Instead

I really want to write a long, drawn out, self-pitying blog. I am desperate to hear from God as to where he wants our family and we want to know now! But instead I just ask for you to intercede for us that we might hear and obey. I know his will is good and perfect. I just want to know I'm there.

RE: Are You Jealous?

Oddly enough, immediately following my post, "Are You Jealous" I sat through 2 days of talk about being missional...some great, some good and some bad. I love the talk about being missional and how we reach our world with the Good News. I hate talk about becoming missional. My main gripe (and what I was trying to say in the last post) is that if we have to talk about becoming missional we are a little lost. My point being, missional is what Jesus commissioned us to be. It was the main point of being a disciple. It is not a new mind-set we have invented in the last several years. Being missional is being like Jesus.

I recognize the need to reach different people in different ways. It does not make one way missional and the other not. Either you are missional or you are not missional...regardless of the way you do it. If you are not a missional church you are not a church seeking the heart of Jesus. If you are not a missional church you are not an effective church. So, maybe you have lost your first love?

I am not trying to be cynical or anything. I just don't want to be confused or confuse others with the real issues. Missional is not a bad word. As a matter of fact it is a great word. But it is not new and it is not a specific method. Unless you call it the Jesus method. So, when we talk about becoming missional, lets talk about becoming authentic Christ followers who are seeking to be obedient to the call of Christ, and not about some new way of reaching people. I love you and I love Jesus (not necessarily in that order). May God bless you in your pursuit of obedience.

By the way, did you missional is not a word in the dictionary?

Are You Jealous?

I'm a little confused about what it means to be missional. I hear this word thrown around today like it is new, created by the post-modern mind-set. I may be totally mistaken, but I have heard it described as a new way to reach people. That if we just meet people where they are and meld our lifestyle and theirs together we are somehow transferring Jesus by way of osmosis. I recognize this is narrow and there are many modes of explaining this. I think we are confusing issues...really.

Missional is not new. As a matter of fact it began with Jesus. We make things much more confusing than they need to be. Instead of talking about this method or that method, why don't we just do what Jesus told us to do. It has never changed...they way we are supposed to live and relate to people. It is us who have muddied the water with our own interpretation of how to live this command out. We suck at trying to interpret Jesus because we try to make it fit our own selfish desires and wants. We want it to be least inconvenient and the most comfortable. We will never get it until we are totally submissive to the will of God in our world; until we are ready to lay our own life down and take up His cross and follow Him. Not our own cross!

Missional means we go and meet people where they are. But we also don't leave them that way. We bring them to the foot of the cross and help them to learn from the Master. Missional is not new. It is a command as old as our faith. Missional is not just living with people. Missional is carrying Jesus everywhere you go and living the command He gave us. I understand that this goes against the grain of much of modern day evangelicals. And I believe that many modern day evangelicals have it right. We make too much of culture, relevance and post-modernism. They are factors to consider, but not the main focus of our endeavors. Jesus is the main point, not us and not are style of worship. I don't care how you do it as long as Jesus is the main point. Jesus is always relevant and Jesus is current in every culture.

So, can we stop all the divisive debate on what is right and what is wrong? If Jesus is the main point and people are entering the kingdom, why do you care how that is accomplished? Are you jealous?

Wrinkled Clothes

"Will you check on the dryer? What's in there will wrinkle", my wife beckons to me. "Sure", I reply, "in just a moment". I have just walked through the door from work. I plod upstairs to change my clothes and go tinkle (its a long trip home!). Finally I make my way to the downstairs laundry room to find that the dryer has already stopped. Panicked, I open the dryer door to find the clothes stacked up and wrinkled. I rifle through them looking for my wives clothes, hoping that hers are less wrinkled. I recognize that my delay in reaching the dryer has caused all the clothes to be wrinkled. So, I process my options and begin to think in the man of the house mindset. You know the one that says, "I am man of the house and if you wanted to make sure it was done the way you wanted it, you should have taken care of it yourself!" Yeah! Men rejoice! In my manhood I make a male decision...to turn the dryer back on claiming that they were still damp. My hope is that some of those major wrinkles will fall right out in the tumbling. Fortunately, everything works out fine and I don't have to sleep with one eye open.

So, I think we are like this with God. God says, "I need you to check the dryer. Otherwise the clothes will wrinkle." Actually he doesn't say that because God doesn't really care whether we wear wrinkled clothes or not. When He says is, "I need you to be a friend to that lonely person", or "I need you to tell that person I love them", or , "I need you to feed that hungry person", or many other things. Too often our response is, "Sure, in just a moment". What we are really saying is, "Yes God, I want to obey, but there is something more pressing right now. I'll get to it as soon as I finish what I want to do." Never mind that people are wrinkling all over the place!

