taken this year and here is what I want to share with you...

There is never a good time to take a vacation. There is always a reason not to go. Something big is happening at work. It isn't a good time for my family. There are house projects that need to be finished. I don't have the resources to go anywhere. I just had a baby. I just have too much to do. Ever said something like that before? There will always be reasons not to take vacation - reasons not to break away. And they will always scream louder than your need for rest. 

But God designed you and I to need rest. To need vacations. To need time away from our daily lives and responsibilities. To need to take a break and experience refreshing. So no matter how busy and unable you may think you are to take vacation, make rest a priority in your life. I can promise you that life will continue along just fine without you for a few days - you aren't that important =)

There is something significant spiritually that happens when we get out of our local region and out of our daily routine. You don't have to spend a lot of money or go some place exotic, you just need to get away and be with people you love and Father. Don't save up all your work vacation time to roll it over and some day cash it out. It is a blessing from the Lord for you to be refreshed and renewed! You don't do anyone a favor by never taking a break - we all need to vacate from our daily life. And when we return we are better for it - I am know I am a better husband, dad, friend, and Jesus chaser than I was two weeks ago and it is great to be back!

"Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed."  (Exodus 23:12)

Divine Discipleship

Guest blogger, Pastor Laurie Sutherland!

I was delighted to receive an email recently from a dear friend who I hadn't heard from in a while - it started "I heard you've gone into ministry... how wonderful!". I was overwhelmed with a myriad of emotions and memories of my friend Becky. Her discipleship and influence in my life is rich.

You see, Becky was a Pastor at my old church, someone I looked up to but didn't know well. She asked me to consider opening my home for a neighborhood Bible study she would lead. At the time the whole idea was very intimidating. I didn't really know Becky or my neighbors and sure didn't know if they would come to something like this! After a lot of prayer I said yes and together we stepped out in faith and our journey began. To my surprise, each week we had a room full of women who came to make new friends and seek God together. It was my first foray into group life and I loved it!

Becky was a prayer warrior. We faithfully walked the neighborhood, praying for each other, our group, and the lost and brokenhearted in the community. She was approachable, open and encouraging - not pretenses. She never judged my lack of Biblical knowledge rather nurtured and guided me in the Word. She shared her own struggles not pretending to have it all together. We spent a year ministering to our group, but I think it was me who had been ministered to the most. She sowed so much seed into my heart just by living her life in a way that made me want to be more like Jesus!

Looking back I realize the neighborhood study was just the beginning of a part of God's plan for me. Fast forward ten years and here I am, a Pastor, and of Groups! So much of what I learned about discipleship came from being gently guided by her. I can't wait to tell her again how grateful I am that she took me under her wing, looked at me through God's eyes and simply shared the journey. We're going to do lunch soon, I'll bring the Kleenex, I'm sure there will be a few joyful tears at this reunion.

Phil 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you.. I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Shutting Down

Ok so I am shutting down for the next few days. There will be no emails, no facebook, no twitter, no blog. No meetings, no work, no phone calls, no agenda. No coffee shops, no restaurants, no noise. 

I am going to Alaska on a hunt/spiritual retreat. 

For those of you who know what's new in our family (Emma Joy), you know that this isn't the best family time for me to go. However, Colleen and I did decide upon this trip TOGETHER when we thought Emma Joy was going to come like the 1st week of July. She came July 23 and alas the trip is unchangeable. My wife is awesome (and yes she has help coming to stay with her).

But the next few days are all about connecting with God in the midst of the Alaskan wilderness. I am going to do a full spiritual inventory on my own journey, ask the Holy Spirit to help me examine my heart, read loads of scripture, sit on mountain tops, and hunt for bears. I am really looking forward to an amazing trip and to what the Lord has to reveal to me. 

We all need time to pull away, shut down and hear from the Lord. There is something about being out of your normal environment that brings refreshment, healing, and life. When I get back I will have lots to share with you about this journey and hope it will inspire you to take some time away to reflect and evaluate. 

So here it is my official shut down sign out. You will hear from me again in a week - in the mean time I have some great friends who are going to post some of their thoughts on this blog - so stay tuned!

"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith, test yourselves."  (2 Cor 13:5)

Indoor Playgrounds

As we are adjusting to having two kids, I have been able to spend a significant amount of time with Trey. We have been playing together, hanging out, doing random stuff - it has been a blast. On Thursday, I took him to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. After scarfing down his nuggets and fries he was ready to go play on the indoor playground.

I watched as Trey ran inside and quickly made his way toward the climbing tower. But he always has the same problem. Most kids his age are afraid of heights. They don't want to climb up the tower to get to the tunnels, slides, and hidden caverns at the top of the playground. But that's not Trey's problem, he isn't afraid of heights. His problem is that he is still too short to make it up the steps. No matter how much he stretches, reaches, or tries he just can't do it on his own. So as he ran in and got to the ladder I knew he was going to be upset by his inability to get up to the top.

Not 30 seconds after realizing he couldn't get up the ladder by himself another kid came along, saw him struggling, and helped Trey get to the top. For the next hour maybe 15 different kids helped Trey get up the ladder over and over again. Sometimes I think these older kids had even more fun helping Trey up than Trey had climbing.

All the while I was watching this unfold, a UPS delivery man came to the door with stacks and stacks of boxes. I watched as person after person walked in and out the doors of Chick-Fil-A without ever stopping to hold the door open for an extra moment for the delivery man. What a contrast. Here was a man just looking for a moment of help from someone and not 10 feet away there were kids giving up their entire play time to help my son get up the tower. 

As adults we would never help someone we don't know get up a climbing tower over and over again would we? I mean we don't even like to the hold the door open for someone whose hands are full. But if it is true that we are never more like Christ than when we are serving others, then we can learn a lot from kids. 

Are we willing to slow down to help others? Are we willing to be inconvenienced to help others? Are we willing to go out of our way, to change trajectory, to sacrifice even when it doesn't benefit us? The kids at Chick-Fil-A certainly were - so I wanna be like them!

"No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."  (1 John 4:12)