I begin with a quote from John Ortberg:
"American society does not talk much about calling anymore. It is more likely to think in terms of career. Yet, for many people a career becomes the altar on which they sacrifice their lives.
A calling, which is something I do for God, is replaced by a career, which threatens to become my god. A career is something I choose for myself; a calling is something I receive. A career is something I do for myself; a calling is something I do for God. A career promises status, money or power; a calling generally promises difficulty and even some suffering - and the opportunity to be used by God. A career is about upward mobility; a calling generally lead to downward mobility."
I will add that a career is man chosen and often enslaves people - becoming the thing by which their life is defined. A calling is God given and releases us.
A career, like many things, can easily increase the busyness of our life that it can be hard to hear God's call. Are you fulfilling God's call in your life? Are you open to fulfilling God's call?
Many a calling has died on the altar of career
***Would love feedback***
Blessings,
Darren
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Do as I say or do as I do???
***Here is a response I wrote to a friend about an article dealing with a Christian organization bashing the actions/behaviors of non-Christian companies***
Taking AFA out of the conversation and addressing the broader issue I have a couple reflections?
I agree it is silly for Christians to expect non-Christians to understand, let alone uphold, Christian values. The Bible is clear it is their hearts we are after not their actions. Actions will follow the heart. In some ways I think the secularization of our nation will actually help the cause of Christ in America. After all, when everyone in America claims to be Christian it is very difficult to not focus on actions – it does lend it self to frustrations, arguments, confusion over the behavior of those who claim by name Christian. As people are becoming more open to claim secularization, or even other religions, it helps clarify the line between believers and non-believers. At that point it becomes clear who should be expected to live by the Christian world view they confess and who shouldn’t. Once that line has been drawn the moral argument from Christian obedience is lost until the one being talked to claims to be a follower of Christ.
I do believe there is still a moral argument for society that must be raised. It is on these issues that we can, and must, reach across political and religious lines to voice a united moral voice to the whole of society. The minority cannot be allowed to dictate the standards to the majority because the majority is divided in its voice.
As Christ followers the burden is upon us as believers living in such a way that we are light and salt. A Christian’s talk of hating sin but life of enjoying it is what confuses the non-Christian and mutes our voice – actually mocks it. For example, the AMA awards. I t does not surprise me that a gay guy would kiss a gay guy. It also does not surprise me that I whole industry built around sex would have sex laden performances. Where is the surprise in any of this? As long as neither Adam nor AMA is claiming to be Christ followers then their actions are not the issue – it is their need for Christ. NOW, I do think a complaint is merited to the network. The moral voice of America is still opposed to this behavior being openly displayed for children viewing and they should be held accountable to respect the moral voice of our nation. Obviously, our moral voice is quickly diminishing but for now it remains and the network, not Adam or AMA, should be fined and held accountable.
For me however the real issue is those that claim Christ that are watching, buying and supporting the values/behaviors that should be easily discernable as morally wrong to a Christ follower. My concern is not that lost people do not have a Christian world view but that many, if not most, who claim Christ do not have a Christian world view. Why would I have to convince a Christ follower that sexual immorality, homosexuality, mistreatment of women, foul language, crude behavior, etc. is wrong? Isn’t it as clear as can be throughout Scripture? Doesn’t God’s Spirit within us teach us to say “no” to ungodliness? How hilarious it must be for Adam and AMA to hear angry “Christians” griping and complaining about their actions when they could walk right into their homes and cars and see all of their products being bought and listened to. To me that is hilarious, and overwhelmingly sad.
The need for America is not a revival in Hollywood or Washington, Professional Sports or our Schools… it is in the church. True Christ followers must once again learn to “preach the Gospel at all times…use words only when necessary.”
It is for this reason that I don’t fear the darkness. Sin only allows righteousness to shine more clearly.
***Thoughts, reflections, opinions???
Darren
Taking AFA out of the conversation and addressing the broader issue I have a couple reflections?
