credentials

Hello all, sorry its been a bit since the last post, life has a way of speeding up sometimes.  Well as I’m writing to you today I am just finishing up a college reccommendation letter for somebody.  I hope that the letter helps as i have tried to be honest and heartfelt in my recommendation.  I really do appreciate the person i am writing it for.  The challenge in writing a good recommendation is that I feel the need to be truthful about the candidate i am writing for.  I want to stress the good things the person has done to show evidence of strong character, and be truthful about the weaknesses in the individual as well.  I want my integrity to reflect in the integrity of the person I am writing for.  How would you write a recommendation for yourself if you had to submit one to God this morning/afternoon/evening?  What would your credentials look like.  Would you be tempted to shade the truth a bit to look a tad more attractive.  How would you describe your weaknesses?  What would your “current projects” look like?  What activities have you been involved in?  The Bible gives us a great list of credentials that are a guide to what happens when someone takes seriously the pursuit of following Christ:

“(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”      Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

or as Eugene Peterson puts it in the Message:

 ”22-23But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”

Im pretty sure we all want to see these types of characteristics written about us.  These are the qualities that make an excellent employee, worker, person!  If we are honest this is how we want God to see us, but often times these qualities are hidden, or absent in our lives.  Without following God, without utilizing the Holy Spirit, we seperate ourselves from these qualities.  On the flipside, when we consciously follow Christ then these characteristics become glaringly evident in our lives.  If i were to be dishonest in my evaluation of a candidate then my integrity would be at stake and i would not be able to be trusted in giving my point of view.  People would not be able to take me at my word.  But with an honest assessment my word retains its integrity.  Even if my reccomendation points out weaknesses, it is a fair assessment. I want to ask you to honestly write an evaluation of your “qualities” today.  Are you being fair and truthful about yourself, about your qualities and strengths/weaknesses.  Do they line up with the scripture, with what would bring you true satisfaction and joy upon hearing read about you?  Let us with the help of the Holy Spirit begin to re-write our resumes and purge out all that hinders us from a God honoring life!

Blessings.

Neighbors…

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” – Galatians 5:14

We had the first official Gel group of the season at the Slowey’s last night and Jim gave us all this scripture as part of the nights reading.  It is one I’ve heard over and over and one that I think many (including myself) find near impossible to truly understand sometimes.  Growing up I have had many different neighbors.  The drunk landlord that lived across the street, my grandparents (not the same as the drunk landlord across the street ), a young kid who played his music at ridiculously loud decibles, someone arrested for robbing a store (not making it up), and some of my best friends have been neighbors as well.  Some were much easier to love than others.  But my neighbors in a scriptural sense have been many more people than that – troubled teens, excited and joy filled people, old, young, abused, hurt, wealthy, poor, sick, healthy, outcast, unpopular, egocentric, and a host of others.  This scripture relates to us that following Jesus whole-heartedly results in our loving all of these people.  I don’t know about you but I am way more comfortable showing love to some of those in that list over others.  What about those who have hurt me deeply, it is hard to love them sometimes.  What about those that I have hurt, it sometimes is easier to ignore them then to fess up and tell them that I love them and ask for forgiveness.  Jesus talked about loving our neighbors (not to be confused with being stepped all over, boundaries are necessary) and loving them as much as we love ourselves.  Loving them in the example that God has given us in his word, and through the Holy Spirit.  How would our worlds change if we focused on that as fulfilling the “law” of God.  We need to understand that in order to love others we need to love Jesus and let God dictate our love for others.  It is in our relationship with God that we see truly the love he has for other people and that makes our willingness to love others a no-brainer.  We become free from our fears, trepidation, and selfishness.  I challenge you to go out of your way to love someone you never thought you were capable of loving.  Go to God in prayer, walk with him and rely on him to lead you into loving relationships with others.  Find that in God you are able to do what you thought impossible or uncomfortable, and that you will be able to do it with joy and gladness!

Blessings

just a quick note

I had the honor of attending the thank you dinner for Otis and Glennis Russell tonight.  Talk about two people dedicated to God and to ministry.  For the countless people who’s lives you have touched and influenced, thank you! You are both tremendous blessings!  Well done!

My hope is in….a football player?

Hello all,

 

So I go about my morning in a similiar way each day, and one of my routines after getting up and doing my devotions, washing , helping out at home, and getting ready for work is to check my fantasy football/baseball site.  I know its kind of nerdy but it is one of the things that brings me balance (not theological but other) I guess.  We can debate that for some time….but each day I see how well my players did in baseball and on Sunday and Monday check in on “my” football teams. However good my players perform in real life is how good my team does in “fantasy”.   I feel as if I am on a first name basis with Manny (Ramirez) and LaDanian (Tomlinson) as I follow their exploits on their respective fields. If they do well then it makes me just a bit happier to start my day, and well if they stink, they get an earful from me and i am a bit grumpier.  The problem with all of this is quite evident.  If I pin my hopes on all these players, currently 50 at this time…then I begin to let them dictate my mood and my behaviors.  Now this is a stretch, but for those that struggle with keeping check on reality it is an issue.  I think we all do this in one way or another.  Is it your daily quota of video games? Facebook? ITunes? Gossip? TV? Internet? Texting?  Do you pin your hopes on all your friends and if they do well you are feeling well, how about your family?  Who dictates your actions/reactions/emotions.  I feel like we all get tied up wanting to be these things we are absorbed in or to use them in some way to satisfy us.  I feel like it is easy for us to forget ourselves and dissapear into our longings.  How about if instead of pinning our hopes on things that fail, or that hold little lasting meaning, we pin our hopes in our relationship with Christ.  Rooting for his kingdom workers to succeed, but more importantly trying our hardest to be the ones succeeding at building his kingdom!  Lets be satisfied in following our maker.  Lets find our balance in Christ, and follow his leading each day!

