Rich's Wedding Part Two

The ceremony went well. The bride was lovely and Rich looked pretty good too. Everyone had a great time. Here are a few more pictures - sorry no dog pictures and no house pictures - maybe next visit I'll get some of those to share...

Rich's Wedding Part One

Many of the readers of this blog know Rich Willliams. I am in Neosho, MO this week to perfom his wedding. His bride is a great gal named Leanne. Between them they have 5 dogs! Cabboose, Barnabus, Angel, Rock and Mister. Sort of a yours, mine and ours type of thing. They bought a beautiful historic home that I will try to get some pictures of tomorrow. And maybe a few dog pictures too. These pictures are from the rehearsal. There is an awesome mid-western thunder storm going on right now - it is 2:30 AM - lightening is flashing! Thunder is rolling! My hotel windows are wide open. It is really great!

WPC Church Picnic

We had a great picnic on Sunday. Rick James took some very nice pictures. You can see more pictures at http://www.rjweb.org/wpc/2007-08-picnic/index.php

Princess Class

Lily recently attended a "Princess class" it was a week full of little girls learning about being princesses! At the end they had a princess recital. Here are a few pictures.

Hot August Moons at Tahoe

I just returned from a fun week camping with families from Westminster at Sugar Pines Campgrounds at Lake Tahoe. We laughed, sang, ate, fished, rode bikes and played together. It was a great week. A highlight was a daily jam session with Steve and Sean Frost. Steve brought along an acoustic bass and Sean and I had acoustic guitars. We jammed on some old CSN&Y, John Mayer, Clapton, Robben Ford and of course - the old standard 12 bar blues. I think the other campers enjoyed the music…. At least we kept the bears away if nothing else...

iPod Tales

I recently sent a friend the following story and thought I would post it here (with a few embellishments) for all to read. It might bring a tear to your eye.

My iPod died yesterday. Poor iPod. I originally got it for free from my son, Peter. He said that it didn’t work and I could have it – GEE THANKS! But it was cool, because it only cost 50 bucks to repair. It was an old Photo iPod – so no video or cool games. But it worked well and I loved it. I had it for a few joy filled months and then one fateful day I dropped it in the sink while washing the dishes and it drowned. A warm hair dryer helped along with a trip to the Mac repair shop. ($180 – I should have buried it then). Then, it stopped working a little over a week ago and I took it in and they said they couldn't fix it - BUT when I got home it worked! The iPod lives!
Yesterday, it was in the cup holder in my car. I spilt coffee and thought it missed the iPod only to find when getting to the gym that I had filled the bottom of the cup holder with coffee and my iPod was soaking in it! The poor thing thought it was charging, really it was shorting out. I was able to trade it in and get 10% off a new model...
So today is my first day with my new iPod! I am already thinking I should have gotten the 80 gig instead – after loading all my music, books and podcasts – it took up 20 gigs! I could dump some podcasts....

Here's a recent poem

I recently wrote a few divorce poems that I may share on my blog. Here is the first one about the dock in Santa Cruz, CA


Waves
Rhythmic
Chaos
Depth
Dark and light blue
White caps

Sunlight flash
Band of gold skipped off the dock
Up to the sky
Into the waves
Sinking deep

Lost forever?
Resting in the sand?
Eaten by a fish?
Forgotten?

God only knows….

Praying The Lord's Prayer

This is from Prayer by George A. Buttrick. It is a classic old book on prayer. Here are suggestions on how to use the Lord's Prayer as a guide for prayer"

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Help me to believe this day that there is a power to lift me up which is stronger than all the things that hold me down.

Hallowed be Thy name.
Help me to be sensitive to what is beautiful, and responsive to what is good, so that day by day I may grow more sure of the holiness of life in which I want to trust.

Thy Kingdom come.
Help me to be quick to see, and ready to encourage, whatever brings the better meaning of God into that which otherwise might be the common round of the uninspired day.

Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Help me to believe that the ideals of the spirit are not a far-off dream, but a power to command my loyalty and direct my life here on our real earth.

Give us this day our daily bread.
Open the way for me to earn an honest living without anxiety; but let me never forget the needs of others, and make me want only that benefit for myself which will also be their gain.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Make me patient and sympathetic with the shortcomings of others, especially of those I love; and keep me sternly watchful only of my own. Let me never grow hard with the unconscious cruelty of those who measure themselves by mean standards, and so think they have excelled. Keep my eyes lifted to the highest, so that I may be humbled; and seeing the failures of others be forgiving, because I know how much there is of which I need to be forgiven.

And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil.
Let me not go carelessly this day within the reach of any evil that I cannot resist, but if in the path of duty I must go where temptation is, give me strength of spirit to meet it without fear.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
And so in my heart may I carry the knowledge that thy greatness is above me and around me, and that thy grace through Jesus Christ my Master is sufficient for all my needs. Amen.

A few good prayers

Here are two very nice prayers that a member of WPC just sent me that I would like to share. She says they have been helpful to use when she can't sleep.