I agree it is silly for Christians to expect non-Christians to understand, let alone uphold, Christian values. The Bible is clear it is their hearts we are after not their actions. Actions will follow the heart. In some ways I think the secularization of our nation will actually help the cause of Christ in America. After all, when everyone in America claims to be Christian it is very difficult to not focus on actions – it does lend it self to frustrations, arguments, confusion over the behavior of those who claim by name Christian. As people are becoming more open to claim secularization, or even other religions, it helps clarify the line between believers and non-believers. At that point it becomes clear who should be expected to live by the Christian world view they confess and who shouldn’t. Once that line has been drawn the moral argument from Christian obedience is lost until the one being talked to claims to be a follower of Christ.
I do believe there is still a moral argument for society that must be raised. It is on these issues that we can, and must, reach across political and religious lines to voice a united moral voice to the whole of society. The minority cannot be allowed to dictate the standards to the majority because the majority is divided in its voice.
As Christ followers the burden is upon us as believers living in such a way that we are light and salt. A Christian’s talk of hating sin but life of enjoying it is what confuses the non-Christian and mutes our voice – actually mocks it. For example, the AMA awards. I t does not surprise me that a gay guy would kiss a gay guy. It also does not surprise me that I whole industry built around sex would have sex laden performances. Where is the surprise in any of this? As long as neither Adam nor AMA is claiming to be Christ followers then their actions are not the issue – it is their need for Christ. NOW, I do think a complaint is merited to the network. The moral voice of America is still opposed to this behavior being openly displayed for children viewing and they should be held accountable to respect the moral voice of our nation. Obviously, our moral voice is quickly diminishing but for now it remains and the network, not Adam or AMA, should be fined and held accountable.
For me however the real issue is those that claim Christ that are watching, buying and supporting the values/behaviors that should be easily discernable as morally wrong to a Christ follower. My concern is not that lost people do not have a Christian world view but that many, if not most, who claim Christ do not have a Christian world view. Why would I have to convince a Christ follower that sexual immorality, homosexuality, mistreatment of women, foul language, crude behavior, etc. is wrong? Isn’t it as clear as can be throughout Scripture? Doesn’t God’s Spirit within us teach us to say “no” to ungodliness? How hilarious it must be for Adam and AMA to hear angry “Christians” griping and complaining about their actions when they could walk right into their homes and cars and see all of their products being bought and listened to. To me that is hilarious, and overwhelmingly sad.
The need for America is not a revival in Hollywood or Washington, Professional Sports or our Schools… it is in the church. True Christ followers must once again learn to “preach the Gospel at all times…use words only when necessary.”
It is for this reason that I don’t fear the darkness. Sin only allows righteousness to shine more clearly.
***Thoughts, reflections, opinions???
Darren
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Are we asking the right questions?
****Below is part of a response I recently wrote to a friend who sent me a business article about customer service. It prompted the question - how will we measure success within our own church family?****
Great article and thought provoking questions to ask. Interesting to note how the very thing that businesses dread, financial downturn, is the very thing that can help them return to making the main thing the main thing.
In many ways I think churches face the same seasons and situations that bring them to the place to ask questions. I think the questions we must ask are different from the ones businesses must ask.
*Businesses at the heart are self motivated. That is the nature of business – to make a profit. . Obviously, customer satisfaction is a key component to business. Happy customers make return customers so it sounds good to have a slogan such as “customer’s first”, etc.
But the truth is the customer is not first, the business is first. All efforts to keep and retain customers and make them happy are driven by the unspoken goal of making the priority of the business, making a profit, first. It may appear selfless and not selfish driven
but the reality is the business world runs on profits. Nothing wrong with that in the business world; as long as there are ethics. We are suffering the consequences now of the selfish nature of business tippy toeing the border of ethics – financing homes people
couldn’t afford, loosening debt ratios, focusing on quantity rather than quality - All because of the driving need to keep the customer happy so they would continue to purchase which all means greater profits for the company which is the whole goal in the first place.
