I don’t know if it is because it is Friday and it is raining out/it could start snowing (it is May 7) or if it is just me right now but God is good. All I want to do is rejoice in what He has done for me.
Enter the Worship Circle has a song called Tiny. The song talks all about how tiny everything we as humans are. We have tiny hands. We have tiny rooms. We have tiny dreams. We live in tiny houses. God is larger and greater than anything to us. We have tiny words. With everything that we are, with everything that we possess, we are still tiny. God is faithful, God is strong, God is goodness. We are wrong, He is larger more than anything, He is everything to me. I cannot express my thankfulness to God for that reason alone. That last line. I am wrong, He is larger more than anything you are everything to me.
It feels amazing to be in this place of joy. It is a different kind of joy however. It is not an overwhelming happy joy. It is a deep appreciation. I can’t really put it in words. I just know that I am thankful.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
To Love and Be Loved
This blog is inspired by fellow partner in ministry David Miller. No I am not related. Anyways here is his post titled "In Awe of God".
The idea that really got me thinking was the verses from Psalms.
Psalm 8:3-4 says,
"When I consider your heavens,the work of your fingers,the moon and the stars,which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him,the son of man that you care for him?"
This blows my mind. We are given a soul. We are also first loved and cannot love until we realize that God is loving us no matter what. This is very well summed up by Misty Edwards in the song, What only you can do (ignore the actual images on the video).
All I know is that we have a loving God. A God who cares enough to make us amazed by everything around us. Trees, grass, mountains, lakes, etc. etc. Whatever gets you going just remember God created it.
Yet so often we miss the most beautiful, most common creation and that is simply human beings. We look for beauty all around and we find it. But we miss the greatest creation. We miss the creation that God cared so much about that he created other stuff for humans to take care of.
Next time you are searching for beauty dont look beyond those standing around you. Those who are closest to you. Look at their hearts and not their faces. That is where the true beauty lies.
The idea that really got me thinking was the verses from Psalms.
Psalm 8:3-4 says,
"When I consider your heavens,the work of your fingers,the moon and the stars,which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him,the son of man that you care for him?"
This blows my mind. We are given a soul. We are also first loved and cannot love until we realize that God is loving us no matter what. This is very well summed up by Misty Edwards in the song, What only you can do (ignore the actual images on the video).
All I know is that we have a loving God. A God who cares enough to make us amazed by everything around us. Trees, grass, mountains, lakes, etc. etc. Whatever gets you going just remember God created it.
Yet so often we miss the most beautiful, most common creation and that is simply human beings. We look for beauty all around and we find it. But we miss the greatest creation. We miss the creation that God cared so much about that he created other stuff for humans to take care of.
Next time you are searching for beauty dont look beyond those standing around you. Those who are closest to you. Look at their hearts and not their faces. That is where the true beauty lies.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Day 3
Have you ever been snowboarding or skiing?
Have you ever been snowboarding or skiing out west?
Have you ever been snowboarding or skiing out west for 8 hours 2 days straight?
If you answered yes to that last question you will relate to what this post is talking about. Recently I took a trip to Utah to go snowboarding. It was amazing. The second day we got a foot of powder and it was just oh so good. We were out on the mountain for 2 straight days for about 8 hours each day. If you have never experienced this it is exhausting. Each night we came back to the house we were staying at and just crashed. Our bodies were tired, our minds were tired, and all I could do is just sit around.
The trip however was for 3 days. We had a third day to go out to the mountain. Personally I was only able to be out there for a couple hours. I knew that because I was so physically and mentally tired that if I were to stay out any longer I would probably catch an edge and kill myself. I think the biggest problem was that I was not physically preparing to be out on the mountain that long. My body's endurance was not at a place where I could handle three days of snowboarding.
This made me think about my faith. In fact I think this is such a good way to think about our faith as Christians. When we are living out our lives day to day we need to strive to constantly be seeking the Lord. If you are living and you decide to just put effort into God for 2 days 8 hours each day you are going to struggle on day number 3.
This is a very simple concept but such an important one. I think that with our faith we need to be training and working all the time at growing. I can live each day out and then if I decide to hit up the "God mountain" I will get exhausted and will not have the outcome that I previously envisoned.
I want to throw the challenge out to constantly be training in your faith. Constantly be looking for ways that you can prepare so that you will not hit the mountain that third day and feel like you are going to catch an edge because you are so exhausted.
Have you ever been snowboarding or skiing out west?
Have you ever been snowboarding or skiing out west for 8 hours 2 days straight?
If you answered yes to that last question you will relate to what this post is talking about. Recently I took a trip to Utah to go snowboarding. It was amazing. The second day we got a foot of powder and it was just oh so good. We were out on the mountain for 2 straight days for about 8 hours each day. If you have never experienced this it is exhausting. Each night we came back to the house we were staying at and just crashed. Our bodies were tired, our minds were tired, and all I could do is just sit around.
The trip however was for 3 days. We had a third day to go out to the mountain. Personally I was only able to be out there for a couple hours. I knew that because I was so physically and mentally tired that if I were to stay out any longer I would probably catch an edge and kill myself. I think the biggest problem was that I was not physically preparing to be out on the mountain that long. My body's endurance was not at a place where I could handle three days of snowboarding.
This made me think about my faith. In fact I think this is such a good way to think about our faith as Christians. When we are living out our lives day to day we need to strive to constantly be seeking the Lord. If you are living and you decide to just put effort into God for 2 days 8 hours each day you are going to struggle on day number 3.