This was written by Teresa of Avila.

Let nothing disturb you.
Let nothing frighten you.
All things pass.
God does not change.
Patience achieves everything.
Whoever has God lacks nothing.
God alone suffices.


This is part of the "breastplate prayer" of St.
Patrick.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ
when I arise.

MORE Experiments in Prayer

Here are some practices that might help you with your prayers. Many of concepts I'm using come from two books - Prayer - Does It Make a Difference by Philip Yancey and a classic - Prayer by George Buttrick

But first a disclaimer:

These are just some ways that others and myself have found to helpful in prayer. There is no tried and true formula that if followed to the letter will guarantee your prayers will be answered -

THE SUGGESTION THAT IF YOU -
• Pray in this posture -
• Use these words -
• Have this proper amount of faith
AND IT WILL BE DONE AS YOU ASK
- IS NOT CHRISTIAN PRAYER - it is magic and superstition -

Next week I'm going to talk more about the difference between prayer and magical thinking - but for now - I want to be very clear that the ideas and practices I share are just tools to help you in your prayers and not methods to guarantee your prayer requests will be answered as you like -

EXPERIMENTS IN PRAYER:

The first has to do with time and place of prayer

You can pray anywhere and anytime - and daily life should be punctuated with brief prayers to God - sort of an on going dialogue but there also is a place for structured prayer.

I think most folks have tendency to find one or the other easier or more fitting for them -

Some folks have a continual prayer dialogue with God through out the day - God, help me - God be with that person - thanks God for opening my mind and heart to that other way of thinking … But they have a hard time remembering to kneel by their bed at night or in the morning.

Others may have no problem stopping at certain times during the day for prayer. They start the day kneeling by their bedside or in the kitchen with coffee and talk with God and read a few scriptures. Pause at lunch break and then before bed. But in-between those times - they just live life and trust in the Lord - and don't talk with God much until the next appointed time.

Neither is right or wrong - I think we need both. It is like in a marriage. Many times during the day you may say - I love you. - There might be many hugs or kisses on the cheek - or glances across the room - phone calls - and that is good and necessary

But then there are other times - private times alone when you share your love together in more intimate and passionate ways - You set dates to have a special dinner together - even though you could be close and eat dinner as you do every night - you set special dates to just be with each other -

Both connections are needed in a healthy marriage and both types of connections are needed with God

My struggle is not with the on-going prayer dialogue - my struggle is with the special scheduled times of prayer -

Here are some things that have helped -

Find places and times when you are already alone and quiet and take advantage of those times to pray -
So mine are in the shower and driving to work - those are prayer times that work - Yours may be different - Could a coffee break during the day - could be a time at night when you finally get the kids to bed and your spouse falls asleep on the couch as usual - but try to notice those times and use them.

Make times and make a place
You might actually schedule a time in your calendar or set an alarm on your cell phone or PDA and have a quiet place in mind like a garden or study. We think of Islam as having certain times of prayer - but Morning Prayer, midday prayer, evening prayer have long been part of the Christian tradition.

What do I pray about? How do I keep focused in prayer?
I was at a conference on prayer at MPPC and John Ortberg shared about how his mind wanders from thing to thing when praying and how that would drive him crazy - O Lord I praise you for - and he would think of a problem at home - or an issue a staff member had - of something he was supposed to do that day - and the thought came to him that maybe those things weren't really distractions - maybe those were the very things he needed to be praying about -

• Praying out loud can help - softly - be careful here
• Writing prayers
• Reading prayers of others - psalms and collections - I found one at a bargain book store - called "A Time to Pray" that has 365 different prayers from scripture, early church, Celts, mystics, reformers, hymn writers, modern authors - great help in learning to pray.
• Use the Lord Prayer as an outline for prayer (I will post an example of this later)

Here is an example of a prayer that has helped me by John Baillie CH (1886-1960) was a Scottish theologian who wrote A Diary of Private Prayer (1936)
Teach me, O God, so to use all the circumstances of my life today that they may bring forth in me the fruits of holiness rather than the fruits of sin:
Let me use disappointment as material for patience
Let me use success as material for thankfulness
Let me use trouble as material for perseverance
Let me use danger as material for courage
Let me use reproach as material for long suffering
Let me use praise as material for humility
Let me use pleasures as material for temperance
Let me use pain as material for endurance -

Consider your posture in prayer
There is no proper posture in prayer - but I do think there should be a congruency in our verbal language and our body language and I would encourage experiments in posture and prayer - the Bible has people sitting, standing, bowing, raising hands, dancing, spinning, lying down - all sorts of postures in prayer - try raising your hands or opening your hands in a symbol of receiving or letting go - try kneeling as a posture of submission or reverence - lay prostrate on the floor as a sign of helplessness before God - It won't guarantee that your prayers are any holier or greater, but it might help you prayer more with your whole being and not just your head - or intellect.

Think through what you are really trying to accomplish in prayer - are you really seeking God's will and involvement or are you trying to use prayer as a way of manipulating God and others?