Obviously this is simplistic but I think all would agree that businesses fed off the lust for more they encouraged within the consumer with the effective marketing and advertising tools they utilized until finally we were eating our own young!
So businesses ask questions such as: 1. What can we do to get customer hits
2. How can we create a dissatisfaction in their current circumstance so that they will feel the need for our product to help?
3. How can we make our product look like the best way to satisfy the need they have
4. How can we keep them happy about their choice while we wait for them to be dissatisfied again so that we can start the process all over?
Thus as much as it may appear to be customer friendly it is still self centered, self motivated, self driven. Once again, this is not wrong in the business world unless taken to far.
*Churches are not supposed to run like businesses. If we are self motivated we are in error. On the flip side if we are “customer” motivated we are in error. We must be Christ focused and constantly asking what is Christ wanting us to do. What is Christ wanting us to be?
What is Christ wanting us to teach people?
-certainly these are not easy questions to answer. In fact I believe they are very difficult questions to answer because of the immense pressure we feel as humans to either please others or please ourselves. It can be very difficult to distinguish between the three at
times – pleasing Christ, pleasing ourselves, pleasing others. All of us of course want to feel like when we are pleasing ourselves we are pleasing God – it causes great discomfort to have to consider the alternative. Likewise I want to feel like when I am pleasing
people it is pleasing God – after all apparent success is much more self pleasing than apparent failure.
So to me the questions we must ask are:
1. What does Christ want us to be?
2. How can we effectively communicate that so that as many people as possible can fully understand it?
3. What are the God orchestrated steps, not mine or others, to take us to where He wants us?
4. Can I/we set aside our personal agendas, comfort, pride, preferences, opinions, desires, fears to follow?
I am convinced that Christ is leading us to an absolute transformation from within. To a people that are Experiencing Grace, Living life together and Sharing their faith outside the walls. This is a heart transformation not a program or budget one. This is deep waters, challenging the very fiber of who we are, why we do what we do, what we believe, what we value, what we will we deem “success” and “failure”.
Believers experiencing true freedom in Christ that manifests itself in authentic/transparent living with other believers producing a deep motivation of love to be the salt and light of the world is what I believe Christ is asking us to be. This places helping, challenging, equipping, releasing people to discover and fulfill their Eph. 2:10 good works over the benefit to our church or their own personal comfort.
For this I think we must rethink our measurement tools. Exactly what will those measurement tools be? For such a uniquely individual quest we are asking people to take it certainly raises some unique challenges.
This is why, at this season, I am simply asking our people to be willing to ask these questions that are very scary for some, frustrating to others, frivolous to still more, and exciting to others
I believe an unreached world is tired of seeing churches that despite what they say are still about themselves.
Darren
****I would love thoughts and feedback on this subject****
Great article and thought provoking questions to ask. Interesting to note how the very thing that businesses dread, financial downturn, is the very thing that can help them return to making the main thing the main thing.
In many ways I think churches face the same seasons and situations that bring them to the place to ask questions. I think the questions we must ask are different from the ones businesses must ask.
*Businesses at the heart are self motivated. That is the nature of business – to make a profit. . Obviously, customer satisfaction is a key component to business. Happy customers make return customers so it sounds good to have a slogan such as “customer’s first”, etc.
But the truth is the customer is not first, the business is first. All efforts to keep and retain customers and make them happy are driven by the unspoken goal of making the priority of the business, making a profit, first. It may appear selfless and not selfish driven
but the reality is the business world runs on profits. Nothing wrong with that in the business world; as long as there are ethics. We are suffering the consequences now of the selfish nature of business tippy toeing the border of ethics – financing homes people
couldn’t afford, loosening debt ratios, focusing on quantity rather than quality - All because of the driving need to keep the customer happy so they would continue to purchase which all means greater profits for the company which is the whole goal in the first place.
