Hello Everyone!
I pray you have been able to experience the peace of Christ this week, no matter what curveballs life threw at you!
This week, my spirit has been overly burdened with the pains and burdens of many in my life and in the life of our church and community. So many are hurting or have gone through experiences that literally bring us to our knees - either from exhaustion, prayer, or both. As I gathered with some colleagues today to celebrate the retirement of one of them, the one who is retiring mentioned that they found out yesterday that her husband's cancer was back. My heart dropped. Here was a couple, excited about the experiences retirement held for them, only to be beaten down by the news that retirement was going to hold a whole other experience. One they are very familiar with and would rather keep at bay.
You may be in a place right now where it is all you can do to hold on. What does our faith have to say about these life burdens that we all experience?
I will draw my comments from an article written by Francis MacNutt titled Spiritual Dryness: A Call to Go Deeper as found at www.christianhealingmin.org. The article was given to me within the last few months and it has some good wisdom to share for the burdensome times and difficult challenges in our lives.
When we go through difficulties and trials, it can be easy for us to get discouraged and lose our focus. MacNutt proposes that during these times we need to understand what is really happening..."God is calling us to come deeper into His life. The problem is that just when we are about to move forward in faith, we feel like we are going backward, so we quit." He goes on to say, "He wants us to seek Him and love Him for Himself alone and not just what He can give us."
Often times, we seek God to deliver us from pain, tribulation, and difficulty. We seek God because of what God can give us, not because of who God is and the relationship that God wants to have in our lives. In times of trial, it is important to turn from our self-motivations and seek the fullness of God. The important thing for us to remember is that, "so long as we continue to hold on and continue to be obedient to those things God calls us to do, we are still on the right path." It's in these times that we have not lost God, or God hasn't lost us, but we are going into a deeper understanding of God and His purpose for our lives.
MacNutt offers some practical advice when going through trials:
1. Remember that most of our initial religious breakthroughs are accompanied by great joy - or at least comfort. If we know "that great joy alternates with times of desolation, we will be able to endure the process of purgation (God stripping us of our self) until we become more like Jesus."
2. In time this (the trial) usually fades
3. Be careful to not judge our relationship with God by our good feelings, because we could see our trials as backsliding instead of an opportunity to go deeper.
4. Resist the human tendency to slack off in your prayer life or to try and recapture the early honeymoon stage with God by wandering around to churches that feed your emotional needs and desire for control.
5. Look for what God is doing and what is really happening: "that God is letting us be stripped of self-seeking so that we may seek and find Him alone. We have been using God to achieve pleasurable feelings or selfish goals (even seeking healing can become a somewhat selfish quest) instead of seeking God for Himself.
6. Find a spiritual director that can reassure you and help you discern what God is trying to accomplish in your life.
7. Hold steady and move beyond your feelings and "what the world defines as success, that we will grow to full maturity in Christ."
In what ways is God calling you to go deeper with Him? Do you see your trials, difficulties, and burdens as opportunities to discover more about your Creator and Lord?
Gracious, steadfast, God. Thank you for Your faithfulness in the midst of my trials. Forgive me for my unfaithfulness and my desire to have You meet my every whim and desire. Strip me of all selfishness so that I can see the path You have laid out for me to walk. Strip me of an ego that feels I can do it on my own. Fill me with Your presence. Fill me with Your strength. Fill me with Your peace and patience as I journey into a deeper relationship with You. Open my eyes to the beauty of Your presence even in the midst of my own mess. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Take Care & God Bless,
Pastor Don
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
God of Second Chances
Happy Thursday Everyone!
I pray that all is well with you and that you have been able to experience the power of God's spirit in your life in new ways this week.
Recently, I received an email with the following link, http://www.godtube.com/featured/video/god-second-chances-w-danny/all. This is a great video that had me smiling and praising God for the wonderful holy moments He blesses us with. I must admit, my eyes were a bit moistened at the end. If you were to walk into my office, I would have told you it was my allergies (a man thing!). This video is moving and powerful.
To be for-warned, it can be difficult to hear the video at times because it is done outside and it is windy on this particular day. In the video a homeless man, Danny, starts singing with a gentleman who is making a video for one of his songs called God of Second Chances. The homeless man has a very heavy accent, but most of what he is saying at different parts throughout the video is this: "One God, One Creator, One Father...O the Holy Ghost is moving like a magnet...Jehovah remember me when I go down on my knees to pray...Hallelujah is the highest praise!"
