Friday Night Lights

Friday evening has become one of our favorite family times together. At sundown (or thereabouts) we pause to light the candles and take a moment to pray together. It’s a time when we just relax together and hang together on purpose. It’s a time of laughter. A time of sharing a great meal together. A time of sharing and encouraging one another. It’s our Sabbath time.

The term "Sabbath" derives from the Hebrew Shabbat (שַׁבָּת), "to cease", which was first used in the Biblical account of the seventh day of creation (Genesis 2:2-3). Observation and remembrance of Sabbath is also one of the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20:11 and Deuteronomy 5:12. God’s point is to just stop…and rest. In our modern day and age this is nearly impossible and rarely done. The elements of just pausing…unplugging…and rest.

For those of you who serve on Sunday’s…what day to you set aside to rest with your family? I don’t know that any of our family members would trade this new tradition away…we look forward to it all week.

Passion…what’s yours?

Dictionary.com will break it down as:

• any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling
• a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm or desire for anything: a passion for music
• the object of such a fondness or desire: Accuracy became a passion with him.

What is your passion? What motivates you? What are the deepest things in your heart that just won’t go away? What could you not think of going the rest of your life without experiencing ever again?

For some their passion is dancing. For others it’s being debt free or technology. For some it’s writing and others it’s reading. For some it’s accumulating money, cars, homes, jewelry or clothes. For others it’s giving all these things to others who need them more than we do.

Is religion your passion? Family? Work and/or career? Philanthropy?

Now consider this…where did your passion come from? Yes, I’m asking a lot of questions today but I believe these questions lead us down a path of knowing our heart. When we get to the end of that path and face what is really in our heart…what do we see? My bio says: A passion for God which I am learning. A passion for my family with which I am truly blessed. A passion for people which is growing. A passion for missions which won't go away. And a passion for coffee which fuels my life. These are truly at the core of my heart. The things that bring a smile to my face and drive me each day. And from these core passions comes and unrelenting desire to make a difference in the lives of other people…but isn’t this what we are supposed to do everyday anyway?

Is it possible that the core passions you have in your heart were placed there by the God who created you…and knows you more intimately and perfectly than anyone on this earth? Yes! The things that make you come alive…your passions…were placed there by The One who loves you passionately and desires you to use YOUR passions to make a positive difference in the lives of other people for Him. Your passion is His passion for others, meant to be lived out by you. And your passions are on purpose different from the passions of others.

~ PAUSE ~ none of this makes fully any sense without knowing personally the God who created you. The God who desires you to know Him intimately. The God of all creation who wants to walk with you daily and to show you how incredibly wonderful He made you! He made you with a purpose…one that is YOUR purpose…but one that only you can step into.

My core passion it to bring hope to those who need it most. Whether this is helping orphans see that there is hope beyond the reality of what they see or through helping others break the chains of poverty. Helping others see the hope within them and helping them to connect to The One who placed that hope within them…this is my passion…this is what fuels my life.

The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. But I have come that they might have life…and have it to the full. (John 10:10 NIV) 

Passion…what is yours?

What is God asking you to do that He has planted in your heart?

30 Days and a Prepared Canvas

It’s been since last year since I have taken the time to sit down and post my thoughts…a month ago today. Today I am sitting with a beautiful fire in the wood burner and a blanket of snow outside our home. It’s beautiful, it’s quiet, it’s peaceful. It’s like getting an extra Sabbath day to just relax, reflect and recharge. Yes, I have had my computer on my lap much of the day but it’s been good. Stress seems to have been blanketed by the snow and the creative thoughts have begun to move again. There is a certain excitement which has eluded me for a time.

Just as the snow creates a new perspective it also creates a fresh canvas from which to work with. I didn’t say it was a blank canvas because it’s not. There are still marks, contours, rocks, shrubs and trees from all of the stuff before the snow. From the things which are still there…but have taken another role in the perspective of the canvas. I find this such a reflection of life. There are times when things happen which cause us to just stop and pause…and we can’t do anything about it. It may be cold and it may be frustrating because our plans have been forced to change…but when we stop and look around there is a certain peace which we can’t see in our busyness. As we look at the landscape around us we begin to notice things we overlooked before. Both good and bad things. The beauty of the trees and landscape can be breathtaking but we may also notice the dead tree which may fall at anytime and needs to be removed. Or maybe there is a wet spot in the yard which we haven’t noticed before but is a sign of a leak hidden deeper within. Just like the snow reveals those things previously overlooked….our loving God brings circumstances into our life which cause us to stop and pause and we can’t do anything about it. We need to take those times to relax and ask for a fresh perspective on life.To prepare the canvas of our life by examining the landscape of our life and look for those overlooked issues which need to be addressed. It may reveal pending danger or simply an area of our life where we are being drained and it is costing us way more than we expected.

Today I find myself a canvas prepared for fresh color from the Master…may this year reveal His majesty and beauty reflected through my life and the life of our family.

