Reproduce

It's 5:21pm on a Tuesday in January.  I'm alone in my kitchen.  This is extremely rare, the quiet.  I just finished talking on the phone with Julie who's 3hrs away at her parents with the boys, she said do something you enjoy tonight, watch a movie, go buy a book.  I decided to start by going for a run, it had actually warmed up enough that shorts was weird, but not frostbite weird.  The run felt good, just as I was running up the final hill my favorite Relient K song "celebrate the day" came on via shuffle (yes it's from the Christmas album) - I sang out of breath my favorite line singing "here is where you're finding me, in the exact same place as New Year's eve, and from the lack of my persistency, we're less than half as close as I want to be".  The song continues on in celebration that Jesus is our saviour, meeting us exactly where we are at and saving us here, despite the fact that we seem to constantly stay at the same place.
So I get home and I decide I want tonight to be one of those nights that I never forget, one of those moments when I encountered God, I want to wake up tomorrow with the urge to mark this spot like Jacob did, so that I never forget that God spoke to me.

Okay so I'm not sure this is really appropriate.  God calls the shots, if He wants to speak with me then He will.  I can't just stop and expect Him to show up, can I?  I feel Him all the time nudging me closer, and I typically shut my brain off and watch some mind numbing t.v. or browse through sport articles on my ipod or check my email (which I already checked 4 minutes ago) - like my brain is trying to do now.  But no.  Not tonight.  I'm at a crossroads in my life (yah it's cliche) but really it's true.  God has always showed up for me, every step of my life.  He has led me and I've followed.  I need Him now.  My prayer for as far back as I can remember has been "God use me to do something great".  And over the years I've wrestled through the root of this desire, is it about me or about God.   And to be honest it's about both.  I'm not a theological brainchild, I'm not an incredible leadership strategist, I'm not the popular charismatic teaching pastor, not the most disciplined, but the gift I've been given is Faith and just enough of the rest to understand what it takes to really have that gift.  I can see it in my son,  he is most happy when he is doing something significant (he quickly figures out when his screwdriver isn't the real screwdriver, he wants to be involved and it's gotta count - real vacuum, real dishes, real hammer please).  I get it, that's me.  Why create me God if I can't be a part of what you are up to? Why give me this gift of Faith?  A gift that I'm still trying to figure out - as of right now I believe Faith is the burning desire within me to risk, to try to new things because this crazy Faith - ongoing confidence that God is an unshakable foundation.  I relate with Peter, I'd love to have the opportunity to jump on water.  Which is probably why the lyrics "if you're all you claim to be then I'm not loosing anything" from sidewalk prophets really hits my heart.

So, after all this thinking as I type, God has reminded me of who He's created me to be.  Gifts are meant for the body, for the Church - 1 Cor 12:4:11.  I've always been a start up guy, the guy with enough Faith to start something new, the guy who hardly see's something new as a risk - simply because "if it is of God it will not fail" and so why not?   This is what I have to bring to the body, the Church.   The faith to enable and empower others to risk and do that new thing, and I've been given enough of the other parts to help others understand what role in the body they are to play.

Reproduce.  Genesis 1 - 10 this is a major theme.  Everything is created to create.  And it hit me the other  day as I was reading this.  It's also stuck out to me all day.  Tonight I want to learn more on this.  I want to hear from God on what this means for my life, for my specific calling.

And so I will listen.

Babies = Change

A couple night's ago my wife Julie and I collapsed on our two pleather opposing couches in our main room. Pleather is an excellent choice for people with babies, no stains or smells if we keep on top of it. Julie sat in the love seat with her knees up, and I stretched out in the three seater. Julie shared about how her relationship with God is different now. Her life was different now and so were her opportunities to experience God. In highschool she remembered those high energy conferences, when you were the center of other's energy. When the leadership breathed God's Word to you in a new way, when the lights and the music were about creating an environment for you to encounter God. She remembered in her university years joining a ministry team and being a part of creating these moments for others. As she reflected on washing feet she remembered just how close God felt. Now things are different. She has been removed from the glamour, seemingly trapped within the four walls of our home. Left to experience God in the few moments she finds to catch her breath. Starting a new family shakes up all routine, it leaves you feeling unbalanced. 

