Last night was a 30 minute exercise of silence and listening. After the first 5-10 minutes (I wasn’t watching the clock) God did a LOT of talking. This is probably indicative of how much I haven’t been listening recently..He unloaded on one very specific topic: Having a Servant’s Heart. I won’t go into all of the details, but here are the highlights:

1. Am I leading from a servant’s heart or am I serving out of simple duty and obligation? (I hate it when He asks questions like this because I rarely like the answer!)
2. God wants my motive to service…not service because I’m supposed to or because it feeds my ego. (OUCH)
3. Two examples for me to chew on: Jesus washing His disciples’ feet (He wanted to do it…it wasn’t just a duty) and Philippians 2:4-11.
4. Here’s the big one: He wants me to really start seeing other’s as He sees them—through God’s eyes!

This is all about my motives for ministry and service. Am I doing it for my own benefit or for God’s benefit? Is my heart truly in the right place? I’m not saying I am serving out of some dark place…but it’s not the best place. It’s for God’s glory not mine. It’s not about me…it’s about Him.

God, grant me a servant’s heart!

Here are the answers our gang came up with:

1. Lindsay & Kyle: Agreed that heaven smells like laundry detergent.
2. Logan: Thinks heaven will smell like limes (gotta love citrus!)
3. Anita & I: Agreed that heaven will smell like newborn babies (the good smell)

What will heaven actually smell like? Who knows, but Logan said it best when we had all given our answers: “It will smell like that but better!”

So what do you think heaven will smell like?

P.S.: After I posted this I realized Kyle asked this same question back in January. I guess he didn’t get the answer he wanted then.

I don’t know about you, but this verse describes me a “T”. I lived in this world without God and therefore without hope until God brought me near to Himself. Scripture is full of this idea that God has pursued us and done everything in His power to bring us to Himself. I don’t know why sometimes, but God wants a relationship with me and with you. It’s an awesome thought. I want to be near to God, but I can’t do that on my own. It took the ultimate sacrifice to make it happen.

I have been brought near to God by Christ. There’s a thought I needed for the day!

Here’s a video Nick sent me this week that drives this thought home another way…

This past week we’ve been talking about many topics (i.e.: God’s grace, the journey, struggles and trials, et al). But today a question that Jesus asked His own disciples has embedded itself in my spirit:

“But who do you say I am?”
Matthew 16:15, NLT

Paul immediately speaks up for the group and gives a great answer: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” and Jesus praises him for His answer. It’s a great passage, a great story, with a great message. But that wasn’t what stuck with me. Jesus wasn’t just asking His disciples this question. He’s asking me and He’s asking you this very same question: But who do you say I am?”

How about it? Who do we say Jesus is? What does my life say about Jesus? Do I speak Jesus at all? Do others know about Jesus though my life? And if so…what am I saying about Jesus?

And what do I really believe about Jesus? Who do I say and who do I think Jesus is? Who is Jesus to me?

My Redeemer. My Lord. My Savior. My Friend.

How about you? Who do you say Jesus is? Let’s hear it…

Drunk Fails the Exam

Happy Friday!

Here are the quotes from the magazines:

The thought never crossed my mind that God might want to use my pain to turn my heart toward him. (MP, Fall 2008, page 16).

Most Christians believe that God will never give them anything—any hardship—that they cannot bear. They rely on what they read in 1 Cor. 10:13…The context of that verse, however, is key. Paul is speaking about the temptation to sin…most of us don’t read the verse that way. We think the apostle is assuring us that God will never give us a trial we can’t bear. The fact is, God will allow hardships in your life that you simply cannot bear…Yet there’s purpose in the pain…You can go through almost anything if you know the Lord of the universe is going through it with you. (DJ, Sept/Oct 2008, page 34-35).

I am only giving you a small piece of each article. I highly recommend that you read the second one in its entirety. It is entitled Borrowing God’s Smileby Joni Eareckson Tada and it is a great article. But even in these small excerpts you get the point.

Trails will come into our lives. We will have pain. You’ve experienced it. I’ve experienced it. I see it every day. It breaks our hearts. It hurts. We don’t understand it. But it’s still there and we often question why God allows it. Certainly don’t be fooled into thinking God promises to protect us from all pain and trials. Very much the opposite:

 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through,
as if something strange were happening to you.
Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with
Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing
his glory when it is revealed to all the world.
1 Peter 4:12-13, NLT

It is through our trials and our pain that we become more like Him. It is then that our hearts are turned toward God. It is then that God gets to shower you with His love and grace and mercy. Are you going through a tough time right now? Do you know someone else who is?