Obviously this is simplistic but I think all would agree that businesses fed off the lust for more they encouraged within the consumer with the effective marketing and advertising tools they utilized until finally we were eating our own young!
So businesses ask questions such as: 1. What can we do to get customer hits
2. How can we create a dissatisfaction in their current circumstance so that they will feel the need for our product to help?
3. How can we make our product look like the best way to satisfy the need they have
4. How can we keep them happy about their choice while we wait for them to be dissatisfied again so that we can start the process all over?
Thus as much as it may appear to be customer friendly it is still self centered, self motivated, self driven. Once again, this is not wrong in the business world unless taken to far.
*Churches are not supposed to run like businesses. If we are self motivated we are in error. On the flip side if we are “customer” motivated we are in error. We must be Christ focused and constantly asking what is Christ wanting us to do. What is Christ wanting us to be?
What is Christ wanting us to teach people?
-certainly these are not easy questions to answer. In fact I believe they are very difficult questions to answer because of the immense pressure we feel as humans to either please others or please ourselves. It can be very difficult to distinguish between the three at
times – pleasing Christ, pleasing ourselves, pleasing others. All of us of course want to feel like when we are pleasing ourselves we are pleasing God – it causes great discomfort to have to consider the alternative. Likewise I want to feel like when I am pleasing
people it is pleasing God – after all apparent success is much more self pleasing than apparent failure.
So to me the questions we must ask are:
1. What does Christ want us to be?
2. How can we effectively communicate that so that as many people as possible can fully understand it?
3. What are the God orchestrated steps, not mine or others, to take us to where He wants us?
4. Can I/we set aside our personal agendas, comfort, pride, preferences, opinions, desires, fears to follow?
I am convinced that Christ is leading us to an absolute transformation from within. To a people that are Experiencing Grace, Living life together and Sharing their faith outside the walls. This is a heart transformation not a program or budget one. This is deep waters, challenging the very fiber of who we are, why we do what we do, what we believe, what we value, what we will we deem “success” and “failure”.
Believers experiencing true freedom in Christ that manifests itself in authentic/transparent living with other believers producing a deep motivation of love to be the salt and light of the world is what I believe Christ is asking us to be. This places helping, challenging, equipping, releasing people to discover and fulfill their Eph. 2:10 good works over the benefit to our church or their own personal comfort.
For this I think we must rethink our measurement tools. Exactly what will those measurement tools be? For such a uniquely individual quest we are asking people to take it certainly raises some unique challenges.
This is why, at this season, I am simply asking our people to be willing to ask these questions that are very scary for some, frustrating to others, frivolous to still more, and exciting to others
I believe an unreached world is tired of seeing churches that despite what they say are still about themselves.
Darren
****I would love thoughts and feedback on this subject****
Monday, October 12, 2009
Truth & Tradition
If you read the NT you will discover that one of the major themes is the continual emphasis on the sufficiency of Christ for salvation. Christ and Christ alone. From the beginning the church was tempted to add additions to following Christ. Various rules, rituals, standards. Each time Paul would vigorously refute this Jesus + gospel as no Gospel at all.
They debated it at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, Paul records confronting Peter about his hypocrisy in Galatians 2 and in every letter Paul writes he emphasizes the sufficiency of Christ and Christ alone for salvations. We are saved by GRACE. Anything else added to the Gospel becomes a Jesus + gospel and is no Gospel at all.
Jesus said we would know the Truth and the Truth would set us free. Of course the Truth was not a moral code, system of rituals or religion...the Truth was a person...Jesus. Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is Truth and it is for that reason that He calls us into a personal relationship with Him.
It is not the actions of people that Christ desires it is the heart. Jesus knows that love for Him will motivate all necessary actions. When the church reverses this order and begins dictating actions in hopes of winning the heart it is no longer preaching the Gospel. At this point the church begins using control and manipulation over people - blending the truth of the Gospel with man made traditions and rituals necessary for acceptance. Thus each church develops all of the unspoken, and often spoken, rules for Christianity. Fear is the typical method of control - frightening people into acceptable behavior, consistent attendance, service and giving. It is not overt fear but the subtle message that God's love is conditional. It isn't just Jesus it is Jesus +. Yet John writes that perfect love would cast out all fear and those that fear have not been made perfect.
