i was thinking this morning...and have been thinking recently...about how often i want for cailyn to just be able to know exactly what i am thinking and understand exactly where i am coming from, my perspective, without having to spend time dialoging and talking about it.
talking and conversing...sharing life...takes a lot of time and effort. it is work. and don't get me wrong...i understand fully and completely that it is well worth it. i am just saying that often times i wish that it didn't have to be that way. probably mostly because of laziness and the desire for things to be as easy as they can possibly be. i don't like that sometimes i am that way...but that reality is that, at time, i am.
so yeah...i wish that there could be full and complete relational understanding without all of the time and investment.
and this morning, that got me thinking about my relationship with God. and really it is pretty much the same way. i am have a full and complete desire to know God's heart and His plans...it is just that often times i would rather just know them without all the relational investment and time spent. i want the cliff notes version...i want to get the results without putting in the time.
however, i know that, just as in the marriage relationship, that is not how it is designed to be. we are designed to spend time with God...to have Him on our hearts and minds...and out of much time and much investment and much of what the world would call "inefficiency"...comes an understanding of His will and desires...His heart.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
A Lesson From the Croquet Club...
yesterday we had a table at the universities activities fair. we just so happened to have a table right next to a new club on campus...the croquet club.
as our time there went along, i noticed a couple of things about the people representing the croquet club. one...they were very passionate about the "product" they were selling. a good thing for sure. you could tell that they definitely loved croquet. two...they were very open to anyone and everyone joining their club. most of the day they were out in front of their table talking to all kinds of different people. and three...(and this is where i think i have a problem)...as they were standing out in front of their table...they were basically forcing conversation and interest on people as they walked by. it often seemed quite apparent that people really had no interest in croquet...but these guys would continue talking and trying to get them to put their contact info on a sheet of paper.
as i watched this continue to go on...i realized something. these guys are basically evangelists for croquet. they are evangelizing people to croquet.
and as i had that realization, it first left me feeling guilty. guilty because these guys seemed to be "more passionate" and talking to more people than we were. however, as i pondered on it more, i realized that the last thing that i want to be personally...or that i want us to be as a ministry is pushy and in your face. i just don't feel like that is a good method.
and it is there that i feel lies the difference between evangelizing for the croquet club and evangelizing for God. because the bottom line is that i am sure that a number of the people that were somewhat cornered by the croquet guys were fairly annoyed...but there is really not going to be any lasting damage from that. it will probably be forgotten by the end of the week. however, that is not the case for the church and for God. if we were to start cornering people and pushing Jesus on them...i would propose that the damage that would be done would far out-weigh the positives. the church has already done much damage in this area...people already have stereotypes about the church and christians and they already carry a lot of baggage.
i was reading this morning in mark and i came across the parable of the sower. in the past when i have read this story, i have always assumed that it is to make us aware that not everyone is going to receive the message...that there are going to be different types of people...and that is okay. but this morning as i read it, it left me wondering if part of what we are to take from it is that not everyone is good soil and part of our responsibility as Christ followers is to be seeking Him out to know where the good soil is.
the croquet club guys were throwing seed wherever they could...but could you imagine a farmer doing that...we would think he was absolutely out of his mind...spreading seed on the middle of the highway?
maybe part of our responsibility as Christ followers...and part of our responsibility as evangelists...is to be in tune with the Spirit to the point where we are able to begin to discern where the good soil is...and throw the seed there.
as our time there went along, i noticed a couple of things about the people representing the croquet club. one...they were very passionate about the "product" they were selling. a good thing for sure. you could tell that they definitely loved croquet. two...they were very open to anyone and everyone joining their club. most of the day they were out in front of their table talking to all kinds of different people. and three...(and this is where i think i have a problem)...as they were standing out in front of their table...they were basically forcing conversation and interest on people as they walked by. it often seemed quite apparent that people really had no interest in croquet...but these guys would continue talking and trying to get them to put their contact info on a sheet of paper.
as i watched this continue to go on...i realized something. these guys are basically evangelists for croquet. they are evangelizing people to croquet.
and as i had that realization, it first left me feeling guilty. guilty because these guys seemed to be "more passionate" and talking to more people than we were. however, as i pondered on it more, i realized that the last thing that i want to be personally...or that i want us to be as a ministry is pushy and in your face. i just don't feel like that is a good method.
and it is there that i feel lies the difference between evangelizing for the croquet club and evangelizing for God. because the bottom line is that i am sure that a number of the people that were somewhat cornered by the croquet guys were fairly annoyed...but there is really not going to be any lasting damage from that. it will probably be forgotten by the end of the week. however, that is not the case for the church and for God. if we were to start cornering people and pushing Jesus on them...i would propose that the damage that would be done would far out-weigh the positives. the church has already done much damage in this area...people already have stereotypes about the church and christians and they already carry a lot of baggage.
