Helping People See

For over 25 years I have had the honor of helping people see, in the context of spiritual matters that is. I believe God gifted me, called me and there is fruit that is long term to confirm this. Thank You for your GRACE and MERCY God! I love and am passionate about teaching God's word and His precepts into something that is transformational in people's lives, whether it be in front of a crowd of thousands, or in a coffee shop with one! It makes my heart come alive!!!

Over the last couple years due to life's twists and turns, what I thought was God's clear will and through disappointments that have nearly killed my heart I have not been consistently able to do this.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick." Prov. 13:12

The last 2 plus years I have worked for an Optical Company literally helping people see. Filling prescriptions, making repairs and adjustments that improve their sight. Watching them put contacts or glasses on for the first time, or with a new RX, and then watching the smile on their face as they see clearly when minutes ago life was blurry is quite cool. BUT IT'S NOT THE SAME THING!

I am so seeking God for a place to serve Him again and my heart gets sick every once in awhile due to hope being deferred. One of the verses I have clinged to during these last 2 years is Romans 15:13

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Only you know the things you hope for, it may be a person, a better marriage, a new job, a new house, more money, less worry....but in the end, you and I must place our hearts desires in the tender hands of the God of all Hope and Peace so that we can experience true joy to overflow that comes from the Holy Spirit...

Soul Care 301

This will be brief but I believe Life Impacting, as was my intention with the other posts on Soul Care.

What makes your heart/soul come alive?

Yes, think about that for a minute. Make a list of the activities and people who make your heart/soul come alive, who have or could cause your life to leap out of the mundane of your day.

St. Ireneous is quoted as saying "The Glory of God is man fully alive."

I resonate with this but at times struggle with it. So make a list of all the activities and people who have done this or would. On a very consistent basis do these, spend time with them. YOU MUST!

John 10:10 says "the thief comes to rob, kill and destroy, but I have come that you may have life and have it to the full." Do you ever see Jesus as bored? Our enemies attempt everyday to rob of us life, kill our desire, steal our joy and destroy our sense or real purpose in this world. But we all have a very important role to live it out, we do. But we can slip into the mundane check out line without a thought until one day we wake up and ask "what happended to the life I desired?"

You don't have to live like this anymore! Do those activities and spend time with those people who cause your soul to stir and come alive. Your life depends on it! You know it and so do I!

Soul Care 201

Hurry Sickness! It's an epidemic! Here are the symptoms.

Impatience while your computer boots! "Hurry up will ya?"
Spying the check out lines to see which lane is the shortest or which clerk the fastest.
Coming up to a stoplight in a multi-lane road and pre-determining which cars ahead of you will pull out the fastest..
Got the disease? Most of us do... But listen to this.

"Be still and KNOW that I am God." Psalm 46:10

"Martha, Mary has done the better thing, sitting here at my feet." Luke 10:38-42

As we move onto to Soul Care 201 our life skill is that we must slow down! We MUST! We live in a very distracted culture. I have noticed now with text messaging and internet savy phones that there may be a need for phone etiquette. When I am with a person in a conversation but they are checking their phone for a text, or checking e-mail their eyes are on their phone and their minds are not present. I can get that way with God. I may be in a quiet room alone with my Bible and journal but I am not present. Martha was in the same house with Jesus but she was preoccupied. Jesus rebuked her and said it's better to be with Him than busy/hurried doing things for Him. Doing things for Him is good as well but not as good as being with Him. We were created for relationship!

So here are some things to work on in our 201 edition;

* Learn the art of being still! Learn to slow your mind, thoughts down. Leave alone for a few minutes each day the to do list, the conversations yet to be had or the ones you have and are replaying, slow down!

* Understand that being busy and even productive can rob you of relationship with God. Granted, getting things done and checking things off so that you make time with God is good. But which comes first? It needs to be the first thing and even then don't check meeting with God off as if it were a task. Relationship is never task! God actually longs to meet with us, alone and un-interrupted, as well as throughout our day. But if we are so busy in duty and task we might miss a word He has for us, a scene He wants for us to take in, a person to help or a joy to experience...

