Good morning!
I woke up this morning and looked outside to see the beautiful greening of my lawn after yesterday's wonderful rainstorms! We definitely needed the moisture and the difference in my lawn from yesterday to today is most miraculous! That is exactly how God works in our lives. He can take the brown, seemingly dead and lifeless parts of our lives, and bring it to new life again. As Easter people we believe that good news and we are called to live it out in every part of our lives.
However, there are times in our lives when the challenge to live in the joy and hope that God brings can be a challenge. Our own humanity, weakness, and brokeness can keep us from seeing God's presence and movement in our lives. As we look at our lives, it can feel as if we are in a fog and the road ahead of us is unknown. This became apparent to me yesterday as I traveled to Pueblo in the morning. As I drove Highway 50 the fog became thick and the road ahead disappeared into the mystery of the fog before me.
I have always loved the fog - as a natural phenomenon in God's creation. I'm not too keen on feeling foggy in my faith (those times of doubt, confusion, worry, and helplessness). The weather pattern has always intrigued me. I even love driving in the fog. No matter how well I may know the road ahead, the fog has a way of removing the familiar landmarks around me and creating a sense of mystery as to my actual whereabouts.
When I am driving into the fog, I love the feeling of living into the mystery of what lies ahead. There is something about the mystery that brings about feelings of excitement, wonder, and risk (which has at times created a sense of fear - depending on the situation). I love the mystery of life and living into the mystery of God and what He reveals to me on a daily basis.
I was reminded yesterday that even when I am struggling with foggy faith, my God is present in the midst of the mystery. Ecclesiastes 3:11 shares with us that God "has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end."
As you live into the mystery of your tomorrow...as our church lives into the mystery of tomorrow...know that God is making this time beautiful and that He is there in the midst of the fog and mystery of life. While we may not be able to fathom everything God has done and is doing and will do...we can fathom the reality that God is there. Foggy faith need not forget the presence of God (just because you cannot see Him), but embrace the presence of God to lead us through!
Take Care & God Bless,
Pastor Don
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
Holy Journey
Good evening,
It has been a while since I've updated this blog. Since I last posted, we finished getting our home ready to put on the market, I spent 10 days in Haiti, and we are now journeying with Jesus to the cross and beyond during this holiest of weeks!
I love this time of year when Winter threatens to stick around and Spring teases us with its warmer weather, budding trees/flowers, and the opportunity to sleep with our windows open. (I also love the Easter candy...the best around in my opinion!) I love the Lenten season when we are urged to reflect deeply on our faith and its role in our lives. Every year I anticipate Holy Week wondering how God will reveal Himself to me and how the "old, old story" will be made new to me this year.
I approach Holy Week with a great deal of purpose and intentionality as I immerse myself in Jesus' journey to the cross. I love to experience the power of Jesus' last supper with His closest friends on Holy Thursday and then journey with Jesus to the cross on Good Friday. I try to make sure I do not look too far ahead...knowing that Easter is right around the corner. Jesus' friends and followers did not have the benefit of knowing what we know. For all they knew, this was the "end" of Jesus. The new kingdom they had longed for was not going to be realized. The range of emotions must have been extreme and they, no doubt, did not look upon these events as we do today. They lived it. They experienced it.
I try to do the same. I believe it is vital to our faith to walk this Holy Week path with the purpose of going deeper and striving to experience each step of Jesus' journey to the cross as genuinely and authentically as possible. I have found in my own faith that it is very difficult to experience the power of the resurrection without understanding the powerful experiences that lead up to the empty tomb. By approaching Holy Week in this way, the Easter experience has proven to have a more transformational impact on my life.My hope for all of us is that with every experience we have walking with Jesus, we will be transformed by the power of His presence, our faith will be deepened, and our purpose in this world realized and embraced. What makes this journey even more exciting is that we get to do it together!
Have a Holy Week,
Pastor Don
It has been a while since I've updated this blog. Since I last posted, we finished getting our home ready to put on the market, I spent 10 days in Haiti, and we are now journeying with Jesus to the cross and beyond during this holiest of weeks!
I love this time of year when Winter threatens to stick around and Spring teases us with its warmer weather, budding trees/flowers, and the opportunity to sleep with our windows open. (I also love the Easter candy...the best around in my opinion!) I love the Lenten season when we are urged to reflect deeply on our faith and its role in our lives. Every year I anticipate Holy Week wondering how God will reveal Himself to me and how the "old, old story" will be made new to me this year.
I approach Holy Week with a great deal of purpose and intentionality as I immerse myself in Jesus' journey to the cross. I love to experience the power of Jesus' last supper with His closest friends on Holy Thursday and then journey with Jesus to the cross on Good Friday. I try to make sure I do not look too far ahead...knowing that Easter is right around the corner. Jesus' friends and followers did not have the benefit of knowing what we know. For all they knew, this was the "end" of Jesus. The new kingdom they had longed for was not going to be realized. The range of emotions must have been extreme and they, no doubt, did not look upon these events as we do today. They lived it. They experienced it.
I try to do the same. I believe it is vital to our faith to walk this Holy Week path with the purpose of going deeper and striving to experience each step of Jesus' journey to the cross as genuinely and authentically as possible. I have found in my own faith that it is very difficult to experience the power of the resurrection without understanding the powerful experiences that lead up to the empty tomb. By approaching Holy Week in this way, the Easter experience has proven to have a more transformational impact on my life.My hope for all of us is that with every experience we have walking with Jesus, we will be transformed by the power of His presence, our faith will be deepened, and our purpose in this world realized and embraced. What makes this journey even more exciting is that we get to do it together!
Have a Holy Week,
Pastor Don
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