David Mains gives a checklist of good questions to make sure or prayers or on target:
1. What do I really want? Am I being specific, or just rambling in my prayers?
2. Can God grant this request? Or is it against God's nature to do so?
3. Have I done my part? Or am I praying to lose when I haven't dieted or pass a test when I haven't studied?
4. How is my relationship with God? Are we on speaking terms?
5. Who will get the credit if my prayers are answered? Do I have God's best interest in mind?
6. Do I really want this prayer answered? What would happen if I actually got that job? Or if I actually did get that boyfriend or girlfriend back?


One last thing that can help with prayer - talk to others about your prayer life - what has been helpful - share about times when you feel you have connected with God and about times you have not - and there will be a strengthening and as you encourage others you will be encouraged -

Experiments in Prayer

Sunday I started a sermon series called, Experiments in Prayer. The series is about some practical ways we can pray - ways that you can experiment with prayer and enrich and grow your prayer life. At the end of the sermon I suggested a few things anyone could do to help with prayer their prayer life. I thought I would post those suggestions here, Next week I will add a few more.

The main point of the first message is that prayer is primarily about building a relationship with God. Relationships involve dialogue not Monologue - Have you ever tried to build a relationship with someone who only talks about him/herself and never listens? Prayer involves listening to God as well as speaking to God.

So a first experiment in prayer is to experiment with listening to God - warning - If God speaks He might ask you to do something!

So be careful not to be like the man who was late for an important meeting and couldn't find a parking space. As he frantically circled the block, the man got so desperate that he decided to pray.

Looking up toward heaven, he said, "Lord, take pity on me. If you find me a parking space, I'll go to church every Sunday for the rest of my life, and not only that, I'll give up drinking."

Miraculously, a parking space appeared.

The guy looked up again and said, "Never mind. I found one."

Experiments in listening to/for God:

Like any experiment you might want to keep a journal.

Try writing your prayers.

Write a prayer - could be as a letter to God - asking for help learning to listen - (God just loves these sorts of prayers) confess how you have a hard time hearing God.

Sit quietly.

Read a few Psalms.

Live life with your ears open to God.

Find time before you go to bed and take out your journal - Think about your day - write a letter to God or an entry about what you think God might have been telling you today - You may be surprised at what comes out.

Maybe you're more of an extrovert and journaling is no fun for you and hard to do if you know only God will be reading your journal - So, for extroverts: Try this with a friend and commit to email each other each day for a week - Email each other your God letters and then at the end of the day email what you think God is telling you and then comment on each others emails.

Or if journaling doesn't work for you at all, try this for a few minutes each day next week:

Find a quiet place, where you can be alone and just talk to God about your day. No fancy words, no editing, just what's on your heart - just like you would talk to a friend. And then sit and be quiet and listen.

Next week I'm going to go further into more practical experiments in prayer.

If you would like to email me with questions about prayer or to share your experiences as you experiment in prayer feel free to do that - I'd love to hear from you.

Father's Day

Father's Day was a great time this year. We went on a camping / fishing trip to Clear Lake. Peter, Micah Mann, Melia and Lily all came. Micah Norman had to stay home because of work, but I found a very cool Father's Day gift and card from Micah in a basket when I got home.

A highlight of the trip was our outing to see Weird Al in concert. We had 7th row seats in the center. He did just about all his best songs complete with costume changes and other special effects. I tried to get some pictures but nothing came out very well. The picture is of Weird Al in his fat costume for "You're Fat".

We caught a bunch of fish - Micah Mann was the winner with a 14" bass! Yeah Micah! Lily wasn't able to reel her fish in but she did get to pet one…

Another fun time was the night hikes! We took some late night hikes to hear the bullfrogs, see the stars, we saw deer and one night saw a raccoon washing up in the stream.

cool song

This song has been speaking to me lately - Maybe it will speak to you.



JOHN MAYER
Stop This Train

No, I'm not colorblind
I know the world is black and white
Try to keep an open mind
But I just can't sleep on this tonight

Stop this train
I wanna get off
And go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
But honestly, won't someone stop this train?

Don't know how else to say it
Don't want to see my parents go
One generation's length away
From fighting life out on my own

Stop this train
I wanna get off
And go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
But honestly, won't someone stop this train?

So scared of getting older
I'm only good at being young
So I play the numbers game
To find a way to say that life has just begun

Had a talk with my old man
Said "help me understand"
He said "turn sixty-eight
You renegotiate"

"Don't stop this train
Don't for a minute change the place you're in
And don't think I couldn't ever understand
I tried my hand
John, honestly we'll never stop this train"

Once in awhile, when it's good
It'll feel like it should
And they're all still around
And you're still safe and sound
And you don't miss a thing
Till you cry when you're driving away in the dark
Singing

Stop this train
I wanna get off
And go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
Cause now I see I will never stop this train

More Sequim Pictures

Sequim, WA

I am returning home today after a great week of R & R! REST AND RENEWAL! Some good friends from my old church in Canoga Park invited me for a week in beautiful Sequim, WA. I spent each day reading and walking and reflecting. I think these pictures will tell the story.
There are snow capped mountains and beautiful clouds. The flowers in people's yards and along the road are outstanding. One day I had a wonderful 5 mile walk along a stretch of the Discovery Trail. It started along a stream and then went along the ocean for most of the walk. I could see huge slow moving freighters and a ferry that goes back and forth to Canada. Green trees, wild flowers, stark cliffs- The rugged beauty made me wonder how anyone could doubt that there is a creator.