* Jesus was never in a hurry, nor should we be. It amazes me how much coffee we drink and how many energy drinks we consume. Why? To get more done! And yet we also are spending more time on sleep aids! I just read those thoughts in John Elderdge's book "Walking with God" Is your soul refreshed or tired, dutiful or alive with anticipation of the adventure ahead?

Check out your soul and listen for hurryness. Perhaps it's time to learn to slow down in order to truly live!

Soul Care 101

We live in a society that loves/craves busyness. It's supposed to be a sign of productivity. But busyness doesn't always equal productivity, just activity. In Proverbs 4:23 we read;
"Above EVERYTHING guard your heart/soul, for out of it flows everything."

Soul care is the most important activity we should be about doing. Tending our souls. I don't hear alot of Pastors preaching about it, few books have been written though I highly recommend anything by Henri Nouwen, Eugene Peterson, John Eldredge, John Piper and Brennan Manning. How do we tend our souls? Here are some thoughts on a basic course I would teach.

1. Be still and quiet for a long time. Get the Noise out! It may take awhile.

2. Continue #1 until the 1,000 messages/voices have stopped.

3. What do you hear when you are finally "quiet"?

Here is what you might hear;

"I'm tired" then rest your body, your mind. Do this regularly so you can go longer without having to be here again!

"I'm sensing emptiness in the midst of busyness. What can I do about this?" Go to Him, confess and know that He loves you, forgives you and wants you to be Holy!

"I feel disconnected and distant from God." Draw near to God (get friendly and intimate) and He will draw near to you.

Soul Care 201 coming next!
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Control - What You Really Need to Know!

Control is usually associated with fear, fear stands for F.alse E.vidence A.ppearing R.eal, most people tend to take control when they think an outcome will not turn out the way they want it to. Make sense? More on that for another blog though.

When I was in college (in the 70's), I competed on a Nationally ranked wrestling team. I was not very good, but I made the team every year! We had one of the best coaches in the U.S.. and I learned many life lessons from him. Let me share one.

During my Junior year I had lost 3 matches in a row which I had never done ever my whole career, and we were about to compete in a Big tournament that we had a shot at winning. Sadly I didn't place, after my second loss I left the arena and found a place where no one would find me, I lost it emotionally! Much to my surprise my coach found me, knowing I was not at a good place with my athletic career. He asked me 2 questions, the first was "what are the chances there are better wrestlers out there than you?" I said "obviously". Next he asked, "what are the chances there are worse wrestlers than you?" I responded with "I sure would like to wrestle one right now because I could use a win". Next he asked if I did everything I could to be an excellent wrestler, like practice all my moves, do the extra conditioning workouts, eat well and get rest, I said yes. He went and said, "Kevin, you have control over 2 things, your attitude and your effort, you have no control over whether there are better or worse wrestlers than you, but you do have control over your attitude and effort. Do your best, your absolute best and leave the results alone." To be honest my psyche was too wounded to grasp this life changing conversation at the moment, but later I got it.
A week or so later all 12 of us pinned our competition and it was a perfect team score, a rare feat! After arriving on campus from a long and celebration filled van ride, Coach told us to get our practice gear on and meet him in the wrestling room. He worked us to the bone for the next 45 minutes. He told us it was the worst effort he had ever witnessed from one of his teams and our attitudes were prideful and arrogant. I was a bit confused still. A week after that we lost 2 matches in one day, to the University of Illinois and Indiana State, much larger schools than ours by far, but we lost them just the same. As we got back home from a very silent van ride, he told us he was never more proud of a Taylor Wrestling team, and even the opposing coaches wanted to know how our coach got maximum effort and such great team chemistry out of his wrestlers.
It was then that I got the truth. You and I may be great at some things, but not give our best and the satisifacation in this is hollow. Or we could be terrible at other things but give max effort even though the results are not good but arrive at a place of peace knowing we did our very best. in the book of Colossians it says; "whatever you do, do as unto the Lord" The Greek word there is Arete' and it means effort worthy of God. Results and outcomes, relationships and finances may not turn out the way we want, but if we give God honoring effort and Christ-like attitude we can KNOW that's what truly matters.