It is a touching moment that reminds me that whatever our circumstances in life, we can still give praise to our God and sing hallelujah because of His continued presence and movement within our lives.
The video also reminded me that we do serve a God of second chances (and third, and fourth, and so on down the line). We serve a merciful, loving, and forgiving God who remembers us and journeys with us when we fall down on our knees before Him. Without that mercy and deep love, I know that I would be lost in the abyss of my own life, my own failures, and my own inadequacies.
Since I serve a God of second chances, maybe I should be more willing to offer those same chances to those around me. Maybe I should also demonstrate the mercy, love, and forgiveness that has been showered upon me. In doing so, maybe I'll experience God in a new and deeper way. What do you think?
O God of second chances, I praise you and thank you for your mercy and grace. I thank you for taking me from the miry clay of my life and molding me into the person I am today. I know, God, that there is still much work to be done on my soul, my heart, my life. I place myself into Your hands every chance I get. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Take Care & God Bless,
Pastor Don
I pray that all is well with you and that you have been able to experience the power of God's spirit in your life in new ways this week.
Recently, I received an email with the following link, http://www.godtube.com/featured/video/god-second-chances-w-danny/all. This is a great video that had me smiling and praising God for the wonderful holy moments He blesses us with. I must admit, my eyes were a bit moistened at the end. If you were to walk into my office, I would have told you it was my allergies (a man thing!). This video is moving and powerful.
To be for-warned, it can be difficult to hear the video at times because it is done outside and it is windy on this particular day. In the video a homeless man, Danny, starts singing with a gentleman who is making a video for one of his songs called God of Second Chances. The homeless man has a very heavy accent, but most of what he is saying at different parts throughout the video is this: "One God, One Creator, One Father...O the Holy Ghost is moving like a magnet...Jehovah remember me when I go down on my knees to pray...Hallelujah is the highest praise!"
It is a touching moment that reminds me that whatever our circumstances in life, we can still give praise to our God and sing hallelujah because of His continued presence and movement within our lives.
The video also reminded me that we do serve a God of second chances (and third, and fourth, and so on down the line). We serve a merciful, loving, and forgiving God who remembers us and journeys with us when we fall down on our knees before Him. Without that mercy and deep love, I know that I would be lost in the abyss of my own life, my own failures, and my own inadequacies.
Since I serve a God of second chances, maybe I should be more willing to offer those same chances to those around me. Maybe I should also demonstrate the mercy, love, and forgiveness that has been showered upon me. In doing so, maybe I'll experience God in a new and deeper way. What do you think?
O God of second chances, I praise you and thank you for your mercy and grace. I thank you for taking me from the miry clay of my life and molding me into the person I am today. I know, God, that there is still much work to be done on my soul, my heart, my life. I place myself into Your hands every chance I get. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Take Care & God Bless,
Pastor Don
Thursday, May 13, 2010
I've Been Waiting My Whole Life
Happy Thursday!
I hope and pray that God has revealed Himself to you in a special way this week and that you have experienced an extra dose of His joy and peace.
This week I had a conversation with my daughter, Haleigh, that made me laugh. I was sharing with her that she was going to be getting her 4th grade Bible from the church this Sunday during worship. You see, it is our tradition to give a special Bible to all children who are entering the 4th grade. It celebrates their continued growth and it encourages them to stay connected to God's story in our lives.
When I shared with her the news, I was not prepared for her reaction. She said, "Yeah! I can't wait! I've been waiting my whole life for that, Daddy!"
In all honesty, I figured I'd get a response more down the alley of a quick, "OK", or maybe even no response at all. But, much to my chagrin, she found joy in the news that she was going to be receiving her Bible. It is a moment she has been anticipating and looking forward to.
Because of Haleigh's response, I will approach the giving out of the Bibles in a different way. Sometimes things become ritualistic over time and we forget how holy and set apart these moments can be in our lives. When I hand out the Bibles this Sunday, the moment will be a holy moment - a moment in which God is alive, working, and speaking to those precious children that will be receiving His word.
Haleigh's response also got me to thinking about how we receive God's Word in our lives. Do we look forward to God speaking to us? Do we acknowledge His presence in the words we read and the pages we turn? When you read God's Word, is it a holy moment?
I know I run the risk of offending some, and it is not my intent, but I think Christians today have lost the joy and excitement of God's Word in their lives. I think it has become a ritual we do in the mornings, or in our weekly studies, or in worship. We have failed to enter into the holy moments God offers when we enter into His story. We have become lazy in our approach to Scripture, thinking that all we have to do is read the words and we've completed our spiritual duty for the day or week. We have lost the joy of anticipating what God is going to say to us through His Holy Word.
