Hearing is Reading is Writing

Here's some advice: when God keeps repeating things in your life it's a good idea to take notice and prepare action.

• Last night my small group was sitting around talking about how God speaks to us and a thought came back to me that I'm still pondering.
• This new year I was challenged by my friend Stewart to read through the Bible in a year.
• At the Journey North we are looking at the Reveal Study and how we can more completely fulfill our vision; being passionate worshipers devoted to God and His mission; helping other become completely committed Christ followers.

Each of these three things continue to lead me to the same conclusion...

• if I want to hear God I have to read His Word and interact with it

So this year I want to hear God's voice more clearly. I need to read His word so that I can know what He's saying. I need the Holy Spirit to reveal to me God's plans and purposes. I need to not just read, but I need to interact, I need to be active with what I read through journaling and meditation. These are the things that God has been pressing on me through my small group, through being a pastor, through my friendships.....I can't know what God is speaking unless I'm reading and interacting with His Living Word!!

What are your plans to hear God's voice more clearly this year?

Sharing is a good thing....

This past Sunday I had a fantastic opportunity to be a part of a pulpit share. Pulpit Share is a funny way of saying that I was one part of 5 parts to the message for the day. I had part three of the three part message, Mike Verlennich (our church planter in resident) had the first part of the message, Julie Steiff (our adult education director) had the second part of the message, between the message sections we had music worship with Key Lane (our worship and arts pastor), and leading communion was Mark Bjorlo (our lead pastor). It was a pretty cool experience.

You can listen to the sermon online here.

Let me tell you that few pastors would allow to happen what we did last Sunday. Even fewer churches would embrace what we did.

People wonder how the staff at The Journey North gets along, do we trust one another, do we believe in one another, would we share with one another? This past Sunday was a testament to our commitment to one another in trust, in friendship, in faith, and in sharing the most important message...God's redemption and love for all of creation.

I'm so proud and honored and humbled to be a part of such an amazing staff and amazing church.

Noiseless Joyful Noise

On Sunday I had an amazing experience. It didn't come from singing songs, it didn't come from a great sermon, and it didn't come from a great time teaching kids. My amazing experience came from a group of kids who were making a "joyful noise" with out making a sound.

I have always been fascinated with sign language. It has been one of those things that I have said "I would love to do that!" So, when Key Lane (TJN Worship & Arts Pastor) came to me and asked if it would be possible for our kids to sign a worship song some Sunday I jumped on the opportunity. Key introduced me to Kathi Stearns who is the wiz behind this project. Together we are helping kids learn a new way to worship...using their hands and facial expressions. It is awesome to watch them worship without spoken words to express their love. It is amazing seeing in their faces the heart of worship, it is truly precious.

Over the next two Sundays (during the 8:15 service) these kids are learning to sign a great song and on June 21st (Father's Day) they are going to be on stage worshiping with us. I can't wait!!

What I didn't realize though is how much I have loved it. It has been such a joy to me that on Sunday night during the Global Day of Prayer gathering I found myself signing the song as others sang it. It was the single most worshipful moment of the day for me. I even found myself signing the song in the shower this morning...which I'm sure the family appreciated not having to listen to my form of "singing".

What Do You Do With Experiences?

This past week I had a very interesting experience. It was a blessing to me and it was something that I don't really embrace and yet I see how God was at work in it. So I'm left with this question, "how do I process experiences like this?"

I have always wondered what Jonah did and thought a month or year after Nineveh? Did he look back at his time in the big fishes belly as a blessing? Was he still ashamed for running away from God?

I wondered what Nicodemus thought after his experiences with Jesus. Did he continue on the path as a Pharisee? Did he journal, pray, and search scripture to find resolution to the new challenges that Jesus presented?

What about Jonathan from the Old Testament, he was the Prince of Israel, the king's son. Yet he sided with David, the king's object of jealousy and his enemy. How did he reconcile his love for his father and his love for David?

How do you process such experiences? If you are reading this take some time and share your process patern with us. You can do this in the comment section at the bottom of this post.

Why Fear The Apocalypse

I have a confession…I love apocalyptic movies. Movies like, Mad Max, Water World, Resident Evil….but I don’t buy into apocalyptic fears. I find the fear of the apocalypse is as fanciful as the world of Narnia, Middle Earth, Hogsworth or Degobah.