This is a very simple concept but such an important one. I think that with our faith we need to be training and working all the time at growing. I can live each day out and then if I decide to hit up the "God mountain" I will get exhausted and will not have the outcome that I previously envisoned.
I want to throw the challenge out to constantly be training in your faith. Constantly be looking for ways that you can prepare so that you will not hit the mountain that third day and feel like you are going to catch an edge because you are so exhausted.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Receiving, not striving
Last night I was at church and the guy that was leading mentioned this idea about when we are trying to seek God it is natural to strive to God. What this means is that we will do do do do. We try to read our Bibles x amount of minutes, we will try to pray for everyone we can think of, we will worship louder just to try and get an experience from God.
He went on to say that we should not strive for God. Instead we should receive from God. We can constantly be trying with everything that we have to become closer to God. But since we are fallen people we will never achieve what he wants us to have.
After the Q&A was over with this guy had us just sit in the presence of the Lord. I didnt really know what that meant. I dont think a lot of people do. As he was prepping us I was questioning what I was supposed to do once this started. He put some worship music on and told us to close our eyes. Him and his wife went around and just started praying for everyone that was there.
I had never experienced something in this way before. It was so good to not pray or sing or whatever. All I did was sit and let the Lord move. Nothing major was revealed except the idea that we do not need to strive or do a ton of things to make the Lord love us more. Instead all we have to do is sit and receive from Him.
He went on to say that we should not strive for God. Instead we should receive from God. We can constantly be trying with everything that we have to become closer to God. But since we are fallen people we will never achieve what he wants us to have.
After the Q&A was over with this guy had us just sit in the presence of the Lord. I didnt really know what that meant. I dont think a lot of people do. As he was prepping us I was questioning what I was supposed to do once this started. He put some worship music on and told us to close our eyes. Him and his wife went around and just started praying for everyone that was there.
I had never experienced something in this way before. It was so good to not pray or sing or whatever. All I did was sit and let the Lord move. Nothing major was revealed except the idea that we do not need to strive or do a ton of things to make the Lord love us more. Instead all we have to do is sit and receive from Him.
Friday, February 12, 2010
I don't know what happened
I have been absent from my blog for probably close to a month now. There is a good reason for this. I signed on and none of my previous blogs were showing up. So obviously I was feeling like my deep thoughts and hard work were all for nothing. I felt as though I had no purpose anymore in this blogging world. Well I signed back in and am feeling better than ever about this!
I have been following a few blogs pretty consistently. I thought I would share them with you:
1. www.morethandodgeball.com - This is a blog written by a youth ministry guru named Josh Griffin. He is connected with Saddleback church and does High School ministry there. Griffin blogs about his ministry and random things that are helpful to other youth ministry people.
2. http://ishouldhavebeenfired.blogspot.com/ - This is written by another guru in the ministry. Tiger McCluen is a local youth ministry legend. He works at Bethel University and teaches courses that tie in with youth and ministering.
3. www.stuffchristianslike.net - SCL is my favorite that I follow. Jon Acuff writes a blog about the funny things we Christians do. It is fairly sarcastic, so if you like sarcasm or have any sense of humor I suggest you check it out. It is a twist of the popular blog called "Stuff White People Like"
4. http://olsent1.blogspot.com/ - This blog is about a man and his story. I stumbled upon it via an old Jr. High friend. It is her dad. He started out mainly writing about his experience with drugs in the 60s and 70s and has turned into how his personal faith has been formed. I dont know the guy at all but I am somehow drawn into his story. If you are going to start reading I would definitely suggest starting from post #1.
5. http://buildmomentum.blogspot.com/ - This is the last blog that I am going to write about. It is written by a new friend (the past couple months). He writes on random things that happen in his life. He finds some application for our daily lives and faith to tie into those "random things". His thoughts are deep and provoking.
I hope you can appreciate these as much as I do. More consistent blogging to follow. I think.
I have been following a few blogs pretty consistently. I thought I would share them with you:
1. www.morethandodgeball.com - This is a blog written by a youth ministry guru named Josh Griffin. He is connected with Saddleback church and does High School ministry there. Griffin blogs about his ministry and random things that are helpful to other youth ministry people.
2. http://ishouldhavebeenfired.blogspot.com/ - This is written by another guru in the ministry. Tiger McCluen is a local youth ministry legend. He works at Bethel University and teaches courses that tie in with youth and ministering.
3. www.stuffchristianslike.net - SCL is my favorite that I follow. Jon Acuff writes a blog about the funny things we Christians do. It is fairly sarcastic, so if you like sarcasm or have any sense of humor I suggest you check it out. It is a twist of the popular blog called "Stuff White People Like"
4. http://olsent1.blogspot.com/ - This blog is about a man and his story. I stumbled upon it via an old Jr. High friend. It is her dad. He started out mainly writing about his experience with drugs in the 60s and 70s and has turned into how his personal faith has been formed. I dont know the guy at all but I am somehow drawn into his story. If you are going to start reading I would definitely suggest starting from post #1.
5. http://buildmomentum.blogspot.com/ - This is the last blog that I am going to write about. It is written by a new friend (the past couple months). He writes on random things that happen in his life. He finds some application for our daily lives and faith to tie into those "random things". His thoughts are deep and provoking.
I hope you can appreciate these as much as I do. More consistent blogging to follow. I think.
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