It was just over two weeks ago that our second son was born. After a few days nameless we landed on Zyan. I gave Julie a big speech as to why it should be Zyan. Here's the summary... I've always loved the name Zion, but thought it didn't really feel like a name. So I mixed up the letter's a bit came up with Zyan. Zyan means "little king". Zion spelled Zion means "highest point" and in the Old Testament was the name the Israelites while in exile used to describe the place of their longing. Zion was the dream of Israel/Jerusalem in all it's glory. And in the New Testament Zion is used to describe the place of our longing, Heaven in all it's glory, the Kingdom finally in place as God intends. So my prayer for Zyan is that God will use him to display God's Kingdom on earth, Heaven here.
Yes I realize that prior paragraph is a sidenote. But that's what children do, they capture your thoughts when you least expect it and mess with what you know as the norm.
I've thought a lot about my conversation with Julie. I've wrestled with solutions for her.  I've wrestled with solutions for myself in the midst of this huge change.  I have discovered that sometimes the present change is simply to be embraced, you must change along with it.  I have discovered that God wants to shake things up a bit. God's story is full of this truth. The sun sets and rises and the new morning is different then the day before. Our God is constant, yes. Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Yet the day changes.  Babies create a permenant change in many areas, they call us to react.  Regarding how we encounter God we decided we must reimagine, rediscover and recreate ways to encounter and experience Him in the present change. God invites us to be active in this.

Churches need to have babies.


God is always at work to make His churches reproduce, to make babies.  God desires to shake things up.  He wants His Church to constantly reimagine, rediscover and recreate ways to encounter and experience His Son Jesus.  The question for each local church what does your baby look like?  How will you be giving birth this year?

As God leads churches to new birth.  I'm excited to see what routines we will be called to examine.  Will it be Leadership, The Building, Worship, Programing... What a privilege to embrace change alongside Jesus. What an adventure it will be. I'm so excited to see what new things I will learn, so excited to be a part of the process of encountering and experiencing God afresh.

Thank God for babies...

Play-Doh

Tonight we were at our friends house for home group and while the adults have the study and prayer portion of the night, the kids are rounded up and play together in another room. My friend thought it would be fun to have them play with play dough, so we put them around the table and rolled up their sleeves. Of course it didn't take long before one was crying. It seemed that one of them wanted a knife to cut the play dough with and so we found a plastic one in the box. Well it didn't take long before each child had to have a knife. We searched the kitchen drawers for more plastic knives and eventually each child had one. However, that wasn't enough because once they saw the shiny knife they all wanted that one, and then once they saw the pumpkin carving knife they all wanted that one and then they wanted the black plastic knife. What was interesting is that they were never happy with what they did have. As an adult I was able to see that clearly the play dough knife was the best one for the purpose of cutting and shaping play dough but they could not see it. They were too involved in the action to be able to see clearly and use proper judgment (and they're only 2 and 3 years old).


I felt the scene may be familiar to what God witnesses sometimes. He has given us the things we need, even way more than we need but it is never enough. It is never the right thing, or the thing that someone else has. When we are down deep in our messy lives we get so distracted by what other people have that we forget to be thankful and appreciative of what we do have. God has greatly blessed me with both immaterial and material blessings. He has given me just what I need to do the job that He has called me to. May I not be so focused on looking at what my neighbor has that I forget to see what God has given me and be thankful for it and use it for His purpose.

No other god so near

God made His point quite clear on Sunday morning when I turned to greet a new family during the classic "turn and greet" portion of our service.