So in the past year or so, the fear of the United States falling into a depression, a socialist state, or that I need to go out and stock up on gold bars, or that for some reason we would fall into anarchy and apocalypse, just hasn’t been a rational fear for me. In part because of my worldview, but more so because of my belief in who God is and what God can do.

I know that there are people who have lost their jobs, homes, and lifestyles, my heart goes out to them. Like many people I have feared the loss of my job, wondered when this economic roller coaster would end, and how things are going to be turned around.

There is a wonderment in our society on what will happen and will everything turn out o.k. Sometimes we end up worrying about it and most of the time we just feel helpless.

Over the past two weeks I have been reading and rereading a particular passage of Scripture, 2 Kings chapter 19. In this section the Assyrian army has laid waste to most of the countries in the area and has now set its sights on Israel. King Hezekiah, the King of Israel, has reached out to God for help and the Assyrian King has continually insulted God and Israel and has the city of Jerusalem under siege. Life was hard, painful, and not at all what the people wanted.

Hezekiah went before God and in verses 14-19 prays a beautiful and authentic prayer. He acknowledges that God is God (sovereign), that God is Alive (real and active), and that God is the only one who has power to change what was happening.

As the passage continues we hear God’s response and see Him follow through with His actions.

One of the most powerful passages showing God’s intentional design and plan comes in verses 25-28:

Did it never occur to you
that I'm behind all this?
Long, long ago I drew up the plans,
and now I've gone into action,
Using you as a doomsday weapon,
reducing proud cities to piles of rubble,

Leaving their people dispirited,
slumped shoulders, limp souls.
Useless as weeds, fragile as grass,
insubstantial as wind-blown chaff.

I know when you sit down, when you come
and when you go;
And, yes, I've marked every one
of your temper tantrums against me.

It's because of your temper,
your blasphemous foul temper,
That I'm putting my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth
And turning you back
to where you came from.

- The Message Bible

In the face of this trouble God affirms for Hezekiah that everything that is happening is part of God’s plan. I personally like verse 28, where God is saying that He has recorded each of the King of Assyria’s “tantrums” against God.

As I have been reading this passage, I’ve been reminded that whatever happens, whether it’s been a recession, a war, a lost job, an accident…WHATEVER HAS HAPPENED it has happened by the knowledge and planning of God.

As the chapter comes to an end we find that God’s plan wasn’t just for Israel to go through pain, but it was also for Israel to receive blessings. God would once again bring the nation back together, have the nation once again put down roots, and once again be saved.

Orange Carols and Purple Songs

Recently I spent some time reading the Beatles entry on wikipedia. I'm not a Beatles nut or really a fan, but I enjoy their music if it happens to be on whereever I am. In other words I don't own a CD or purposely listen to their music. As I read the wiki entry I was amazed at how big of an impact they made in music, in culture, and in international affairs. I have great respect for these men for what they accomplished but I wonder, "could they just have been at the right place at the right time?" I'm not a musician nor a music historian, so I don't really know the answer to my quesiton.

So I started to wonder, what if everything in life was just coinsidence? I recently got involved in a simple game called "Farm Town" on Facebook. In the game you can go to a place called the "Marketplace" and hire yourself out to harvest someone elses field. The unemployment rate in Farm Town seems to be pretty high, about 30 people looking for a job for every one that is available. It's completely up to the farmer to choose who he wants to hire. The other day I popped into the Marketplace to sell some crops and in the 15 seconds that I was in there I was hired to harvest a field. Was it just coincidence -- was I just at the right spot at the right time?

I hear people say, "it was fate", "it was meant to be", "the timing was perfect"; they say these things about finding shoping deals, finding potential romantic interests, and even about God. The struggle I have is that I don't believe that God leaves things to coincidences, I don't believe in fate. I beleive that God has a plan, that God has chosen the time and the place, that if something happens it isn't fate, good timing, or karma. It is God.

This makes me look at my life plans, at my daily agenda, at this very moment and ask...."if God has designed this moment for me--what are the plans that he has for me at this moment?"

"Did it never occur to you
that I'm behind all this?
Long, long ago I drew up the plans,
and now I've gone into action,
Using you as a doomsday weapon,
reducing proud cities to piles of rubble,"
--2 Kings 19:25 in the Message Bible

MBT: Experience is a Great Reminder

In the past year I have worked hard and at the same time drained myself, creating some significant emotional pain.

In the past two weeks I have taken an extra day off each week. This time off lead to a thought today that is just short of being an epiphany.