In this way, the church can often become an enemy of the true Gospel. At this point its critics are justified although their motives are often personally driven.
Let's not place all the blame on the church. I am not convinced that in many cases the motive is intentional but the result is still equally damaging. Jesus said you would know the Truth and the truth would set you free. Jesus is the truth and His Word is Truth. In order to know Truth beleivers must know the Word of God or else all they have is tradition. Most believers I know do not know the Truth (have not read, studied the Bible) and therefore must live their Christian faith by tradition. They are a victim of their own ignorance. Trapped in a Gospel defined by the experiences they have been exposed to unable to distinguish Truth from traditions. Unfortunately, many ministers do not adequately know the Truth. As a result their ministries are simply a continuation of the traiditions they were mentored under. Understand, not all traditions are bad. In fact many traditions are beneficial - creating comfortable paths to open up to and connect with God. On the other hand, anytime a tradition becomes linked with the Gospel it is at that point determential. Likewise if my traditions are a requirement for others to experience Christ they have become a false teaching. A Jesus + gospel is no Gospel at all.
Let me leave this thought with some personal reflection:
How well do you know the Truth? Can you seperate tradition from Truth? How much of your life in Christ is dictated by tradition? What are the dangers of confusing tradition with Truth.
Obviously the primary danger is in accepting a gospel that is really no Gospel at all. What greater trajedy could there be than hearing Christ say "depart from me I never knew you" after partipating in endless religious traditions. This concerns me greatly.
What are some other dangers:
1. God shrinks to be contained only within our traditions
-this is why mission trips are a spiritual shocker to many. Experiencing God outside their
small box
2. We limit God and define Him only by our traditions
-like looking at only one side of a block - parital picture but not wholly correct
3. We limit the Gospel, we distort the Truth, if we require our traditions for people
to experience Christ.
-#1 hindrance to passing down our faith to the next generation is tradition not Truth.
Jesus said if He was lifted up He would draw all men unto Himself. Traditions cloud the
way.
This blog turned out lengther than intended. I would love feedback and comments.
Blessings,
Darren
They debated it at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, Paul records confronting Peter about his hypocrisy in Galatians 2 and in every letter Paul writes he emphasizes the sufficiency of Christ and Christ alone for salvations. We are saved by GRACE. Anything else added to the Gospel becomes a Jesus + gospel and is no Gospel at all.
Jesus said we would know the Truth and the Truth would set us free. Of course the Truth was not a moral code, system of rituals or religion...the Truth was a person...Jesus. Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is Truth and it is for that reason that He calls us into a personal relationship with Him.
It is not the actions of people that Christ desires it is the heart. Jesus knows that love for Him will motivate all necessary actions. When the church reverses this order and begins dictating actions in hopes of winning the heart it is no longer preaching the Gospel. At this point the church begins using control and manipulation over people - blending the truth of the Gospel with man made traditions and rituals necessary for acceptance. Thus each church develops all of the unspoken, and often spoken, rules for Christianity. Fear is the typical method of control - frightening people into acceptable behavior, consistent attendance, service and giving. It is not overt fear but the subtle message that God's love is conditional. It isn't just Jesus it is Jesus +. Yet John writes that perfect love would cast out all fear and those that fear have not been made perfect.
In this way, the church can often become an enemy of the true Gospel. At this point its critics are justified although their motives are often personally driven.