Today’s Purpose Driven Life Devotional

Friday, December 10, 2010

Obeying God Requires You Take a Risk by Tom Holladay

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead." Matthew 2:19-20 (NIV) Today's devotional is by Tom Holladay, teaching pastor at Saddleback Church. "We may want a life of no fears in this world but that only happens in heaven." As uncomfortable as it was for Joseph to move his family to Egypt, imagine how scary it would be for him to obey God's command to come back to Israel. It was like going back into the jaws of the lion. He was going to take Mary and Jesus back to where his son's life had been in danger. But because Joseph trusted God and what he was saying, Joseph took the risk and went there because he knew that was the right place to be. The Bible says, "Even when I am afraid, I keep trusting you" (Psalm 56:3 CEV). Notice this verse says, "when I am afraid" not "if I am afraid." We may want a life of no fears in this world but that only happens in heaven. In this life, we're all going to face fears of one kind or another. We have some big fears and some little fears. We fear the future, we fear what's going to happen with our jobs, what's going to happen with our family; and we fear little things like whether we said the right thing to someone, whether that presentation went well, even fear of making a phone call. In all of these situations, you have a choice to make. Are you going to let the fear control you or are you going to take a risk of faith because you know you have a God who loves you? That risk of faith could mean going someplace you've never been before or forgiving someone you thought you couldn't forgive. It could mean leaving your job. A risk of faith could also be praying about something or deciding to trust God with a situation or a relationship you've held tight in your hand. What Christ-like risk is God telling you to take in faith?

As Dawn Breaks in the Woods

As the sun began to break through the trees not only did the rays of sun bring light, they also brought rays of warmth as they pierced the crisp frosty air. In the distance I hear the rippling waters of a gentle stream as is makes its way from the meadow into the woods. The birds began their scamper to awaken the forest. The morning songs of the chickadee, morning doves, nuthatches, buntings and finches all blended in chorus to praise the Creator. The rhythm of the downy woodpecker chimes in with perfect sync. The fresh smell from the early decay of the fresh autumn leaves releases a certain sweetness in the air. I can’t help but praise God for the majesty of His creation…and that he allows me to participate in His story….and the beauty of it.

Yesterday morning I had the privilege of going hunting on a beautiful piece of property near our home. For me the mere opportunity to have a few hours alone in the woods is incredible…it’s refreshing. If I am blessed to see some game I count it a success and if I happen to bag some game I have been truly blessed. The three hours in the woods rekindles an excitement in my soul that can’t be explained with words… and one that I had almost forgotten. For some it’s the moments on a rippling stream with the fly rod, listening for the slurping of the elusive trout. Others is the time of rebuilding and restoring that classic car so that one day they can turn the key and hear the purr of an engine begging to be tested.

2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so He rested from all His work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when He rested from all His work of creation. (Genesis 2:2-3 NLT)

2 Blessed are all those
who are careful to do this.
Blessed are those who honor my Sabbath days of rest
and keep themselves from doing wrong. (Isaiah 56:2 NLT)

Where is your place of rest? Do you even take time to rest? God commands us to rest because He knows just how much we really need it and the refreshment that it brings.

A Question to Consider….

Thanksgiving 2010

Psalm 105

1 Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
Let the whole world know what he has done.

2 Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.
Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.

3 Exult in his holy name;
rejoice, you who worship the Lord.

4 Search for the Lord and for his strength;
continually seek him.

5 Remember the wonders he has performed,
his miracles, and the rulings he has given,

6 you children of his servant Abraham,
you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones.

7 He is the Lord our God.
His justice is seen throughout the land.

8 He always stands by his covenant—
the commitment he made to a thousand generations.

Pause to consider all that you are thankful for.

It’s sad that this seems to be our pause before the most frantic part of the race begins. The next 35 days are the busiest days of the year trying to do everything, get everything, see everybody and be seen by everybody…it’s a non-stop fight to meet the expectations of others. But what about the expectations of God our Father…

Things I am thankful for today:

• My wife and best friend of 20+ years. She is faithful to love and support me even when I am unlovable.
• My first child and oldest daughter who has a heart for missions and helping others.
• My middle child and son who has trusted us to be his “forever family”.
• My youngest child and daughter who has a huge heart and a creative way of expressing it.
• A God who is longsuffering with me and continues to lead me to a life that is bigger than me.
• The opportunity to travel to Haiti to keep life in perspective while watching as God connects the dots of my life.
• A church where I can serve and grow…who cares about making a difference in our community and in our world.
• My brother who is growing to pursue his passions more each day.
• My brother in law who has lived through the most traumatic event in his life to get another chance to pursue the passions which he was called to do.
• For the Training Circle of men that God has surrounded me with to push me into the areas of my life where God wants to work in me.
• Family who love me in spite of who I am.
• Friends who laugh, cry and support me and my family on this journey.
• For those who continue to serve and die to protect our freedoms here in America. Your service is not overlooked.
• Technology which allows us to communicate, grow and learn in ways that we never thought possible.
• …for Jesus who died to make all of this and more possible for me to embrace and enjoy!

There is so much to be thankful for today and everyday! This list could go on for hundreds of pages and still never touch the surface of all the blessings which God has give us….and for each one I am thankful…

Happy Thanksgiving 2010