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Hearing God

Where do you see yourself next year? How about in three years, or five, or ten? Those questions often come up in the interview process, or when meeting with interns, but they easily stick with you for years. Over the past twelve years, I would have probably answered those questions at least twelve different ways. What we want to be when we grow up can change as much as often as the four seasons, or persist through years of growth. I’ve wanted to be everything from an astronaut to a youth pastor and an architect to a rock star.

Over the course of working and trying to figure out what I would some day become, I’ve often felt overlooked. I’ve watched positions open up that I wanted to fill, only to see someone else get the job. I’ve been leapfrogged by people who I was once a leader to. I’ve pressed hard to find my place, only to be met by closed doors and solid walls.

One thing that I haven’t done in regards to my career is fervent prayer and fasting. Sure, I’ve prayed for God to open doors to new job opportunities or for an interview to go well, but I’ve never truly sought His will in the matter. I’ve worked like it depended on me, but I haven’t prayed like it depended on God. Continue Reading…

Hearing God: Circling Your Jericho

What is stopping you from hearing God? Does He only speak to the extraordinarily holy people among us, if at all? When was the last time you knew you were hearing from God? If you never have heard from Him, are you trying? If it’s been a long time since you’ve heard from Him, what has changed since the last time you did? Do you think your posture, whether it be physically, mentally, or spiritually, has anything to do with it?

If you don’t have 30 minutes right now to watch or listen to the following message, make sure you come back when you do. Pastor Doug Melder was truly anointed as he spoke on the subject of hearing from God this past weekend. Check it out:

Acting Like a Child

God is a good Father who wants to give good gifts to His children. Sometimes I forget this truth and beg as though He needs convincing. It’s as ridiculous as if my kids thought they needed to beg me to hug them. It delights my heart to hug them.

Francis Chan – Forgotten God (iBook, Amazon)

When I read that segment of Francis Chan’s book, I immediately thought of the relationship I have with my own children. I love to go overboard in buying them gifts for their birthdays and Christmas, and I love it when they come to give me a hug. They know that they can get a hug from me anytime they want and in comparing that relationship to our relationship with God, I am reminded of Luke 18:17 that says we should receive the Kingdom of God like a child.

Continue Reading…

A Delicate Balance

Create an environment that helps people engage in worship and the Word of God. This is the task for production teams in large churches around the world. Everyone connects in different ways, and something that might help one person engage might be a distraction to someone else. No matter what we do, there will always be someone who doesn’t like at least one aspect of the services that we produce. To some people it probably even sounds weird to hear that we “produce” services. I’ll touch on that shortly.

Think about the last concert you went to. Do you remember the bright lights that were aimed at you and the crowd? I have some lights like that at our church, and I love to watch the congregation in worship when I bring them up. From upstairs in our production suite, I see more hands raised and I can hear the collective voice of the congregation grow louder. From my perspective, people are engaging more and focusing their attention on The One they are worshipping rather than the ones leading them in song. Continue Reading…

Stuck in Saturday

Put yourself in the shoes of the disciples, Jesus’ closest friends.

He’s been saying all kinds of weird things about leaving, being denied, and rebuilding temples. All of the sudden, Jesus gets arrested, tried, and crucified. Now it’s Saturday and there is nothing but confusion, fear, and most likely a tinge of hopelessness in your heart and mind. The one you thought came to save you is dead and buried. The way they killed him over the course of a day with extreme prejudice makes you want to hide from the masses, so you mourn the death of your savior in private. Continue Reading…

In Mourning

I am no stranger to the loss of a loved one. My grandfather passed away when I was in junior high. One of my cousins was killed in a car accident when I was in college. My dad died two years ago from cancer. The professionals who have studied grief tend to say that there are five stages of grief, known as the Kübler-Ross model, that people go through: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. These five stages are sometimes simplified to Arthur Schopenhauer’s three stages of the learning process: Ridicule, Opposition, and Acceptance.

Many people believe that everyone who experiences a loss or traumatic event goes through these stages of grief. Some experience the stages faster or more intensely than others, but everyone goes through them. I don’t think that is entirely true. Looking at myself as an example, I was sad when my family members passed away, but I don’t remember going through denial, anger, bargaining, or depression. I think that’s why I have such a hard time knowing what to say to people who have lost someone they love. Continue Reading…

Willing to Stay

You’ve had a desire to use your talents in a different way than they are being used right now. This might mean doing volunteer work or picking up a hobby of some sort, or it could mean something as big as a career change. The one thing you do know is that you have the ability to do something more, or at least different.

The years pass by and your attempts to use other gifts have not gone unnoticed, but you feel like you’re not really getting anywhere. It’s not that you haven’t had opportunities to branch out or develop your other talents. You just feel like you are maintaining your talents rather than cultivating them to their full potential. Continue Reading…

Learning Prayer and Holiness

Journaling 1-18-12

…Commitments are made, habits are formed, and battles are fought against a real enemy…

That quote from J.I. Packer has stuck with me ever since I read it five days ago. He was writing about how prayer and holiness are learned. When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, we do not automatically know how to pray, and our lives do not immediately appear to be holy. Instead, we must learn holiness and how to pray through experience. It’s difficult to know how to pray for something that you’ve never experienced. If you’ve never personally experienced healing, it can be difficult to pray for healing with the same faith and passion as someone who has experienced it first hand. In the same way, we do not learn how to live our lives differently until we start living our lives differently. Holiness is learned as we experience it. Continue Reading…

Still Working On It

So my plan has been to wake up early to spend 30 minutes in Scripture, devotions, journaling, and prayer. It has been two days and I still have not been able to get myself out of bed early. I’ve still accomplished my 30 minute goal later in the day on both occasions, but I am getting frustrated with my morning routine. I tried going to bed earlier, but I am such a snooze addict that it hasn’t helped. Maybe I should revisit the routine that I tried to start a while ago. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I would probably sleep all day if given the opportunity. Continue Reading…

Theme For The Year

I keep hearing people talking about their “word for the year”. It’s a lot like having a resolution, but more general. Some say they want to be more patient or productive. Some want to focus on worship while others want to be more obedient or disciplined. Although we’ve done this together as the staff of a church, I’ve never done it personally. Some of that probably has to do with my aversion to new years resolutions. I think my longest resolution lasted just over a month.

The more I thought about it this year, the more I felt like I could do a word for the coming year. A song that I haven’t heard in a while came on the radio yesterday morning and as I listened to it, I began to feel like it could be my theme song for the coming year. Continue Reading…

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