Memorial Day Remembered

It dawned on me yesterday that I had failed to make mention of Memorial Day during worship on Sunday. My focus was on Pentecost - the birthday of the church and the miracle of the how the disciples preached in languages they never learned before. It is a celebration of how Jesus breaks down of barriers and that separate and divide people. Divisions that cause war and hate. We have a bi-lingual worship service with our Spanish speaking church members. My attention was very much focused on having a meaningful, glitch-free, bi-lingual service and I forgot the other very important holiday were celebrated last weekend.

Monday, after working in the garden and trying to find some parts for my car - typical Memorial Day activities, I thought I should do something to remember those who gave their lives in the armed services. I happened to find a DVD on the bookshelf called We Were Soldiers.

We Were Soldiers is a 2002 war film that dramatized the Battle of Ia Drang, which took place in November 1965, the first major engagement of American troops in the Vietnam War. The power of the film is in how the characters are portrayed as more than one-dimensional tin soldiers. They were also fathers, sons, husbands and brothers. This film also gives you the same feeling for the North Vietnamese troops - They were also fathers, sons, husbands, brothers and soldiers. It was an awful bloody day. The film ends with a shot of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC. They remind us of the 58,000 US lives that were lost. How many others could be added to that number? It brings tears to my eyes and takes my breath away.

Yesterday I was reminded of the terror, horror and ugliness of war. I was reminded that the Scriptures call us to be peacemakers. I feel so for the men and women that have pledge their lives and are willing to go into harm's way to protect of our country. I grieve for those who lost sons, fathers, husbands, brothers and friends in war. They were all so young. I was reminded how the draft ended the year I turn 18 and the war was finally winding down. I think of the war we are fighting today as I write this - so far away and so very real. I think of Jesus crying over Jerusalem, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, If only you knew what makes for peace."

There is a haunting song, originally written for a different war that plays through out the film. The lament, "Sgt MacKenzie", is written and sung by Joe Kilna Mackenzie. Joe wrote the song in memory of his Grandfather, one of the Seaforth Highlanders from the Elgin/Rothes area who fought in WWII. Sgt Charles Stuart MacKenzie was bayoneted to death at, the age of 35, while defending one of his badly injured colleagues in the hand-to-hand fighting of the trenches. If the song didn't play as you read this click on the title of this blog entry and it will take you to a web page where you can hear it.

Here are the lyrics in memory of those who lost their lives protecting their country:

Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone

When they come I will stand my ground
Stand my ground I’ll not be afraid

Thoughts of home take away my fear
Sweat and blood hide my veil of tears

Once a year say a prayer for me
Close your eyes and remember me

Never more shall I see the sun
For I fell to a Germans gun

Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Where before many more have gone

Adaptive Change

I just read an interesting book called 90 Minutes in Heaven. It is by a man named Don Piper who claims to have been clinically dead for 90 minutes and then came back to life after having a vision of heaven. I must confess that I'm not sure what to think about his vision of heaven and that is not the part of the story that really grabbed me. What caught my attention was the story of his recovery. He had been crushed under a truck and had broken many bones. Some bones had been shattered and others were actually missing. Most of his recovery involved having his legs in a painful device designed to encourage bone growth.

Don was lucky to be alive, but his life would never be the same. He spoke of this as learning to live in a new normal. He said he could keep remembering and dwelling on what he could never do again or he could start to learn and appreciated what he could now do. His decided to discover his new normal. I was very interested in how he adapted to the changes in his life and found contentment even though his life was forever changed in ways he would not have wished on anyone.

Don's injuries could not be reversed. There was no quick fix or new technique that could restore him to his former health and life style. Don had to change from the inside out to find a new normal - a new type of health. He had to adapt to things that he could not change.

Sometimes we all face things that we can't change: death, divorce, disability and more. There is a time to mourn and no one can tell you how long or how short that will be. There is also a time to find the new normal and no one can decide that time for you either. Some one once put it this way- the journey of grief is discovering what was lost, discovering what is left and discovering what is possible. This is what I am calling "adaptive change". I think that also describes the road to finding a new normal. Jesus does not promise to take all our pain away in this life. He does invite us to allow God to make all things new.

Here's a question to dwell and ponder. How is becoming a Christian like finding a new normal?

Transforming church

I'm at a Transforming Church conference in Menlo Park. It is a very full schedule, but I thought I'd blog a bit. We spent a lot of time on the Myers-Briggs and leadership styles - very good and helpful. I thought this was a local conference, but there are folks here from all over the US.