“O Satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindess, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days”

-Psalm 90:14

Blessings!

Shape.

So on Sunday we talked about how we were made my God to become shaped by God.  Sometimes we don’t allow God to shape us and that is when we find ourselves beginning to struggle or taking on a shape that we don’t want to be.  God desires us to let him into our lives so that when we live in unity with him, he begins to shape us.  Have you thought about how you go about “shaping” yourself.  What defines you?  What do you want to look like, on the outside and on the inside?  Who do you let shape you?  Ask yourself these questions and really be honest with your answers.  When you’re done answering (be honest ), think about if that’s what you really want to be happening in your life.  If God is the one doing the shaping, bravo.  If not then might I suggest praying that he does, or asking someone you know for help in figuring out a way to go about finding an answer to the question “how can I let God shape me?”.

Blessings

The little things….

Today at our morning student leaders meeting we read Oswald Chamber’s “My Utmost for His Highest”.  We actually read yesterdays as we have been focusing on service and joy and I thought yesterdays passage was appropriate.  When we are all asked whether or not we have gone through a trying or traumatic time in the past year, most of us would respond yes.  I’m sure many of you would mirror that sentiment.  How we reacted to those situations, Oswald contends, is dependant upon how we treat the little things in our lives.  Do we do the small tasks in a manner worthy of Jesus.  Do we interact with people throughout our day in a manner worthy of Jesus, right down through do we clean our rooms and do our homework in a manner worthy of Jesus.  Chambers writes:

Jesus said, “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15). Notice the kind of people that God brings around you, and you will be humiliated once you realize that this is actually His way of revealing to you the kind of person you have been to Him. Now He says we should exhibit to those around us exactly what He has exhibited to us.

The people that hang around you will reflect you.  That is a very telling statement.  Not only the people, I think, but the situations you find yourself in will truly reflect your character.  My hope is that we begin to follow Jesus in all areas and aspects of our lives.  From the trivial to the major, may we do things with excellence, grace, mercy and love.  So that when the big things come, we are ready to handle them in a Christ-like way!

Blessings.

Hungry

I went to an art show on Saturday.  It was done by my college professor Jim Zingarelli and was titled Host and Hunger.  The show was to say the least, amazing.  At first I had to laugh as the only art in the room was 20 or so of these carved heads that look like this:

Now there were twenty of these sculptures all on pedestals at different hights looking in all different directions, all with their mouths open in this wierd comical way.  After first chuckling at the room of what looked like baby birds waiting to be fed, the gallery began to have a different feel.  It began to seem as if there were conversations taking place all around me.  Each sculpture seemed to have something to say.  After reading the title of the work the pieces began to carry even more weight.  If each of these were hungry, who would feed them.  I read in the artist statement that he considered making stone tablets so that visitors to the gallery would be able to “feed” the sculptures.  He decided against that measure as he wanted the visitors to feel the longing, the “hunger” of the sculptures.  As I think about how we go about our time at school, work, with family and friends, how many of them are “hungry” and exactly what is it that they need to abate that hunger.  Is it our hunger that needs to be fixed? Is it love, Jesus, real needs like food, shelter, etc.?  What is our role.  I challenge each of us to look around, recognize our needs and the needs of those we come in contact with, and find Godly ways to fill that need.

Piece of the puzzle

This Sunday night at group we talked about defining ourselves, or more to the point, letting Jesus define our lives.  Knowing that we need to understand who we are in Christ and how emulating Jesus brings us closer to a truer definition of ourselves, helps us determine how we fit in the “bigger puzzle”.  We also talked about how when we make decisions that “blur” our edges, we pull ourselves away from the bigger picture, from our community.  The challenge is to make the right decisions, choices, and put into practice what we learn from Jesus in order to find peace and joy in community.  Those decisions allow us to represent the true picture of Christ to others.  I have recently had to make some hard choices regarding my shape and living what I think to be right in God’s eyes.  My prayer is that you are able to as well, and find joy and content as you do.  For those of you that took that puzzle piece….don’t forget it, why you chose it, and what Jesus is calling you to do. 

Blessings,

Pastor Dan

the way you dance….

Many of you have started school (sorry for you summer lovers) and with that comes the immediate challenge of school life.  Know that I’m praying for you all.  Yesterday and today I’ve been listening to a Phil Laeger reccomended band – the Gabe Dixon Band.  I’ve gotta say the album is amazing.  Anyway, while listening to one of the songs, some lyrics caught my attention:

 ”do you see the dance you do between what you are and what you choose?”

  The quote struck me as a concise way to view my day and my actions.  Do my actions portray who I am, a follower of Jesus?  The quote is simple….the actions oftentimes not so.  Dance is passion put to movement.  Am I passionately moving towards, and pursuing righteousness; or passionately choosing disobedience.  As school starts and begins to be a major part of life again, or even if you’re not in school and reading this, my hope is that you and I choose to follow what is pure and what is right, and not the alternative. 

blessings,

Pastor Dan