After coming off a day of rest, I found myself feeling whole and healthy in a way I haven't for a long time. It was the experience of taking some time off and feeling the effects of that rest that reminded me of the importance of taking time to rest. I know that it's important to rest, I have a regular day off each week, but it's not always a day of rest. God took a day and rested after creating, He tells us to keep a day of rest, He tells us to seek Him for rest both eternal and temporal. For me I needed to relearn this simply by experiencing it.

My Big Thought for the day is this....Experience is a Great Reminder of those things that are most important.

As adults we rarely learn things that are unimportant or useless in our lives. We learn those things that are most important and useful in our lives. A lot of this learning comes from our experiences. What have you experienced today or this week or this month that has reminded you of what's most important in your life.

Oh How Fun is Criticism?

There are a few things I have learned about church in my years working in them. The lesson I continually have to remind myself of and even re-learn is the lesson on criticism. Recently I received an email from Church Volunteer Central with an article by Jim Wideman on criticism. It was a good reminder of the value of criticism and how to handle it. Here's what he said on the how he deals with criticism:

When unsolicited advice finds you, here are helpful ways to deal with criticism without becoming critical.

• Stay open. There may always be new ways to do things. Look for fresh ideas in others’ advice that may yield better results.
• Learn. A good leader never stops learning. Seek out ways you can learn from people’s comments or concerns.
• Maintain humility. You’re in ministry to serve others—this includes your pastor, your volunteers, children, and their families. Listening to those you serve will help you grow in your ministry.
• Know your call. Don’t take offense when people advise or criticize. Be confident in your call to ministry and don’t let others bring you down.

The best advice I’ve ever received about ministry is to grow thick skin but keep a tender heart. When you remember this wise advice, you can deal with criticism without becoming critical.

My roughest critic is without a doubt, myself. I process and analyze everything I do, it's like my mind never stops. I know that the above advice is certainly true on how I take criticism from others, but how about from myself. Am I humble, do I remind myself of my call, do I keep an open mind, and how well do I try to learn? The biggest question I have for myself is how objective can I be with myself? That's why when I'm working through this process in my own mind I find someone to process with.

Burnt Waffles and Life Lessons

For every child there comes a time when they begin to believe that they know better than their mom or dad. For some this age comes at 2 when they first utter the words, “no”. For others it comes during adolescence or when they transition from high school to college. For my daughter, her time has come this week.

My daughter and I spent some quality time yesterday talking about the importance of her following directions and the directions that she is given are for her own good. When we ended our talk she seemed to grasp the concept and indicated that she would follow directions. She has also been working on learning to use the microwave. So I figured this morning was a good opportunity for her to demonstrate some self-sustaining, grown up, girlness; and I asked her to microwave some waffles for breakfast. I told her to put them in the microwave for a minute and a half, thinking that I might need to be more specific I told her, “just push 130”. Several minutes later I find the living room and kitchen are filled with smoke, the waffles are blackened and the plate they were on is broken into two pieces.

When I ask her how long she set the microwave for she tells me, “one zero zero zero”, ten minutes! I couldn’t believe it, I gave her specific instructions to set the microwave to one minute and 30 seconds (130). Here is how our conversation went….

dad: why did you set it for 10 minutes?
daughter: because I saw mommy do it
dad: so…you ignored what I said?
dad: do you remember me telling you 1-3-0?
daughter: yes…I thought….
dad: so why did you put it in for 10 minutes when you knew that I said 1-3-0?
daughter: because I thought that 1-0-0-0 was right ‘cause mommy did it.
dad: but I told you 1-3-0!
daughter: I know
dad: so why didn’t you press 1-3-0?
dad: did you think that you knew better than me?

As a dad I was amused at the outcome, relieved the microwave didn’t catch fire, and a little perplexed on why my 8 year old daughter would think she knows better than me.

Then I began to think of how God must feel about us. How often do we think we know better than God? How often do we know His instructions and yet do what we want?

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Joshua 1:7
Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

God has great plans and desires for us…plans and desires that benefit us and glorify Him. They are good plans, plans that don’t include charred waffles. Yet most of the time we believe that we know better. My plan was for my children to have some warm, yummy waffles. My children missed out on this great plan for their breakfast because my daughter decided to follow her own thoughts rather than follow my instructions for her.

How well we follow God’s commandments and how well we put off our own ideas in favor of God’s plans, will determine whether or not we get to experience the great promises and plans of God.