The other day I had a talk with someone about the difference between a "technical fix" and "adaptive change". I plan on writing more on this later, but it really helps me understand some of the struggles and successes at Westminster.

And Even Yet Another Poem!

Poem: "The Gardeners" by Jack Ridl, from Broken Symmetry. © Wayne State University Press.

The Gardeners

In the spring she
drops the seeds, he
covers them. He
digs up the weeds.
She cuts the flowers.
She takes the blooms
and puts them in
every room. They soar
red from the tables, sprout
yellow from the shelves,
hang purple from
the ceiling, blue
from the edges of
lampshades. Clusters
of flowers sit in
tiny pots on every
windowsill, in open
cupboards, behind
the sink. He stands
beside her as she tosses
all the wilted leaves
into a rusty bucket.
This house is heaven's
door, the air gathering
the bashful smells of
blossoms, roots, cut
stems, wet dirt, new
and rotting leaves.

AND yet another poem from the Writer's Almanac

Poem: "Unwise Purchases" by George Bilgere from Haywire. © Utah State University Press.
Unwise Purchases

They sit around the house
not doing much of anything: the boxed set
of the complete works of Verdi, unopened.
The complete Proust, unread:

The French-cut silk shirts
which hang like expensive ghosts in the closet
and make me look exactly
like the kind of middle-aged man
who would wear a French-cut silk shirt:

The reflector telescope I thought would unlock
the mysteries of the heavens
but which I only used once or twice
to try to find something heavenly
in the windows of the high-rise down the road,
and which now stares disconsolately at the ceiling
when it could be examining the Crab Nebula:

The 30-day course in Spanish
whose text I never opened,
whose dozen cassette tapes remain unplayed,

save for Tape One, where I never learned
whether the suave American
conversing with a sultry-sounding desk clerk
at a Madrid hotel about the possibility
of obtaining a room
actually managed to check in.

I like to think
that one thing led to another between them
and that by Tape Six or so
they're happily married
and raising a bilingual child in Seville or Terra Haute.

But I'll never know.
Suddenly I realize
I have constructed the perfect home
for a sexy, Spanish-speaking astronomer
who reads Proust while listening to Italian arias,

and I wonder if somewhere in this teeming city
there lives a woman with, say,
a fencing foil gathering dust in the corner
near her unused easel, a rainbow of oil paints
drying in their tubes

on the table where the violin
she bought on a whim
lies entombed in the permanent darkness
of its locked case
next to the abandoned chess set,

a woman who has always dreamed of becoming
the kind of woman the man I've always dreamed of becoming
has always dreamed of meeting.

And while the two of them discuss star clusters
and Cézanne, while they fence delicately
in Castilian Spanish to the strains of Rigoletto,

she and I will stand in the steamy kitchen,
fixing up a little risotto,
enjoying a modest cabernet,
while talking over a day so ordinary
as to seem miraculous.

Another poem from the Writer's Almanac

Poem: "Family Reunion" by Jeredith Merrin from Bat Ode. © The University of Chicago Press.
Family Reunion

The divorced mother and her divorcing
daughter. The about-to-be ex-son-in-law
and the ex-husband's adopted son.
The divorcing daughter's child, who is

the step-nephew of the ex-husband's
adopted son. Everyone cordial:
the ex-husband's second wife
friendly to the first wife, warm

to the divorcing daughter's child's
great-grandmother, who was herself
long ago divorced. Everyone
grown used to the idea of divorce

Almost everyone has separated
from the landscape of childhood.
Collections of people in cities
are divorced from clean air and stars.

Toddlers in day care are parted
from working parents, schoolchildren
from the assumption of unbloodied
daylong safety. Old people die apart

from all they've gathered over time,
and in strange beds. Adults
grow estranged from a God
evidently divorced from history;

most are cut off from their own
histories, each of which waits
like a child left at day care.
What if you turned back for a moment

and put your arms around yours?
Yes, you might be late for work;
no, your history doesn't smell sweet
like a toddler's head. But look

at those small round wrists,
that short-legged, comical walk.
Caress your history—who else will?
Promise to come back later.

Pay attention when it asks you
simple questions: Where are we going?
Is it scary? What happened? Can
I have more now? Who is that?

I think these clips are funny - but I may be weird!

More great comments and questions!

KATHERINE WROTE:
Wow, I've never been called Kristine before. Karen, Kathleen, Kathy, but never Kristine. It's a new one. ;)I like that joke, as a way to tell people that God doesn't live your life for you. What if God's plan is for me to do something else? How would I know? Although God is certainly capable, I don't know that He has a plan for each of the 6 billion people on the planet. How does free will play into this? Does God have a plan, but gives us the time and choice to see if that if that is the path we will take? I'm interested to hear your answers. Thank you! -Katherine


Sorry Katherine - and I thought I double-checked your name too! Well, now that I go the name right, here are some responses to your questions:

How do we know God's plan and how does free will play into it?