Thing is, delayed obedience is disobedience. God is like EF Hutton. When He speaks, people listen. But He is more than EF Hutton that we must do what He says, when He says it. Our life depends on it (and so does other lives). Otherwise we make extra work. Because if you let the clothes wrinkle in the dryer, you have to iron them. If you let things slide when God tells you to do them, you generally make things more difficult in the long run. If you are anything like me, you have wrinkled a lot of clothes. Thank God that He created the iron as well as the dryer. But your best bet is to just hang your clothes on the line to dry.

The Big Picture

Time flies when your having fun, right? I'm not sure what this means exactly, or if it is at all accurate. Time has a way of distorting things, kinda like looking in one of those freaky mirrors at the carnival. It has been 8 months since we left the church in Hutchinson. We return this weekend for a conference and it seems, in some ways, like we never left and like we have been gone a lifetime. For those who we have serious heart connections it is like we never left. For all the places we have been and things we have done while here it seems like forever ago. It is not like those things are not important...just not as important as the people we connected with. It confirms my theory that nothing matters more than relationships...nothing.

When we left Hutchinson there were so many unknowns. And still many things are uncertain. God has not given us a big picture. But then, I don't need one. He made it very clear to me that it matters more that I remain obedient in today. As I walk with Him and do, each day, what he requires of me I have all the answers I need. I serve a God who cares about all my little stuff and junk and victories. I have found a depth of dependence I have never known.

For those of you who wonder, here is my path in an abbreviated version: I couldn't find a job, worked at Wal-Mart, was awarded a job I didn't deserve, served as a Chaplain in a state penitentiary, and now await orders for possibly another position as a Chaplain. I was selected to fill a temporary spot as a Chaplain when the permanent Chaplain was sent to Iraq. God has allowed me to develop a great repore with the men and staff. Now I have the opportunity to possibly move to another facility in the same capacity. It has been a good ride.

I hope to have internet access soon so that I can blog on a regular basis. I have not failed to continue to write. I have a notebook with many blogs I hope to post soon. My thoughts are simple...I don't know what God has in store and I'm good with that. I'm good with it because I know His plans are bigger and better than anything I could ever come up with. I'm good with it because He is a great big God who works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. My job is to love and obey. His is to work all things together for good. When I get those mixed up I really make a mess of things. I'm good with it because knowing the big picture doesn't require much faith.

If you are wondering what God's will is for you, stop. Yes, stop. Start asking what God's will is...not for you, for Him. Because when you know His will, that's for you. He wants us to jump in where He is working. We participate with Him where He is working. If we would worry less about what God has in store for us and be more concerned with being obedient in our daily stuff we would be a lot better off and alot more content. I miss you all and hope that I can become more regular. Don't write me and tell me to eat more fiber! I mean more regular in writing.

Am I Deaf?

This will be the last post for a little while (probably no longer that it has normally been between posts). We are moving this weekend and will be away from the computer for a bit. We are still let with uncertainty about our future direction. God has either not made His will known to us or we aren't able to discern it. Ever been there? I wonder if I am deaf or God hasn't spoken. I pray that He is just waiting to clue us in. I don't like the alternative. Nevertheless, we continue to pray and listen. Pray with us, and we will covet your them. I have a lot to say and no time to say it. So, if you have my number feel free to give me a call I will tell you all about it. If you don't...wait for the update. I am certain that it will be coming soon.

A One Item Buffet

I have been severely lashed by a good friend for the limited posting I have been accomplishing as of late. So, to satisfy his daily need for more of me (yeah right!) I am going to give you something.

Can you imagine what it would be like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet of your favorite food (for me it is Chinese), only to find that there is only one item available? You pick your plate, tongue dripping with anticipation, move to the first place...empty. Ok, you figure they are due for a refill. You move onto the next section...empty. You become a bit discouraged and wonder what the h e double hockey sticks is going on! You already paid, for crying out loud!!! You go the last section. There is food! Your stomach jumps with joy! You lift the lid to see what scrumptious delicacy awaits you...steamed white rice. Argh!!!! I LIKE FRIED RICE! How is this possible?

This is the dilemma I felt our family faced in our search for, "what next". We thought (probably more accurate would be, "I thought". My wife was less anticipatory and more prayerful) that there would be a buffet of options available and we would get to pick and choose from our favorites. We stepped up to the first buffet cart...empty. We approached the second...empty. I was a little frustrated to say the least. I was expecting to only get fed, but to get my favorites in the process. But God gave us "steamed white rice".

We don't know exactly what God has in store for our near future. Heck, I don't know what God has in store for me tomorrow. But I know that God provided the "steamed rice". It is what He wants for me now. So, although it would not be my choice in the buffet line, I am going to have "steamed rice" and I am going to enjoy it. I have a peace like no other since I accepted the gift of "steamed rice" and recognized it for just that...a gift.

May you learn to accept your "steamed rice" items of life and learn to enjoy them.