How do we get that joy back? Maybe we listen and learn from a 9-year-old girl. Maybe we take stock of how we have treated God's word, approached God's word, listened to God's word - we repent and we ask for a new heart. A heart that desires to see life spring from the words we read. A heart that desires to embrace the hope that is not bound by the covers of the Bible. A life that approaches God and His word with the sense that we've been waiting our whole lives for what He is going to share with us.
Gracious God, help me to experience holy moments with You. Grant me a heart that joyously receives Your Word for me and a life that embraces the change You want to see in me. In Jesus' holy name I pray. Amen.
Take Care & God Bless,
Pastor Don
I hope and pray that God has revealed Himself to you in a special way this week and that you have experienced an extra dose of His joy and peace.
This week I had a conversation with my daughter, Haleigh, that made me laugh. I was sharing with her that she was going to be getting her 4th grade Bible from the church this Sunday during worship. You see, it is our tradition to give a special Bible to all children who are entering the 4th grade. It celebrates their continued growth and it encourages them to stay connected to God's story in our lives.
When I shared with her the news, I was not prepared for her reaction. She said, "Yeah! I can't wait! I've been waiting my whole life for that, Daddy!"
In all honesty, I figured I'd get a response more down the alley of a quick, "OK", or maybe even no response at all. But, much to my chagrin, she found joy in the news that she was going to be receiving her Bible. It is a moment she has been anticipating and looking forward to.
Because of Haleigh's response, I will approach the giving out of the Bibles in a different way. Sometimes things become ritualistic over time and we forget how holy and set apart these moments can be in our lives. When I hand out the Bibles this Sunday, the moment will be a holy moment - a moment in which God is alive, working, and speaking to those precious children that will be receiving His word.
Haleigh's response also got me to thinking about how we receive God's Word in our lives. Do we look forward to God speaking to us? Do we acknowledge His presence in the words we read and the pages we turn? When you read God's Word, is it a holy moment?
I know I run the risk of offending some, and it is not my intent, but I think Christians today have lost the joy and excitement of God's Word in their lives. I think it has become a ritual we do in the mornings, or in our weekly studies, or in worship. We have failed to enter into the holy moments God offers when we enter into His story. We have become lazy in our approach to Scripture, thinking that all we have to do is read the words and we've completed our spiritual duty for the day or week. We have lost the joy of anticipating what God is going to say to us through His Holy Word.
How do we get that joy back? Maybe we listen and learn from a 9-year-old girl. Maybe we take stock of how we have treated God's word, approached God's word, listened to God's word - we repent and we ask for a new heart. A heart that desires to see life spring from the words we read. A heart that desires to embrace the hope that is not bound by the covers of the Bible. A life that approaches God and His word with the sense that we've been waiting our whole lives for what He is going to share with us.
Gracious God, help me to experience holy moments with You. Grant me a heart that joyously receives Your Word for me and a life that embraces the change You want to see in me. In Jesus' holy name I pray. Amen.
Take Care & God Bless,
Pastor Don
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
What Lies Ahead?
Hello!
There is a television program that my son, Ethan, likes to watch. When I have time, I like to watch it with him. It is the new series on the History channel called America: The Story of Us. You see, Ethan has always been a history buff. He knows more about history than I do, I think. He soaks it in and it facinates him. I remember that we took a family vacation out East a few years ago and we went to Gettysburg. An awesome experience and one that I would recommend to anyone - whether you are a history buff or not. Ethan gave our tour guide a run for his money - asking almost every question imaginable. We even have pictures of him walking with our tour guide ahead of the rest of us - engrossed in passionate conversation.
Anyway, we were watching the program that was on this week (we had it recorded) and they were talking about the move West and how the American spirit was formed by the rugged individualism of those who dared to risk it all to make a new life for themselve and their family. The American spirit of independence, the pioneering spirit that leads us to find a way when there seems to be no way, was an identifying mark of the American individual and family. The show talked about the willingness of our ancestors to travel into the unknown, so that a new land could be conquered and a new life made.
I wonder if we, as Americans, Christians, and human beings, have lost some of that willingness to journey into the unknown in our lives and blaze new paths for those that will come after us? It seems that we live in more fear of the unknown now-a-days, than we do with a willingness to embrace it. I'm not saying it is easy to embrace the mystery of our lives and the mystery of what tomorrow may bring. In all honesty, it can be downright scary.
