Ahhh...Christmas!

Christmas is different once the kids have grown. The kids still come. And it's still a blast to bless each other with gifts we've actually THOUGHT about. But it's different.

Last year it was different in that I was struggling with severe depression. I just wanted it over. I struggled to be relational (and civil).

As I move through this Christmas morning, I am more reflective this year. The cloud of depression has mercifully lifted. And I find myself thinking back on the year...and many friends.

The faces of friends from a little village outside Nairobi, Kenya...Gatanga (Robert the prophet, George the entrepreneur, Samuel the pastor, Michael the builder, Jeri -single mother of three, Edwin the pastor, Elizabeth the student, others). The church there. The daycare and it's many wonderful children and care givers. My Kenyan friend Daniel, pstor, prophet, dreamer, who opened the door for the adventure there by 'giving me' land.

The faces of those in Malawi (William, Evans, others) and my dear friend Senior Pastor of Grace Community Church - East Africa, Rogers with whom such a powerful partnership has developed.

I think of others in Africa like Pastor Kofi outside Accra,Ghana with who we have yet to see how the partnership will form.

I think of a young pastor in Germany named Markus and his wife Glady and the amazing work they are doing there around Cologne in spite of much resistance.

I think of friends in New Mexico who I miss terribly today.

I think of my POE brothers scattered around North America with whom I am humbled and grateful to share life.

I think of my boating friends in Houston whom I treasure and miss.

I think of my family in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. How blessed I am to be a part of that family that has for decades known God's rich favor.

And I think of the many folks at GCC Winchester and soon-to-be Strasburg. Huge heart...amazing passion for God and people. How very blessed to know them, to serve them, to do life with them.

If Christmas is about gifts (like the greatest...Jesus) then I've listed just a few of my greatest gifts...gifts that have made this year rich beyond compare.

Merry Christmas!

The Gift We Didn't Get...

Life is full of surprises. And if you're a Christ-follower, I believe there are even MORE surprises. Because the life of faith is the life of being open to whatever God chooses to bring into our lives.

Which means sometimes we DON'T get the gifts we want and we DO get the gifts we weren't looking for. It's a genuine adventure. And to make it even MORE interesting...sometimes the gifts don't LOOK like gifts.

Take the gift of my son being hit by a car when he was in the fourth grade. When I heard him scream and leaped from the bus to see him lying curiously UNDER a car, I could not have imagined that this would be a blessing as his mom and I took turns at the hospital night after night, day after day until he was fitted into a full body cast and brought home only to live in a reclining wheel chair. We developed a heightened sense of humor through it all and I learned that just about everything in life can be put on the back burner given proper motivation...even church stuff!

Or, take the gift of my wife's AVM (arterial venal malformation). For the better part of 3 years we lived with the possibility of a brain aneurysm which could have caused instant death. The gift was that we learned to live NOW...TODAY.

Neither of these LOOKED like gifts, but God taught us plenty in the process.

Maybe the bottom line is simply this: God can make good come from all KINDS of things...sort of a Romans 8:28 thing.

And perhaps with that in mind, I should live less about the gifts I haven't gotten and instead, be especially mindful of the many gifts around me. He's a GREAT God with a GOOD heart. And His gifts are wonderful...even the ones we don't recognize.

Hiding Behind the Hassle

I'm tired of the way I've done Christmas in the past.

I'm tired of facing the season with fear and dread.

I'm tired of seeing the holiday as anything but holy.

I'm tired of missing out on the mystery and the wonder of a story so unbelievable that only God could conceive it.

So this is the year things change.

This is the year I go back to experiencing it as a child...or at least with a child-like heart.

This is the year I find joy in the small things, the simple things.

This is the year I stop to marvel at the miracle of those around me...all bearing the image of their Creator. All amazing. All precious.

This is the year that I wait in hushed stillness for Immanuel to come anew in me. God with us. Awe inspiring. Humbling.

Immanuel...it makes me a bit self-conscious as I move through my day...God is with us...with ME. Hiding behind the hassle no more. The hassle has become more evidence that this world needs Jesus...Immanuel...God with us.

God is not hiding...He's never hidden. Only from those who refuse to see.

May this be the year that the mystery and wonder dawns anew...to us all.

Weird Days...

I originally sent this just to staff...but as i thought about it more, I felt like sharing it with all my friends...

This has been one of the weirdest, most challenging weeks I’ve experienced in years. I’m watching various folks struggle and at times act in less than Christ-like ways. I’ve seen the enemy try to strike fear in us and cause us to distrust each other.

PLEASE...re-read Haggai 2 . I am convinced that God is moving among us and honestly, He’s using the enemy to influence some so that what can be shaken will be shaken. Hebrews 12:26-27 “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. The words ‘once more’ indicate the removing of what can be shaken- that is, created things-so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

I am also convinced that we are moving into a new amazing season at GCC. Not because of our strength, but because of His. I find myself excited. And trust me, I haven’t been excited much in the last 12 months.

