Faith in Real Life – Peter Gowesky

In Faith in Real Life

Who is following Who?

November 2, 2021 No Comments

Do you ever wonder what God is doing? It is easy to take a look at life and be disappointed with the current state of your life and assume that God has decided to take the day off. Or let’s be honest, sometimes it feels like he took the entire year off. It could feel like the wheels have fallen off of your life and you’re stuck in the same position unable to move forward. However, what if we’re looking at it from the wrong angle?

Jesus invited a group of people to follow Him, to be His disciples. A disciple was someone that apprenticed with another more experienced teacher. And in this case, these disciples were the apprentice to the Son of God. Everyday for 3 years they followed Jesus and listened to His teaching. They asked questions of Jesus. They ate together, and went on boat rides, long hikes, and navigated all kinds of challenges together. But it all began with a simple question. Jesus asked the disciples to follow him.

Jesus came to Peter and Andrew and told them to leave their nets and follow Him. Jesus did the same to James and John when they were fishing with their father in the family business. Matthew was busy at his tax collectors booth when he heard Jesus’ invitation. Their activities may have been different, but the question from Jesus was the same–Follow Me.

I’m afraid that too many of us hear Jesus’ invitation of “FOLLOW ME”, and we say, “yeah, yeah, Jesus, that would be awesome.” We get excited because we hear the voice of the Lord and it feels fresh and new. But somewhere along the way we start taking our eyes off of Jesus. We stop going where He is going, eating what He is eating, and doing what He is doing.

Then we turn around and say, Jesus, how about you follow me? If we’re not careful we can take the invitation from Jesus and get it backwards. Jesus invited us to follow Him, not the other way around. There are any number of ways to get people to follow you in today’s world, from social media, to different apps on your phone. Jesus never said, let me follow you. He invited you to follow Him. To take up His ways and follow Him. To do what He does, love the way He loves, forgive the way He forgives.

If you’re wondering what God is doing, and it looks like God isn’t active in your life, I wonder if maybe the problem isn’t that God has left you, or that God isn’t interested in you. What if you have gotten it twisted up and instead of following Him you’ve slowly let the expectations switch to where He’s supposed to follow you now.

If you want to experience God, and experience the close presence of your savior move to where God is moving. Pay attention to the disciples. What did they do? They went wherever Jesus went. They moved where He was moving. And do you know what they saw? They saw a MOVE OF GOD!

They saw people healed. They saw a blind man regain his sight. They witnessed a woman who was being shamed to death protected and brought back to life. They watched as a man who couldn’t walk got up and stretched his legs and walked off healed! They watched as a violent storm was brought to peace. They saw a man who was possessed by demons brought back to his right mind. The witnessed a move of God!

If you want to see a move of God, you’re going to have to move to where God is moving. It’s not about forcing God to move to where you are.

In what ways have you been expecting God to follow you? What would it look like for you to be committed to following Him?

In Faith in Real Life

What If You Did the Thing? Living Without Regret Starts Now

May 2, 2014 No Comments

Do you remember when you were a kid, what you thought was ‘old’? What was the magical age that you officially turned ‘old’? For me, I think you were old when you hit 40. That was over the hill in my book. By 40 life seemed pretty well established, and like everything was in order. What age was it for you? Funny thing is, the closer I get to 40, the younger it seems!

When you were a kid, what did you think that your life was going to look like when you were 25, 30, 35, 40, etc… What did you think your life would look like at the age that you are now? Probably you had visions of playing in the major league, or already having been on the cover of Vogue, or some other magazine. Maybe you envisioned owning several beach houses, and a yacht. Who knows. But chances are your childhood version of you was somehow way cooler than the version of you right now.

What holds us back from being the childhood version of us? Why do we stop dreaming and planning, and envisioning ourselves for greatness? FEAR. Fear of failing, disappointing, and even fear of trying prevents us from being, or doing the things we once dreamed we would be.

Jennie Allen writes in her book Restless,

I think in twenty years, we will regret more of the things we didn’t do than the things we did imperfectly.