Let's not place all the blame on the church. I am not convinced that in many cases the motive is intentional but the result is still equally damaging. Jesus said you would know the Truth and the truth would set you free. Jesus is the truth and His Word is Truth. In order to know Truth beleivers must know the Word of God or else all they have is tradition. Most believers I know do not know the Truth (have not read, studied the Bible) and therefore must live their Christian faith by tradition. They are a victim of their own ignorance. Trapped in a Gospel defined by the experiences they have been exposed to unable to distinguish Truth from traditions. Unfortunately, many ministers do not adequately know the Truth. As a result their ministries are simply a continuation of the traiditions they were mentored under. Understand, not all traditions are bad. In fact many traditions are beneficial - creating comfortable paths to open up to and connect with God. On the other hand, anytime a tradition becomes linked with the Gospel it is at that point determential. Likewise if my traditions are a requirement for others to experience Christ they have become a false teaching. A Jesus + gospel is no Gospel at all.
Let me leave this thought with some personal reflection:
How well do you know the Truth? Can you seperate tradition from Truth? How much of your life in Christ is dictated by tradition? What are the dangers of confusing tradition with Truth.
Obviously the primary danger is in accepting a gospel that is really no Gospel at all. What greater trajedy could there be than hearing Christ say "depart from me I never knew you" after partipating in endless religious traditions. This concerns me greatly.
What are some other dangers:
1. God shrinks to be contained only within our traditions
-this is why mission trips are a spiritual shocker to many. Experiencing God outside their
small box
2. We limit God and define Him only by our traditions
-like looking at only one side of a block - parital picture but not wholly correct
3. We limit the Gospel, we distort the Truth, if we require our traditions for people
to experience Christ.
-#1 hindrance to passing down our faith to the next generation is tradition not Truth.
Jesus said if He was lifted up He would draw all men unto Himself. Traditions cloud the
way.
This blog turned out lengther than intended. I would love feedback and comments.
Blessings,
Darren
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
A Strange Thing
My mother is in the hospital. Has a tumor in her bladder that she will be having removed and biopsied next week. In addition one of my children who broke his arm, had to have surgery to set it and is still in a cast came down with Strep throat. Another one of my children has swine flu. And in all honesty, like most I could keep the list going. Life has storms and certainly right now I am in a season of thunderstorms.
That is not the strange thing. It does not strike me as odd when life is....well life. Jesus makes it abundantly clear in passages such as Matt. 7:24-27 that the storms of life come to all people. Where did this escapist mentality that invades the church come from? It is certainly not Biblical. Anyway...that is another blog.
The strange thing to me is how many believers assume that those facing trials will question their faith, blame God or quit. Perhaps because I did not come to Christ out of crisis it never has dawned on me to abandon Him while I am in one.
My response when I face the trials of life is Thank God Jesus is The Rock - that in every storm there is Truth that is unshakeable, Peace that is unexplainable and strength that is undeniable.
Is your faith shaken during hard times? Why??? Who said there wouldn't be hard times? The TV preacher, the church, wishful thinking? Jesus never said that. Jesus said that in this life we will face trouble but to take heart that He has overcome the world. That is why He came. Jesus is my hero.
Feedback???
Darren
That is not the strange thing. It does not strike me as odd when life is....well life. Jesus makes it abundantly clear in passages such as Matt. 7:24-27 that the storms of life come to all people. Where did this escapist mentality that invades the church come from? It is certainly not Biblical. Anyway...that is another blog.
The strange thing to me is how many believers assume that those facing trials will question their faith, blame God or quit. Perhaps because I did not come to Christ out of crisis it never has dawned on me to abandon Him while I am in one.
My response when I face the trials of life is Thank God Jesus is The Rock - that in every storm there is Truth that is unshakeable, Peace that is unexplainable and strength that is undeniable.
Is your faith shaken during hard times? Why??? Who said there wouldn't be hard times? The TV preacher, the church, wishful thinking? Jesus never said that. Jesus said that in this life we will face trouble but to take heart that He has overcome the world. That is why He came. Jesus is my hero.
Feedback???