i was reading this morning in mark and i came across the parable of the sower. in the past when i have read this story, i have always assumed that it is to make us aware that not everyone is going to receive the message...that there are going to be different types of people...and that is okay. but this morning as i read it, it left me wondering if part of what we are to take from it is that not everyone is good soil and part of our responsibility as Christ followers is to be seeking Him out to know where the good soil is.
the croquet club guys were throwing seed wherever they could...but could you imagine a farmer doing that...we would think he was absolutely out of his mind...spreading seed on the middle of the highway?
maybe part of our responsibility as Christ followers...and part of our responsibility as evangelists...is to be in tune with the Spirit to the point where we are able to begin to discern where the good soil is...and throw the seed there.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
A (Prayer) Walk to Remember...
tonight marks the start of my fourth school year here at central missouri...(well, classes actually start tuesday, but our week of welcome events began tonight) we always start the week with a prayer and praise night that is geared mainly towards our returning students...it is a great way to give them a chance to reconnect and to focus and to prepare to invest in the new students.
i am sitting at my desk trying to accurately process the awesomeness of the night. the time of worship and prayer at campus house was so authentic and real...and it was all student lead. a number of different students lead prayer time, and it was raw and real and deep! quite frankly i was pretty blown away to say the least...not blown away by the worship and praying itself...but blown away by what was behind it...by what God is doing in students!
and then, at the end of that time, we challenged students to go on a prayer walk around campus...to intercede for people and places in a very real and tangible way. it is something that we have done the last couple of years, but there was something different about it this year. as i walked around campus, i saw so many students from our ministry taking it so seriously...
one girl was sitting outside of the art building, where she is an interior design major and spends so much of her time. another who is on the track team spent time sitting on the side of the track. and so many seemed to be so passionate about being present and interceding for what is going to happen on this campus this year. it truly was awesome!
it was a night to remember. it leaves a wonderful taste in my mouth...an excitement about this group...about what is happening in this place...about what God is doing!!
i am sitting at my desk trying to accurately process the awesomeness of the night. the time of worship and prayer at campus house was so authentic and real...and it was all student lead. a number of different students lead prayer time, and it was raw and real and deep! quite frankly i was pretty blown away to say the least...not blown away by the worship and praying itself...but blown away by what was behind it...by what God is doing in students!
and then, at the end of that time, we challenged students to go on a prayer walk around campus...to intercede for people and places in a very real and tangible way. it is something that we have done the last couple of years, but there was something different about it this year. as i walked around campus, i saw so many students from our ministry taking it so seriously...
one girl was sitting outside of the art building, where she is an interior design major and spends so much of her time. another who is on the track team spent time sitting on the side of the track. and so many seemed to be so passionate about being present and interceding for what is going to happen on this campus this year. it truly was awesome!
it was a night to remember. it leaves a wonderful taste in my mouth...an excitement about this group...about what is happening in this place...about what God is doing!!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Thanks to an Awesome Wife...
i have been trying to get some follow-up/final thoughts written on our trip...and i feel like one of the biggest is a huge thank you to my wife for being awesome!
during the trip and in the aftermath of it, i can't begin to express how many times people were shocked that i had a wife that would be willing to ride a bike across the country with me. but she did...and she was awesome to do it with!!
that is one of the very biggest reasons that i love my wife! she is passionate...she is willing to listen to my passions...and she is willing to invest in those passions. and that is exactly what happened with this trip! i would never have actually considered this trip, let alone done it, if she wouldn't have been willing to listen to my crazy ideas and to allow me to dream. but she did...she did all of that and so much more, and for that i am so thankful and i love her so much more because of it! not many women would be willing to jump on a bike and ride some 2800 miles just because their husband was crazy and was looking for an adventure...
...and i guess that is part of why i chose to call cailyn my wife!!
so thanks honey...i love you!!!
during the trip and in the aftermath of it, i can't begin to express how many times people were shocked that i had a wife that would be willing to ride a bike across the country with me. but she did...and she was awesome to do it with!!
that is one of the very biggest reasons that i love my wife! she is passionate...she is willing to listen to my passions...and she is willing to invest in those passions. and that is exactly what happened with this trip! i would never have actually considered this trip, let alone done it, if she wouldn't have been willing to listen to my crazy ideas and to allow me to dream. but she did...she did all of that and so much more, and for that i am so thankful and i love her so much more because of it! not many women would be willing to jump on a bike and ride some 2800 miles just because their husband was crazy and was looking for an adventure...
...and i guess that is part of why i chose to call cailyn my wife!!
so thanks honey...i love you!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)