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God, where are you?

Yesterday, Mark tackled the biggest issue many of us face.  It was the #1 question asked in our Skeptic series survey (by far).  I know he did a great job and put in a lot of time to prepare, and yet, I'm sure for many the answers seemed inadequate.  That's natural.  Simply because there is so much about God that we don't understand, that we'll never know.

And, it often seems like in the midst of our biggest questions, and deepest pain, that God is silent.  He may seem silent to you in those times, but rest assured He is not.  He is moving, and working, and leading us to a time when there will be no more pain, or sorrows, or tears.  In the mean time, He knows what you're going through and it matters to Him.  In those times that seem silent, keep praying, keep seeking, keep begging - because all of that can draw us closer to Him - more connected to Him - more desperate for Him.

At the end of the day, that's what God wants.  He's all about the relationship, and in the hard, difficult times, we seek Him and our relationship grows.  Don't give up.  Keep seeking God.  HE IS THERE.

the key to blessing?

I've been reading in the book of 1 Kings in the Old Testament of the Bible lately.  It's interesting.  And, I've been finding a pattern in it.  God speaks to the king and the people and says "if you follow me and my way of doing life, I will bless you.  You will experience my blessing and my favor will never leave you or your descendents" (my paraphrase), "but, if you choose to go your own way, do things with disregard to me, you'll never experience real blessing in your life and blessing will be stripped away from your descendents as well".

Are you experiencing God's blessing in your life?  If not, could it be that you're not really following Jesus and His way of doing life?  Could it be that you're really choosing to go your own way, and do things without thinking about God's direction in it?  Just a thought.

What are your thoughts?

How do you connect?

How do you best connect with God?  Praying, reading the Bible, walking through the woods, singing, something else?  I think I need variety in my life when it comes to connecting to God.  I don't think I "connect" with Him all the time - it's less than it is more.  I still meet with Him (prayer, reading the Bible, etc.), but sometimes it can seem like He's not there.  Like I'm not really connecting - and then other times, it's like I'm hearing Him speak into my heart in pretty profound ways.  How about you?  How do you best connect with God?

Dreaming too small?

If you're doing something that you don't need God's help to accomplish, maybe you're doing something too small!  Where are you serving, what are you investing yourself in?  Although it's needed, and you're making a difference - if you can do it with your eyes closed, if it just comes "second nature" to you, if it's "really no big deal" - then maybe you're selling yourself short.  Maybe you're not stretching very much and you're missing out on doing something really great.  If you don't need God to accomplish it, you're not dreaming big enough.

So, what's your next step?  What are dreaming about?  Are you dreaming big enough?

Quotable

I came across this quote from Erwin McManus and his GREAT book called An Unstoppable Force.  Let this be food for thought today:

"Jesus opens his ministry, calling us to follow Him.  That requires movement.  Then he promises he will make us fishers of men.  (GET READY) He doesn't promise healing, community, friendship, safety, nurturing, security, or anything of personal benefit to us.  He only promises a cause worthy of God." 

Is that how you view your relationship with Jesus.  Is the cause worthy of God enough - even if you don't get healing, safety, security, community, friendship, or nurturing??

uhm, alright then.

One of my dreams for The Journey is to be as generous a church as possible.  To give, and give, and give some more.  Because I've learned in our family life that you can't outgive God.  The Bible says "he who is faithful with little, will be given much".  And . . . WE (even in Michigan) are some of the richest people on the planet). 

So, I'm reading a book that had this quote in it from Robert Murray M'Cheyne, a Scottish pastor who died when he was 29.  Here's what it said:

"I am concerned for the poor but more for you.  I know not what (Jesus) will say to you in the great day . . . I fear there are many hearing me who may know well that they are not Christians because they do not love to give.  To give largely and liberally, not grudgingly at all, requires a new heart; an old heart would rather part with its life-blood than its money.  Oh my friends!  Enjoy your money; make the most of it; give none away; enjoy it quickly for I can tell you, you will be beggars throughout eternity."