In all of this I continue to marvel at His greatness. He is a BIG GOD! I love Him more and more and in all this find myself increasingly clear that there is MUCH I can do nothing about, but there is NOTHING too big for HIM.

I was strumming the guitar in my office this morning and the words came to me, “the darker it gets, the brighter He shines!” I am so in love with Him. So amazed by Him.

We are the people of God. Let us continue to be strong and to work and to trust HIM.

Hearing God

On the one hand it’s an audacious thing to consider. How arrogant to think one can actually HEAR the voice of God.

On the other, I see passage after passage where person after person did precisely that. Moses, Jeremiah, Job, Paul, Peter, John...need I go on?

What IS the answer? Does He really speak? Does He speak NOW? To PEOPLE? To people like ME? Like YOU?

How do I prepare my heart to hear?

What can I expect to hear?

Recently my wife and I spent time intentionally listening. We took our model from Eugene Peterson’s practice of years ago: Go hiking. And from the time you reach the trailhead until lunch…silence.

At lunch time we broke our silence and compared notes…thoughts. And for the rest of the day we talked about our experience of the morning.

I heard answers to a couple of things I’d been wrestling with. Not exactly the answers I wanted to hear…could THAT be GOD???

The thing is this: God DOES want to speak. We NEED to hear. So…its just so important that we make the time to engage in “active listening”…a term that takes on new meaning in our spiritual life.

It means we intentionally turn down the background noise of our life. WE incline our heart to wait…and to listen. We rest in scripture. We wait.

It never ceases to amaze me how He speaks. Especially to a guy like me. I’m not good at hearing. Thank goodness…HE is good at speaking.

So…how about you? Tried listening lately? What did YOU hear???

A Thankful Day

Psalm 27:13, "I am still confident of this; I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living".

On this Thanksgiving Day 2008, I find this passage especially relevant. Given the economic uncertainty, it seems that what we must bring to this is faith. Faith that God IS good....that His goodness will find it's way into our lives.

Thanksgiving Day is a wonderful time to celebrate His goodness...and to give thanks.

Thanks for our families. Thanks for our friends, Thanks for His provision. Thanks for His goodness.

At the same time, as I write this, I watch the coverage of terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. And I pray that God will give the Indian government the power to overcome this tragic attack.

That IS the tension of faith isn't it? That in the face of violence, of evil, that we WILL see the goodness of God in the land of the living.

David believed it. You and I must trust it as well.

On this Thanksgiving Day 2008, let's thank God for His goodness...and watch for it today.

A Week of Experiences

What an interesting week.

On a plane at 6:40 AM on Monday from Dulles to New York and on to Toronto. First plane was late, barely made the second. Driving north from Toronto the snow went from nothing to 6 inches, the trees completely coated.

Huntsville in the winter has a distinct Northern Exposure feel. Locals say they HAVE actually seen a moose walk down mainstreet. Amazing.

Equally amazing is how God is bringing Muskoka Community Church together...many of the key players are atheists and agnostics...but still, the Spirit of God is drawing them.

I arrived at Jeremy's house before he got there on Monday. I walked around giving thanks to God for taking such good care of Jeremy, April, Aidan, and Kara. What a lovely pastoral setting for MCC's pastoral family. We took a hike through the snow-laden forest behind their house. It felt so much like Narnia. Quiet. Cool.

Wednesday called for us to join other pastors in Barrie for Leadership Village, a best-practices gathering catalyzed by Willow Creek - Canada. Interesting conversation about the merits of church marketing versus NOT marketing.

That evening I met with the executive team and then the whole board of a wonderful Anglican church in Paris, Ontario, pastored by a fellow Jack-Russell-type personality. The church has offered to partner with Ashland Theological Seminary's Sandberg Leadership Center to host our first off-site Pastor's of Excellence cohort...and to even shape their new building design to better host the project.

They were wonderful people. Gracious. Welcoming. Sure blew away my concept of the Anglican church in Canada. These people love Jesus...and each other. AND their community.

Flew home Thursday morning...got up at 2:30 AM to make my 6:00 AM flight back through JFK to Dulles. Drove through snow from Paris back to Toronto Pearson Airport. THAT was a long day.

All that to say it's been a full week. and it's GREAT to be HOME and done traveling for a while.

Travel like this takes me days and weeks to fully process. What did God do in each place? What did He do in ME by taking me there? I guess we'll see.

The Dual Citizenship Thing

The talk on the reality of dual citizenship was an interesting experience. Clearly a mixed audience.

The truth is that there are more than a few who feel that Jesus HAS to be a Republican. Given President-elect Obama’s stand on abortion and gay rights, as well as many other things, it might be understandable.