Routine Maintenence

When I was a teen and I needed to fill up the car with gas, I went to a gas station and someone who worked there actually came out to my car window, asked what I needed and promptly serviced the car. They would fill it up, or put in whatever amount and type gas I wanted, wash my windshield, check the oil and other simple routine maintenence stuff. When that was done I paid and went on my way.
Routine car maintenence is a not exactly fun, but necessary, it's protection against potentially damaging repairs and all around a good thing to do. Gas stations today do not provide that service so I am left to myself to do this. I also have some routine maintenence I practice for my life and here are some of the things from my checklist.

1.Spiritually I do my best to have a fully alive relationship with God that overflows into every aspect of my life. How I treat and serve others, how I give of my time, gifts and talents and basically how I live my life for Him and not for myself. It takes time and concentration and being very intentional as well as creative in order to keep it from becoming stale.

2. Physically I try to exercise regularly, stretch, eat pretty healthy foods/drink and get an adequate amount of sleep.

3. Mentally I love to read, and grow intellectually as well as learn new skills and have stimulating conversations with others.

4.Emotionally I keep a close watch on my "joy meter", I use the tools I gained from my years in Recovery Ministry and I do my best to keep my emotional bank account high by scheduling time with the right kinds of people and doing the right kinds of fill 'er up activities. I also journal a lot and that really helps!

5. In my roles, I set monthly specific goals to keep myself motivated, making a difference and to be strategic as I live to the full each day I have here on earth.

So there you go! Simple routine maintenence, it makes a difference! What about you?

My Friend - Abba

I love people! Yep, it's true, I love them in every phase and stage - Broken and whole! I love making friends, deepening friendships and connecting. People are messy (me included) since we are all in process but that's the greatness of it all. I am not a "love 'em and leave 'em kind of person, and if you know me, you know this to be true (I pray). I am long haul all the way! I do understand there is a relational capacity where we can only "manage/maintain" closeness with so many people, but when people are a part of your passion then I believe that capacity is really large!
Last night, I was at church and I ran into a number of people. Some were truly people I "KNOW" deeply, others not so much and then I watched strangers interact. For one of my friends it was interrupted time and not quality, but it was still time spent together. You know the people where it's just good for your soul and life no matter how little or much time you have together. We wanted to spend more time together after church but she was too spent and the time that we wanted for deeper stuff just wouldn't have happend, so we put a rain check on it. I had time with another of the people I love, we had some un-interrupted time and it was good to hear his heart about things that his is passionate about that may come to fruition so this was time well spent. It was not as long as we would have liked but it was good to hear his heart! We have been hit and miss lately so it was good. Later I picked up his youngest son at the nursery, that little guy and I have a unique connection. He is too young to really communicate verbally with me but the connection has is there. I haven't seen him in a couple weeks so when I came to pick him up he had the biggest smile and a big hug for me! We both kind of gave a non-verbal "awwww"...

So here is the deal! God is creator, His is El Shaddai and mighty, He is Holy, majestic, and well.... He is God. But, and this is amazing, He calls me/us friend! Think about that for awhile will ya? When we meet together often there is this awwww thing where we are really connecting, sometimes it is interrupted (my fault entirely) and then there are times when we just don't connect. If you have gone any length of time without connecting with a dear friend and then you finally get to, well you know....awwww!! Abba loves us so much! Why don't you take time right this moment and re-connect or just connect with Him. He is especially fond of us!! James says that if we draw near to Him, He WILL draw near to us...He calls us friend! Don't let the moment pass you by, it's the best thing we have!!!!