The handshake and awkward conversation that followed was really the conclusion of a funny story which began a couple weeks prior at the Olympic Torch Relay ceremony in downtown Owen Sound. At the Torch Relay Coca Cola was kindly handing out free unique 2010 Olympic 250ml bottles. My brother in law started downing them and putting away a "couple" for later. I got in on the action and soon had a couple pockets full (about 8). As we were waiting for the Torch to come by a man quickly made his way past us handing out limited ed. glowing coca cola bottles. We received 3 (1 for each of us) and waved them proudly as the Torch came streaming by. Later when we returned home my brother in law (always looking for quick money) checked eBay to see if these limited ed. bottles were selling, sure enough they were going for about $30 a pop - pun intended. Next day I had all 3 of ours up on eBay and the bids were coming in from Italy, Australia, Belgium, China, US and even Kingston ON. This quick money drove me to want more of the action. So I took it further, I put together an ad (saying I'd pay $10 for your Olympic Glow Bottles) on our local classifieds (Kijiji Owen Sound), and shelled out a couple extra $ to advertise on the main page top banner for everyone to see.

The view counter went nuts, 10 people, then 20, then 160 and now it's almost 400. But only 1 call. It was a young woman whose children wanted to sell their glow bottles and I was to meet them at about 12:30. After getting out the cash I was becoming embarrassed, I'm not a coke memorabilia fanatic, what was I doing? How was I going to explain this? Julie made it clear she was staying in the car. As we pulled up to a very nice home the children's faces pressed up against the window and I knocked on the door. I was invited in. I ended up buying a flag, 7 more glow bottles and a couple aluminum ones. I told the woman how I was planning to sell them on eBay and I tried to act somewhat normal making small talk with the children who were collecting money to buy a Nintendo DSI. The bottles were in pretty rough shape (wrinkled, torn, ripped) I wasn't sure if I'd be able to sell them, but I took the whole bunch for $40. As we pulled out of the driveway Julie said "I bet you'll run into them again" although I was hoping I was finished with the awkwardness.

"We know you, you bought coke bottles from us" was the first thing she said when I turned around to shake their hands. The husband gave me the same look he had on the day I came by their house. I quickly clued in to what was going on and asked the kids if they'd raised enough for their DSI and then I kept smiling and slowly turned around to sing worship to my God.

I worshipped God like I hadn't in quite a while, as it felt like God was laughing at the outcome of His inside joke. I laughed along as the joke was on me. I had stepped right into His kicker, the catch point, He had me all along knowing this Sunday's "turn and greet" would be lots of fun.

A point well made. I'm called to be in this position, I have responsibilities. God is watching how I operate my life on a daily basis. I can't make a couple extra dollars on the side without His knowing. It's impossible to categorize my life, and I don't normally want to. Except for the days I find myself involved in things I'm not overly proud of. These are the days I'd like to keep hidden from God.

I am reminded that God is omnipresent. (He's everywhere, knows every situation). That can be comforting or concerning. Depends on how we live our lives. Deut 4:7 " For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us..." No other god is so near as our God.

I Refuse To Do That

I often find myself coming to the place where I have been neglecting reading the Bible for way too long and then when I am ready to get back into it I just don't know where to start. I did that today for awhile as I was reading various beginnings of books or trying to just open to a random spot and see if God would speak to me through it. Well, I ended up in Galations, one of Paul's letters. I love these books, they still remain to be some of my favorites. I was reading about how our lives are not set right before God by rule keeping but instead through our relationship with Jesus. Trying to improve myself does not necessarily please God. It also talks about how this same idea applies to how I relate to others. It is not important that I appear righteous before others either and that peer pleasing religion wreaks everything that makes my relationship with God free and personal.
Sometimes I wish there was this big list of rules. I am for the most part a rule follower and sometimes I just think life is easier when I am just told what to do. I think that is why I always did well in school. But when I really think about what following a big set of rules would do for my relationship with God it would just become another thing in my life that I get done. I would get it finished for the day and then move on to whatever is next. That is so not my desire and my relationship with God is nothing like that. It is a relationship, it is personal and unlike anyone else's because I am unlike anyone else. I guess this is why it doesn't help me to compare myself to others or try to convince others that I am perfectly righteous. Of course I want to be encouraged and encourage others but I want to make sure I am doing it for the right reasons. Christ lives in me. God is already impressed by me. I want to continue to rely on the Holy Spirit living in me to shape and control my thoughts and actions. Hopefully in doing this I may encourage all those that I have the opportunity to influence.

If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.
Galations 2: 21 (msg)

Julie