Take heart. God isn’t surprised by it and He wants to use it to shape you into His image, turn you toward Him, and show you just how much He loves you. Now that’s a great message…and I pray that God will use it to minister to those who need it (you know who you are).

Antelope hunting has been fantastic. We both filled two tags last year and I filled two this year including my first buck of any type. Elk hunting last year was great as well with both of us filling our tags on a great snow hunt.

Deer hunting has been a completely different story! Last year we took the advice of a buddy and went hunting near Eagle, CO. The result was horrific. Not only did we not fill either tag…we didn’t see a single deer the entire time..not one! We chalked it up to a bad year and our inexperience. So we changed venues this year and got deer tags near Craig, CO. Everything we heard was that this was the place to be so our luck was certain to change. We were so confident that we even brought Nick with us and got buck tags instead of doe tags.

The result was better right? W-R-O-N-G. Here is the grand total of deer we saw this year: Zip, zero, zilch, nada. Skunked again! And once again we didn’t even see a deer! We saw plenty of antelope (including a huge buck that makes me want to go back for him next year). Very. Frustrating.

We have determined that one of these reasons (or a combination) is why we have had bad luck with deer:

1. We have no idea what we are doing…inexperience (I’m 100% sure this is at least part of the issue)
2. We are in the wrong place (although we’ve tried 2 different locations)
3. We are doing it wrong (we hiked, we sat, we drove…not sure which we’re supposed to do)
4. There are no deer in Colorado (felt like it anyway)

So for now we are going to do one of the following going forward:

1. Find someone who knows what they are doing (and where) and go with them.
2. Start accumulating preference points until we can hunt in a better location.
3. Give up on deer for the foreseeable future.

It certainly wasn’t a total loss. You can’t call two days with buddies and time spent in God’s country a waste of time…it was still fun, just not as much fun as we were hoping to have. And the Elk hunt is still to come so there is plenty to look forward to (might even come back with two this year). And the deer hunt keeps us humble and trying to improve…and it gives us something to pass along to our boys…you can’t win at everything, but you shouldn’t give up either (that is unless we give up .

Melting Steel with Solar Power

Happy Friday!!

P.S.: Tomorrow we head up to Craig, CO for our deer hunt. Wish us luck!

See…there are spies among us. Sneaky ones too. 

So, how about we play a little “Marco Polo”? I know not everyone like to leave a comment (I don’t understand it myself since I can’t seem to help myself…but I know it’s true). So instead of eliciting comments for their own sake (I tried and failed at that once already)…how about just leaving a “Polo” comment with your name so I can see who all is reading?

No pressure…but it wouldn’t kill you either.

And I’ll start the game with a loud…

 ”Marco!”

Now, your turn. Leave your “Polo” response in the comments…thanks…

For the past few days I have been thinking about the objective for small groups. Don’t get me wrong…I absolutely believe in small groups. But what are they all about—really? What’s the purpose of a small group? What’s the goal, the objective? Why do we do small groups?

Most of the groups I’ve been involved in seem topically focused. They are about a specific topic or series the group is working through. This might be a book of the Bible, a marriage series, et al. Relationships are part of the group, but they seem secondary. If “I” don’t  like the study then I sit out a series or two until something comes up that I like…that speaks to me. (Note: I have not actually done that…but I know of others who have and I have certainly done it mentally).

I don’t think that’s what small groups are supposed to be about. They are supposed to be about relationships. Community. Walking through life together…spiritual life and life in general. Which might mean on of two things: 1) The study we do should be secondary (like it or not) or 2) Maybe the study should get tossed out the window and we spend time with each other…getting know one another, learning about each other, sharing God stories, etc. The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle of these two.

In any discussion on this topic I am drawn to the early church. How did they do it? What model(s) do we have in Scripture? The Acts 2 church is our model:

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42-47

They ate together. The learned together. They prayer together. God did great things in their midst. They shared their lives (spiritually and literally). They worshipped together. They grew.

That’s what I call community. And I don’t think they were too worried about what lesson plan they were following. They loved on one another. They walked through life together…and God blessed them for it.

That’s what I want our small group to be. I need to be a better leader and focus on this more and on the other “stuff” less. Maybe we need to put down the lessons and the series and focus on building community. Maybe we just need to be authentic, transparent, and share our God stories (and if we don’t have them figure out why). Just maybe…