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???