Darren
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The Road Less Traveled
This morning in my devotion time I was reading in Exodus 13, just after the passover and the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Vs. 17-18 says that the Lord purposely did not let them take the shorter route but instead lead them through the longer road in the desert. WHY? Because he knew they had been slaves for 400 years and were not prepared to battle. The short road would have led them staright into battle unprepared. Taking the longer road would protect them while allowing them opportunity to learn to trust and depend on God.
QUESTION?
*Am I willing to accept the fact that sometimes God will take me on the longer road to develop in me the character necessary to please Him that I would not develop on the shorter road?
*Am I willing to trust that God is more interested in accomplishing His will in me than I am, just not in the manner that I always see fit?
*Am I willing to accept that what God is doing in me is more important than what He is doing through me?
*Am I willing to understand that it is in the longer desert road that the qualities necessary for where I am going will be learned and developed and will become the foundation for the future.
*Am I willing to follow God no matter what road He leads simply because He is God and I am not.
I am ashamed to admit that I may kick and scream at times and even whine like the Israelites about the journey but in the end I am confident that God will carry onto completion every good work that He has begun in me. It is not unspiritual to question, process, express frustration, or even be weary at times as long as it is followed up with obedience. Personally, I think God appreciates the transparency, after all my true feelings are not hid from Him.
More than that, long roads remind me that my true passion is to be like Christ anyway. It has never been about the destination. It is about Love. My love for Christ and more importantly, His love for me.
Thoughts and/or comments?
Blessings,
Darren
Thoughts and comments?
QUESTION?
*Am I willing to accept the fact that sometimes God will take me on the longer road to develop in me the character necessary to please Him that I would not develop on the shorter road?
*Am I willing to trust that God is more interested in accomplishing His will in me than I am, just not in the manner that I always see fit?
*Am I willing to accept that what God is doing in me is more important than what He is doing through me?
*Am I willing to understand that it is in the longer desert road that the qualities necessary for where I am going will be learned and developed and will become the foundation for the future.
*Am I willing to follow God no matter what road He leads simply because He is God and I am not.
I am ashamed to admit that I may kick and scream at times and even whine like the Israelites about the journey but in the end I am confident that God will carry onto completion every good work that He has begun in me. It is not unspiritual to question, process, express frustration, or even be weary at times as long as it is followed up with obedience. Personally, I think God appreciates the transparency, after all my true feelings are not hid from Him.
More than that, long roads remind me that my true passion is to be like Christ anyway. It has never been about the destination. It is about Love. My love for Christ and more importantly, His love for me.
Thoughts and/or comments?
Blessings,
Darren
Thoughts and comments?
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
What I'm reading
Books I have recently read:
-Mere Christianity and The Probelm of Pain by CS Lewis
-The Whole Gospel for the Whole World the life of PC Nelson by Bob Burke
-It by Craig Groschel
-Wild Goose Chase and In the Pit with a Lion On A Snowy Day by Mark Batterson
-Fellowship of the Burning Heart by AW Tozer
-Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson
Books begun not completed:
-The Unexpected Adventure by Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg
-The Beauty of the Balance by Terry Tramel
-8th Habit by Stephen Covey
-Knowing God by JI Packer
-Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus
I would love comments or feedback on any of these books or others.
-Mere Christianity and The Probelm of Pain by CS Lewis
-The Whole Gospel for the Whole World the life of PC Nelson by Bob Burke
-It by Craig Groschel
-Wild Goose Chase and In the Pit with a Lion On A Snowy Day by Mark Batterson
-Fellowship of the Burning Heart by AW Tozer
-Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson
Books begun not completed:
-The Unexpected Adventure by Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg
-The Beauty of the Balance by Terry Tramel
-8th Habit by Stephen Covey
-Knowing God by JI Packer
-Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus
I would love comments or feedback on any of these books or others.