I totally agree with her. Life is filled with crazy-scary-choices. Things like, going back to school, having another baby, leaving a successful job you have, to go get the job you’ve always wanted, or asking her to marry you. But what if the rest of your life was lived without this kind of hesitation. What if 20 years from now you looked back and realized that hesitation wasn’t apart of your lifestyle… I wonder what kind of a difference that would make in what you were able to accomplish.

The Bible is filled with men and women who were faced with crazy-scary-choices. The amazing thing about the Bible is we get to see how they turned out though. They didn’t. We know the end of their story, were as they only saw the problems. Think about people like Moses, Joseph, Esther, Rahab, Elijah, Abraham, Joshua, Peter, Paul, and many others. They were each faced with their own challenges, but they stepped through them with bold faith.

God has positioned you for right now, and for right where you are. Step into that moment and own it. The next few moments, days, and weeks, can be some of the most defining moments in your life. God has invited each one of us to join Him in what He is doing in the world around him. Jesus prays for each of us saying, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John 17:22, 23 ESV)

Jesus’ desire for each of us, His prayer, is that we would be a witness, we would be someone who reveals the glory of God to the world around us. So dream a dream about who you want to be and what you want to do for God, and get out there and do it. Because after all, our biggest regret might just be the things that we don’t do, rather than the things we goofed up on along the way.

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

The Virus of More: Confessions of a Materialism Battle

October 8, 2013 No Comments

It’s hard for me to look at a Range Rover and not want one. Their lines are smooth, they look Uber comfortable, and I feel like I can take on a mountain with it and win. The other morning a Range Rover cut me off on my way to a meeting with a good buddy of mine. I felt everything inside of me tense up. Maybe that was because I was running 10 minutes late to my meeting or maybe it was because he had something that I wanted. It was hunter green, and it was new. The windows were tinted out, and the rims were classy. The only thing that my car and his car have in common is the color of the paint. My rims are not so classy, my windows are not so tinted, and I most certainly could not take on a mountain and win.

Welcome to my internal struggle with materialism. Materialism is the virus that grows inside of you convincing your mind that you need more and more and more. Materialism not only affects your mind, It affects your eyes too. They begin looking around at the things that you already have and it causes you to see them as old and out dated. It’s like a set of contact lenses that magnifies every ding, imperfection, tear, or sign that your stuff hasen’t been unwrapped from their cellophane covering in a long time.

I’m pretty convinced that materialism has been fed to us by the mass market like small pox blankets were to the Native American’s. The more we watch and believe the commercials, the more we itch with the need to buy the latest and the greatest. Be careful my friends! You don’t need to drive what turns you on. You need to drive what gets you there. There is a big difference between need and want. We get those two things mixed up very easily. That’s part of the game of the materialism virus- it makes it harder to keep your head on straight.

Richard Foster writes about the materialism virus. He says this,

This psychosis permeates even our mythology. The modern hero is the poor boy who purposefully becomes rich rather than the rich boy who voluntarily becomes poor. Covetousness we call ambition. Hoarding we call prudence. Greed we call industry.

It is time to set possessions in their proper place. It is time to find joy in the abundant gifts that God has given us. After all Jesus said in Luke 12:15, “Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” The writer of Hebrews says, “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, ‘I will never fail you nor forsake you'” (Heb. 13:5)

I’m praying that God shows me that it is more about the people around me than the possessions in my home. I bet I’m not alone in this struggle… Where are you at with it?

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

What we can learn from Avicii’s ‘Wake Me Up’

October 7, 2013 No Comments

I can’t help but enjoy this song with it’s driving beat and catchy lyrics. Plus it helps that it’s on iTunes radio all the time! After having heard it multiple times, I went online to check out the music video. I found that this video is a beautiful picture of what the Church should be like.

Here’s 3 things we can learn from Avicii and his song Wake Me Up:

1. Come:

Judgement is a relationship killer. That is one of the fastest ways to make other people feel uncomfortable. So, if your goal is to push people away, and keep people from coming to your church, work hard at judging them. People are longing for a place to fit in and be welcomed. That is where the Church comes in. The Church should be the place where everyone no matter who they are, or what they’ve done should be accepted and loved. I love how in the video the woman rides her horse up onto the bridge and looks out over the modern city with a twinkle in her eye as if to say, “Ah… I think I have found home.” That’s what it should be like for people who walk into our churches for the first time on a Sunday morning. Make it so that they are not afraid to come in to your church. Do whatever it takes to break down that barrier.