But, as people of faith, we realize and understand that we don't have to have it all figured out, because our faith and our trust is in the One that has it all under control.
I believe there is something deep in all of us that wants to know what lies ahead. But, somewhere along the journey of life, that desire is wrought with fear of what lies ahead verses the excitement of what tomorrow may bring. For instance, when we are young, we dream of what lies ahead (our imaginations can run wild with excitement). When we grow older, we become anxious of what tomorrow will bring (our imaginations run wild again!).
Today, you may be wondering what lies ahead in your future. You may be struggling with fear and discouragement. You may be weighted down by the burden of things you see as limitations or walls you cannot overcome. You may be fearful of what you cannot yet see.
When we search and seek answers for what the future may hold, we can often times focus on our fear and on what lies ahead, instead of focusing on what is right before us and we don't even recognize it...Jesus...the One in whom our future is secure.
It is in Jesus that our ultimate needs will be met. It is in Jesus that we are offered life everlasting. No matter what may be around the corner, or where our life may take us, we can be confident and secure in knowing that Christ is with us the entire way. And even if that is all we know, we will feel more secure in what lies ahead and approach the unknown with a willingness to embrace the mysteries of life as we journey into unknown territory and conquer new lands in our lives.
What lies ahead? With Jesus...Security of life with Him.
God of yesterday, today, and forever, give me courage to face the future unafraid as I put my trust in You. Guide me through the mystery of life and lead me through the unknown territory with a spirit of strength and hope. Help me to conquer new lands in my life, secure in the knowledge that You are with me the entire way. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Take Care & God Bless,
Pastor Don
There is a television program that my son, Ethan, likes to watch. When I have time, I like to watch it with him. It is the new series on the History channel called America: The Story of Us. You see, Ethan has always been a history buff. He knows more about history than I do, I think. He soaks it in and it facinates him. I remember that we took a family vacation out East a few years ago and we went to Gettysburg. An awesome experience and one that I would recommend to anyone - whether you are a history buff or not. Ethan gave our tour guide a run for his money - asking almost every question imaginable. We even have pictures of him walking with our tour guide ahead of the rest of us - engrossed in passionate conversation.
Anyway, we were watching the program that was on this week (we had it recorded) and they were talking about the move West and how the American spirit was formed by the rugged individualism of those who dared to risk it all to make a new life for themselve and their family. The American spirit of independence, the pioneering spirit that leads us to find a way when there seems to be no way, was an identifying mark of the American individual and family. The show talked about the willingness of our ancestors to travel into the unknown, so that a new land could be conquered and a new life made.
I wonder if we, as Americans, Christians, and human beings, have lost some of that willingness to journey into the unknown in our lives and blaze new paths for those that will come after us? It seems that we live in more fear of the unknown now-a-days, than we do with a willingness to embrace it. I'm not saying it is easy to embrace the mystery of our lives and the mystery of what tomorrow may bring. In all honesty, it can be downright scary.
But, as people of faith, we realize and understand that we don't have to have it all figured out, because our faith and our trust is in the One that has it all under control.
I believe there is something deep in all of us that wants to know what lies ahead. But, somewhere along the journey of life, that desire is wrought with fear of what lies ahead verses the excitement of what tomorrow may bring. For instance, when we are young, we dream of what lies ahead (our imaginations can run wild with excitement). When we grow older, we become anxious of what tomorrow will bring (our imaginations run wild again!).
Today, you may be wondering what lies ahead in your future. You may be struggling with fear and discouragement. You may be weighted down by the burden of things you see as limitations or walls you cannot overcome. You may be fearful of what you cannot yet see.
When we search and seek answers for what the future may hold, we can often times focus on our fear and on what lies ahead, instead of focusing on what is right before us and we don't even recognize it...Jesus...the One in whom our future is secure.
It is in Jesus that our ultimate needs will be met. It is in Jesus that we are offered life everlasting. No matter what may be around the corner, or where our life may take us, we can be confident and secure in knowing that Christ is with us the entire way. And even if that is all we know, we will feel more secure in what lies ahead and approach the unknown with a willingness to embrace the mysteries of life as we journey into unknown territory and conquer new lands in our lives.
What lies ahead? With Jesus...Security of life with Him.
God of yesterday, today, and forever, give me courage to face the future unafraid as I put my trust in You. Guide me through the mystery of life and lead me through the unknown territory with a spirit of strength and hope. Help me to conquer new lands in my life, secure in the knowledge that You are with me the entire way. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Take Care & God Bless,
Pastor Don
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