As with many things in life it is trial and error. We learn by stepping out and walking in faith and being open to God's correction and guidance. Learning to dream God's dreams comes by learning as much about God as possible:

Start by listening more to God's word than to all the other words around you.

Read your life through the lense of God's word as opposed to reading God's word through the lense of your life.

Spend some time in Ps 37:4-8
Where it talks about learning to delight yourself in the Lord - and He will give you the desires of your heart - That is a great secret - as you delight in the things of God and do good - your desires, your dreams become closer and closer to God's dreams -

Other helps:
God often speaks through His people. Hang out with people who have followed God for a long time and seen to have a good track record hearing God's voice. Join a Christian small group. Share the hopes and dreams you think God is planting in your life with a safe, wise God-follower and see what they think. This may not always work, but it is a way God uses to confirm his direction.

Attend worship - Of course you would guess a preacher would say this ☺ but it is so true. God often speaks and confirms direction in worship.

Last but not least - PRAY: Ask God to reveal His will to you! James says that we have not because we ask not. Believe it or not God is more interested in helping you find His direction than you are! He wants you to learn to hear His voice and to follow.

Remember - I think this has helped me more than anything else. If I try to follow the clear instructions of the Bible in my everyday life-Simply do as Jesus teaches - all other things seem to fall into place.

Hope this helps!
Steve

At last! A comment on a sermon! YES!

I just got the following comment on my blog from Kristine about Sunday's sermon -

"I didn't understand why you clumped all dreams together as useless and non-productive.

Your example was "I'm dreaming of a million dollars, but it ain't happening."

Did you ever hear this joke:
A man, in desperate need of money, prays to God that he win the lottery. "Please God! Let me win a million dollars!"

Nothing happens and the next morning, the man prays again. "Please God! Let this be the day I win a million dollars"

Again, nothing happens. The next morning, the man prays, "Please God! I'll take a thousand dollars. Please help me."

At this point, God felt the need the need to reply to the man, "You're going to have to meet me half way on this one. Buy a lotto ticket."

This isn't implying that God will grant wishes (hence, your sermon about dreams.) But there are dreams that come true and only come true with dedication and a constant eye on that goal/dream. We should discard the unrealistic expectations we have of God and ourselves, but why should we discard the dreams of becoming better people?"

Response -
Kristine thanks for the comments! Your point is well put and I may have over stated my point - I didn't mean to clump all dreams together as useless and non-productuve. I do believe dreams are good and very important to life and growing in the things of God. I was trying to make two points - One is that there is a current philosophy that you can create your own reality by picturing or just imagining what you want. I wanted to point out that that isn't true and we do need to put feet to our dreams -like in your joke. The second point was that if we do seek out and follow after dreams that are not from God, they could affect our lives in a negative way. We can miss out on the things God is dreaming of for in our lives.

The example was:
What if your plan your dream is to own a beautiful home with a 2 car garage, have 2.5 children and maybe a swimming pool - nothing wrong with that dream - BUT you know deep inside and feel that if only this dream would be realized THEN you would be truly happy!
BUT
What if God's plan, God's dream, God's hope for you has nothing to do with working with owning a beautiful home with a two car garage and having 2.5 children and maybe a pool in the backyard?

What if God's plan for you is to work with the children of undocumented farm workers in Watsonville?

What is God's plan for you is to be a doctor - but not in San Jose or Los Angeles or San Francisco but in Malawi?

And what if God knows that only then you would be reasonably happy in this life and ultimately happy in the next?

Hope that helps… I loved the lottery joke!
Steve

Week Six Guide is ready!

The theme for this week is Bury Dreams– Grow God's Reality.
The disciples had dreams of what would happen when Jesus ushered in the kingdom of God. They dreamed of material prosperity, political freedom, of vengeance against the Romans. These dreams had to be surrendered, as they followed Jesus and learned to dream God's dreams.
Someone once said the problem is not that our dreams are too big, it is that our dreams are too small. Maybe our problem really is that we dream and long for things God never promised or willed for our lives. We all have dreams of how we would like our lives to be. Are we willing to bury those dreams and realize God's dreams for our lives?

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, celebrity Brad Pitt reflected on his lead role in the movie Fight Club, which is about a man who has the American dream and yet remains unsatisfied:

Pitt: Man, I know all these things are supposed to seem important to us—the car, the condo, our version of success—but if that's the case, why is the general feeling out there reflecting more impotence and isolation and desperation and loneliness? If you ask me, I say toss all this—we gotta find something else. Because all I know is that at this point in time, we are heading for a dead end, a numbing of the soul, a complete atrophy of the spiritual being. And I don't want that.
Rolling Stone: So if we're heading toward this kind of existential dead end in society, what do you think should happen?
Pitt: Hey, man, I don't have those answers yet. The emphasis now is on success and personal gain. [smiles] I'm sitting in it, and I'm telling you, that's not it. I'm the guy who's got everything. I know. But I'm telling you, once you've got everything, then you're just left with yourself. I've said it before and I'll say it again: it doesn't help you sleep any better, and you don't wake up any better because of it. -Rolling Stone (10-28-99)

The new lent adventure guides are on line!