The case could also be made that Jesus HAS to be a Democrat since the Dem’s have a reputation for their focus on social concerns. Republicans are known to be business-friendly, while the Democrats are portrayed as being more caring.

What’s the truth? Beats me. Here’s what I know…God is sovereign…Supreme. Omnipotent. HE wasn’t surprised by the outcome. And according to Romans 13, He uses EITHER party for His purposes.

When Israel demanded a king, God spoke through Samuel. He told them that the change from being led by priests to being led by a king would have its consequences. Taxes. Conflict. What this election will mean for us? We’ll have to wait and see.

This election brought an inspiring first…a black man as president. It should make all of us proud; knowing where we were in the 60’s we’ve come a long way.

This election also brought about something we I never thought I'd see…a decorated war veteran who lost. I’m still processing what that means…

What’s ahead for USA? Only God knows. A drift to the left? Higher taxes? Moral ambiguity? Restrictions on free speech?

As a person with dual citizenship (USA and Heaven) I am confident that God intends to use the incoming administration for His purposes…perhaps to prosper us…perhaps to humble us. Time will tell. In the mean time…we pray, we trust, we watch. And KNOW that God is ultimately in charge.

The Power of Vision

It was summer and I was sitting with Barbara under a hot tent in Frederick , Maryland, the home of AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association). The session that had us sweltering under the tent was on mid-air collisions...something every pilot gives more than a little thought to.

The presenter was a physician. He was talking about why we as pilots have so much trouble SEEING our fellow pilots and their birds.

He threw out a term that caught my full attention…empty field myopia: when there is nothing on which to focus the human eye tends to focus about 20 yards directly ahead.

You can imagine how that would affect a pilot approaching an airport. If he or she doesn’t work to identify traffic in the pattern, it’s not hard to fly right into them and not see them until its too late.

I immediately thought of the local church and the value of vision. Show me a church with no vision and I’ll show you one in a slow predictable descent toward death. The same is true of us as people. Without a clear vision for our lives, we’ll just drift ever slowly into nothingness. And just like the optical condition, without a clear, identifiable, ownable vision, churches (AND people) tend to focus on things at hand…survival and personal comfort.

No wonder Proverbs 29:18 speaks to this. “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint but blessed is he who keeps the law.” The King James used the word vision for revelation, but you get the point.

Without vision, we tend to pursue our own interests rather than the interests of God. The result is that the church loses the power of unity and single focus. We just do whatever WE choose. And we don’t necessarily serve the interests of the Kingdom.

Its true of church, its true of our own lives…if we haven’t thought of what God’s vision is for OUR lives, once again, we’ll settle for whatever WE come up with.

How do we discover God’s vision for us? Micah 6:8 “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” His vision for us begins in our character…to act justly, to love mercy, and to approach our relationship with God in humility.

Beyond that, identify your passions. What is it in life you get so jazzed by that you’d practically work for free if you could just do THAT? That’s a clue. Something within your wiring placed there by God. Something that points to His vision for you.

If you’ve never given personal vision much thought…let me encourage you to engage two great books…Wide Awake by Erwin McManus, and Life On Loan by Rick Rusaw. Both will keep you awake at night dreaming of what life could be.

This I know…life is too precious and too short to fail to live it to the fullest.

So get out there…discover God’s vision for YOUR life.

Sacrifice

As I did my research for the talk on the Wall of Sacrifice, I found it sad to go back to the origins of the word sacrifice and find that it was originally meant to be set something apart as holy…sacra-facere …literally to make holy. I doubt we think of it on those terms today.

When we hear the word sacrifice, we think personal cost, even personal inconvenience…and that’s not all bad. Look at scripture and you find sacrifice has always been at a cost, often the loss of life, as in the case of Jesus on the cross.

I believe the reason sacrifice has become so hard is because we have lost the connection between sacrifice and meaning. To sacrifice for no good purpose is pointless. To sacrifice for something of great value…that’s an HONOR.

Think of the young mom who sacrifices her interests, appearance, and a decent night’s sleep in order to care for her newborn child. Think of the single dad who foregoes the boat or Harley purchase in order to provide for his kids.

The truth is…unless we find meaning in it…we won’t sacrifice. Do what the word originally meant…make it sacred…holy…and it changes everything.

When we find the sacred in the sacrifice, then whatever we do, whatever we offer, whatever we sacrifice…it’s an offering to God.

Examples: We have NO problem skipping a meal or a latte’ if the savings feeds someone in Africa or blesses someone in need next door. We have no problem giving up going to a movie or taking a staycation if we know the savings will make a difference for someone else.

So…if you’re being called to sacrifice these days…connect the action with the purpose. The sacrifice might still sting…but it’s the kind of sting you can live with!