Uhm . . . alright then.  No punches pulled there.  But, what do you think of what he said.  Were you convicted?  Do you agree?  God has blessed us and we can enjoy His blessings, but I really think this issue of money and our heart is one of the largest "following Jesus" issues most people face.  So, what do you think about the quote?

How the Bible was written

I said we'd deal with questions to ask next, but I've changed my mind - and since it's my blog, I can do that.

When we're going to try and read the Bible, we need to understand a little bit about how & why it was written.  The Bible, is 66 "books" pulled together under one cover.  But, they are far from 66 individual stories.  These books come together to tell one story - the story of God and his pursuit of people and their relationship with Him.  The old testament points the way to the new testament.  It shows us (over and over again) that religion and rules will never be enough - that we need someone to save us from sin and make us right with God.  The new testament show us that the savior we need is God in the flesh - Jesus.  It then shows us how we're called to live in relationship to Jesus.

The Bible was also written, almost always, to groups of people.  In the new testament it was usually letters to churches of specific towns or areas.  We almost always read the Bible, thinking "what does this say personally to me?", and we do need to do that.  But, we also need to ask "What does this say to the church?  What was the author trying to communicate to the church of his time?".

Because the Bible was written in story form, and in letter form (generally), I would encourage you to (usually) read it in a paragraph format.  In other words, don't just read one verse (out of context)  and apply that.  Look at what the whole paragraph is saying - it will often bring new meaning and insight to a specific verse.

If you have a Journey Bible (or a number of other Bibles as well), check on the first page of each book and you may find an introduction about who wrote it, when it was written, to whom it was written, and why it was written.  READ IT.  It will give you context to what you're reading, and a larger understanding of this books place within the Bible.

isolationists?

There's a movement in today's "Christian subculture" towards isolation - home church - separation.  Today I was reading in 1 Corinthians 5:9-11, and it talks about separating yourself from the sexually immoral person, the drunkard, the greedy person, the slanderer.  A lot of times, people take this to mean that they should only hang out with church people.  Sit in their little holy huddle, learning new Greek words, and having Vacation Bible School meetings.

But, Paul says he isn't "at all takling about people who aren't followers of Jesus".  He was talking about the person in the church who says they're a follower of Jesus, have begun a life of following Him, but then are not living that way consistently - not changing.  I loved how he said, in essence - "I'm in NO WAY talking about people who are still seeking". 

The "Church" is not a building where people gather, it's people who are followers of Jesus.  Out of that group - we shouldn't be best buds with people who say they're following Jesus but show no signs by their actions of really following Him. 

But, can we be around and connect with people who aren't following Jesus, but are coming to the building for our gatherings and are sexually immoral, drunks, greedy, slanderers?  By all means!  Welcome them - connect with them - pray for and with them.

If we're called to be isolationists at all - it's to isolate us from the hypocritical people who claim one thing and live the polar opposite.  It's from the religious people, the Pharisees.  Often times, the very people who are trying to isolate themselves from "the world".  Interesting.  

Attention

Where's your attention today??  On Sunday, in our Destinations series, we said "where your attention goes, your direction will follow".  So, what are you giving your attention to?  What or who is trying to get or to grab your attention?  Let's focus this week on your destination, and put your attention in the right direction.

What tends to get your attention that shouldn't?

For me, sometimes I feel like I could look back on most days and feel like I "wasted" too much time, on things that don't really matter - on stuff that won't lead to the preferred destination.  How about you?

Significant Day

I've been talking throughout the summer about having days of quiet and focus, in order to hear from God, plan, re-focus.  Today is one of those days.  So . . . if you wouldn't mind praying for me, that God would speak, and lead me today.  I'll spend 1/2 the day just trying to connect with God - seek Him, pray for The Journey, and many of you.  I'll spend the other 1/2 of the day looking at our series' for this coming year - so would you pray that God would direct that time?!  Thanks in advance for those of you who can take a moment and pray.