Check out the Lent Adventure Blog for the latest Adventure Guide!


DARE TO BELIEVE (Stonehill/Kilpatrick)
I admit my faith is small and I’m easily distracted
My imitation of myself is poorly overacted
And the mirror shows the lines upon my face
I get to wondering if I’m one more hopeless case
It’s just so hard to wrap my heart and mind around,
This thing called grace (you’ve got to)

Chorus:

Turn off your television, shut off the radio
Listen to your own heart beating
Listen to the wind blow and
Feel the sun on your face
Fell the tears in your eyes and
Dare to believe that Jesus loves you
Dare to believe He really loves you

At times I think my prayers are some kind of delusion
And even if God’s listening, my words are an intrusion
My failures make up such a lengthy list
I think of all the chances I have missed
This penchant for self-loathing is a hard one to resist

It’s as easy and as hard as this
To accept that Love is living and real
You’ve got to step out off the edge into the great unknown
If you want to fell God’s hand beneath your heel

Great Poem from the Writers Almanac

Poem: "The Invention of Fractions" by Jessica Goodfellow, from A Pilgrim's Guide to Chaos in the Heartland. © Concrete Wolf Chapbook Series.

The Invention of Fractions

God himself made the whole numbers: everything else
is the work of man.
—Leopold Kronnecker

God created the whole numbers:
the first born, the seventh seal,
Ten Commandments etched in stone,
the Twelve Tribes of Israel —
Ten we've already lost —
forty days and forty nights,
Saul's ten thousand and David's ten thousand.
'Be of one heart and one mind' —
the whole numbers, the counting numbers.

It took humankind to need less than this;
to invent fractions, percentages, decimals.
Only humankind could need the concepts
of splintering and dividing,
of things lost or broken,
of settling for the part instead of the whole.

Only humankind could find the whole numbers,
infinite as they are, to be wanting;
though given a limitless supply,
we still had no way
to measure what we keep
in our many-chambered hearts.

Lent Adventure Guides

The new lent adventure guides are now ready to download. Check out the link to the right.
The Lent Adventure Blog may be found at http://lentadventure2007.blogspot.com

Ash Wednesday

I was quite moved by God at our Ash Wednesday Worship last night. We have three worship stations that were described in the bulletin as follows:

Station One: Ashes to Ashes
You may receive ashes on your forehead or wrist as a sign of repentance and belonging to Jesus.

Station Two: Remember Your Baptism
Dip your hands in the water. Reflect on the meaning of your baptism. You might confess your faith in Jesus by reflecting on or reciting the baptismal questions: Who is your lord and savior? Do you trust Him? And do you desire to be a faithful member of his church wherever you may be?

Station Three: Holy Communion
Come to the table, and partake of the bread and wine by way of intinction. Break-off a piece of bread, and dip it in the cup. Remember the Lord's death and resurrection. Remember that He is coming again, and we will feast with Him in Glory.

I was at the Ashes to Ashes station and placed ashes on foreheads and wrists while reminding people, "You are dust and to dust you will return." It touched my heart deeply and reminded me how much I love the members of the church. I had a profound sense of my mortality and the mortality of those I anointed with ashes. We are all finite beings and each of us will return to the earth one day. I was also very moved by remembering one of the prayers from our Christian funeral service - " You only are immortal, the creator and maker of all.
We are mortal, formed of the earth,
and to earth shall we return.
This you ordained when you created us, saying,
“You are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
All of us go down to the dust;
yet even at the grave we make our song:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia."

That prayer is powerful. We are mortal but we have a sure and certain hope in life with God beyond the grave, through Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Any comments on Ash Wednesday? Read more and leave comments at the Lent Adventure Blog http://lentadventure2007.blogspot.com

I admit it! I watch LOST

Yes, I watch LOST... I admit it! Last episode during the preview they promised that next week they would answer the top three questions that viewers have about LOST.
But what are the top three questions asked by viewers of LOST?
I think I have it:
1. What the heck is going on?
2. Really, what is going on?
3. Please! Tell me! What is going on?

Out of the mouths of babes...

Kids are so sweet and innocent - and the things they say so true! I got a gift certificate to a very nice clothing store where I bought a very sharp and expensive Columbia hooded sweatshirt. I bought a bright color (orange) a bit outside my normal comfort zone because I thought it might cheer me up and to tell the truth I thought it was slimming... So it was cold and rainy today and I thought I'd wear my cool, slimming new hooded sweatshirt. I walked into the living room, feeling great but all that soon changed when 2 year old Lily pointed at me a remarked, "Grandpa, are you a pumpkin?"
Anyone want a used orange sweatshirt?

Pathology Report!