I was lost,now I am found
As you can tell it has been awhile since my last post. Why? Well the easy answer is because I lost the link - yeah, I know I should have wrote it down, but hey it was after midnight when I opended the account. The deeper truth is that I have drug my feet to find it. One of my commitments for 2009 was to become a bit more techy. I have moved into the ranks of facebook, Iphone and slowly blogging - does twice count as blogging??? No tweeter yet. Am I the only one that sees both the blessing and curse of all this technology. Yes, it has a thousand if not more benefits. I do not disagree or argue and certainly for my children - they could not imagine a world without it. However, there is a peace in a less hectic life. More is not always better. Better is better. Am I the only one that relishes the moments of not being connected to a phone? Can you be successful, connected and cutting edge in this information age if you don't immediately answer every call, read every email and facebook your every move?
Have we lost the art of being still? Early this morning in my office I just sat quitely. I felt impressed to just pause. My plan with coming extra early was to read and study - of which there never seems to be enough time - not just sit. I felt guilty, lazy, uncommitted, frustrated, irritated, idle...yet it also felt refreshing, relaxing, cleansing, restoring, clarifying...
I will not lie, the constant temptation to touch a book, check my email, work on my to-do list remained throughout. Funny thing about quiet time. The more you stop, the easier it is to stop. I was reminded that I haven't been stopping as much lately.
While facebook, email, phone calls may help me stay connected on the surface...quite times connect the deep parts of my soul to myself and to Christ. My tendency is to always look to, strive for and long for the future. Stopping helps me see the now. This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. Help me embrace this verse today.
Blessings,
Darren
Have we lost the art of being still? Early this morning in my office I just sat quitely. I felt impressed to just pause. My plan with coming extra early was to read and study - of which there never seems to be enough time - not just sit. I felt guilty, lazy, uncommitted, frustrated, irritated, idle...yet it also felt refreshing, relaxing, cleansing, restoring, clarifying...
I will not lie, the constant temptation to touch a book, check my email, work on my to-do list remained throughout. Funny thing about quiet time. The more you stop, the easier it is to stop. I was reminded that I haven't been stopping as much lately.
While facebook, email, phone calls may help me stay connected on the surface...quite times connect the deep parts of my soul to myself and to Christ. My tendency is to always look to, strive for and long for the future. Stopping helps me see the now. This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. Help me embrace this verse today.
Blessings,
Darren
Thursday, May 7, 2009
a new day
It is 12:07 in the morning and I have finally gotten around to beginning a blog. It is my intention for this blog to serve a few purposes. First, simply a place to share the thoughts, questions and perhaps insights that I have along the way of my personal life's journey; my walk with Christ, personal growth, leadership development, and family I am sure will dominant many of my entries.
I also desire for this blog to be a portal for others to view me, right or wrongly. A place where perhaps the why of me comes across more than the what. There can be many motives for the same action. I have found many times in life that two people can be doing the same activity for completely different reasons. Through my honest relfections and self evaluations perhaps I can provoke others to think about the whys of their life - not so that they will agree with me - rather so that they will seek to better understand themselves and come to their own conclusions (Prov. 20:5).
It is also my desire to have a platform to communicate and interact with those within my church family, especially existing and emerging leaders; offering insight, encouragement and inspiration of what God is up to and where we are headed. As well as sharing praise reports and prayer requests. Perhaps this will be better served as a seperate blog, time will tell...for now my goal is to start small and try to remain faithful.
I also desire for this blog to be a portal for others to view me, right or wrongly. A place where perhaps the why of me comes across more than the what. There can be many motives for the same action. I have found many times in life that two people can be doing the same activity for completely different reasons. Through my honest relfections and self evaluations perhaps I can provoke others to think about the whys of their life - not so that they will agree with me - rather so that they will seek to better understand themselves and come to their own conclusions (Prov. 20:5).
It is also my desire to have a platform to communicate and interact with those within my church family, especially existing and emerging leaders; offering insight, encouragement and inspiration of what God is up to and where we are headed. As well as sharing praise reports and prayer requests. Perhaps this will be better served as a seperate blog, time will tell...for now my goal is to start small and try to remain faithful.
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