If anyone was wondering - the reports were fine on the tumor that was removed! Thanks for your prayers, The Doctor also removed a burn scar that I had since I was an infant. My shoulder feels like I am wearing a shirt that is about 3 sizes to small, but I am told that it will stretch out and feel normal in a few weeks.

A very moving poem

This is a very moving poem from the Writer's Almanac radio show:

Poem: "A Boy in a Bed in the Dark" by Brad Sachs, from In the Desperate Kingdom of Love: Poems 2001-2004. © Chestnut Hills Press, 2004.

A Boy in a Bed in the Dark

Born with a cleft palate,
My two-year-old brother,
Recovering from yet another surgery,
Toddled into our bedroom
Toppled a tower of blocks
That I had patiently built
And in a five-year-old's fury
I grabbed a fallen block
And winged it at him
Ripping open his carefully reconstructed lip.
The next hours were gruesomely compressed
Ending with a boy in a bed in the dark
Mute with fear
Staring out into the hallway with horror
As the pediatrician went in and out of the bathroom
With one vast blood-soaked towel after another
Shaking his head worriedly.
My brother's howls
And my parents' cooed comfort
Became the soundtrack to this milky movie
That plays
In my darkest theatre,
The one that I sidle past each night
With a shudder
And a throb in my fist

Surgery

Just a quick update for those who might be wondering... The surgery went well. They removed a fatty tumor that weighed about 2 LBS! and cyst the size of a large walnut. I ache a bit and pain pills are helping. My folks are here helping me out. I get a pathology report in the next day or so, but I am not expecting any bad news. Thanks for all the prayers! They are being answered.

Poem in progress

I've got a problem
I wish I could dismiss it.
Life would be simpler if there was no meaning
But when I look around me there is no denying God.


I just posted some old pictures of myself at www.revnorman.com - you might find them amusing...

Getting ready for a show

Christmas

We had a great Christmas. More pictures will follow.

Being Grandpa

I've been spending a lot of time with Jedi lately, teaching him the ways of the force... Here are some of the latest pictures

UP Ice Caves

I found this picture while I was sorting through some old papers. It is from an outing our church in upper MI took out to the ice caves on day after worship in the 1980's.

Grandpa's Birthday

I celebrated my birthday a day early this year with Melia, Micah, Lily, Jedi and Peter. We had a great dinner at the Hickory Pit and then went for a walk in to see Christmas in the Park in downtown San Jose. The displays were corny as usual - but we had a good time being together. Tomorrow Micah and I will be going out to see the new Mel Gibson movie. Many cards have come in from friends, family and folks from church.

More Birthday photos

Here are some more pictures - I got a great shot of everyone watching the birthday girl.

Lily's Birthday

Lily turned 2 on Nov. 25! In the first picture she is holding up two fingers and telling us that she is two years old. She was very aware that the party was for her. She just glowed when we sang, "Happy Birthday to Lily". Opening presents was a great new adventure for Lily - she tried to very carefully and daintily unwrap each gift as we cheered her on and tried to encourage her just to rip off the wrappings. I was so happy that we could have the party with my parents, Jeff and Veronica and Veronica's mom. Lily says she really likes, "sesents" read presents. I got her a tricycle and she got lots of clothes and a big pink ball - Everything, including the cake, was very Elmo...

Back home

I had an awesome time on my travels and I think I am finally starting to sense some healing in my life. I had a very restful healing time both in Missouri and Florida and spent a day in Georgia. I had a lot of time to read, reflect and pray. I am grieving still and I'm sure that will be part of my life for a long time, but I am feeling more confident that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I am beginning to believe that I can be at peace and enjoy life again. Holidays are still pretty tough. I had a wonderful time with just my sons. We went for a bike ride and had a great dinner.

More Florida

great day fly fishing!

Florida

Dave and Debbie have been so kind and gracious to open their home and let me have space to read and pray. They live in a pretty little town and are right across the street from their church. This is a picture of their backyard. The picture does not do it justice - but will give a sense of the serenity and beauty that surround me. I am feeling very rested. I have a sense of healing and peace that I haven't experienced in a long time.

Great visit with Rich

I had a really great visit with Rich. Here he is out front of the church. Rich is doing a wonderful job as pastor. It was a joy to be with him, see the church and meet some folks from his flock.

Fish Stories in Assville Missouri

I'm in Missouri visiting Rich Williams. We went fishing today or I should say I went fishing while Rich sat on a log and read a book. We drove about 50 miles to a recommended fishing hole only to find out that it was closed to fishing until next week!
We found another spot where I caught 4 very small fish. On the way back we saw this sign that we just had to photograph. We just couldn't believe that there was a town called, "Assville". I had to stop and take a picture. While taking the picture I realized that the sign originally said, "Cassville", but someone crossed out the C.


Later we got back to Neosho and Rich suggested that I try fishing in a little creek near his house. Third cast I caught this wonderful 10 - 12" rainbow trout - I had to throw it because they have to be 15" to keep, but it was a great finish to a fun day. Sometimes the best things are found in your own backyard...