2. Connect:

People don’t stay in a place because they have cool lighting and an awesome sound system. People find themselves getting rooted in an environment because of their connection with other people. I love the scene where they pile into the back of the truck as they head off. There is something about the smiles and laughter of the few people together. They have a relationship there that is looking to meet the needs of this confused and searching traveler. They bring her right in, invite her to do whatever it is that they were already doing, and head off into the sunset together. How are you at connecting people with your small group of friends? That’s the power of relationships- connection.

3. Contribute:

Being a part of something, feels way better than watching something. (Unless it’s an MMA fight) When you get involved in an organization, church, or any other club your level of buy in goes way up! People feel a sense of ownership when they move from sitting on the sidelines to being an active participant. In this video, you see a whole sea of people who are actively engaged in what is happening on stage. There are not rows of velvet chairs neatly lined up as if you are in a movie theater observing something. No, these people are participating in the show, they are as much a part of the experience as the lights and sound waves booming from the stage. How are you at helping people get plugged in to be apart of your churches service projects, or serving teams? It’s vital!

Why do all this? Why go to the trouble of helping people through this three step process? Because you’ll find that there are people who will echo exactly what the woman said at the end of the video:

Get up! Pack your things…

Where are we going?

Somewhere we belong…

I love hearing people say, AH… I’ve finally found my church home. Every person has a story, and every story matters to God! Let’s work hard to help people find home.

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

Follow Friday

October 4, 2013 5 Comments

#followfriday Okay, let’s do a little community development. Who are you guys listening to and being impacted by out there in the blogging world, twittersphere or in podcast-land? Let’s do each other a favor and leave a comment about your favorite blog to be reading, person to follow, helpful/fun podcast you’re listening to, or book you are reading.

I’ll go first…

Here is a quick list of some of my favorites:

Blog: www.withoutwax.tv This is Pete Wilson’s blog. Pete is the lead pastor at Crosspoint Church in Nashville TN. I love the way that this dude communicates, and writes. I also love the way that he parents his kids and loves his wife. Check out his blog.

Twitter: J.R. Briggs– J.R. is a friend of mine, he’s a church planter, author, thinker, question-asker, and an all around godly dude. He’s a Phillies phan, but I think you can get over that. He asks some great questions that make you go: Hmm… Follow him.

Podcast: Stuff You Should Know– This is a fun little podcast. These guys Chuck and Josh explain all kinds of things and how they work. I particularly liked their podcast on cicada’s and my second favorite was their podcast on coffins. Check it out.

Book: Hazardous: This is an awesome book on the cost of discipleship. I have read it through once and now I want to go back and read it again! It’s that good. Read it.

Now, I want to hear your recommendations. You don’t have to have answers to all four categories, or maybe you have one that I haven’t posted about yet. Let’s hear them!

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

Changing Seasons and an Unchanging God

October 3, 2013 2 Comments

Where I live in northeastern New Jersey, the leaves are all starting to change colors. The signs that fall is upon us are so evident. In some ways I really enjoy this. I found that I love the change of the seasons.

I am a summer guy, there is no question about that. I love almost any activity that has to do with the summer except for sweating. So the change from it being 96 degrees out with the humidity being something you can taste to a cool 70° is welcome to me right about now. As you drive around the neighborhoods, more and more pumpkins are showing up on people’s doorsteps and I’m starting to notice more cornstalks popping up around too. That one never really made sense to me, I’m just going to be honest. I get why people put up pumpkins they’re cute and decorative, I’m just not to sure about the cornstalks.

One of the things I love about the changing of the seasons is that it reminds me of what I love about the season before it. Right now I am missing sitting and soaking in the sun on a sandy beach. I am missing hearing the sound of seagulls cackle about my head. In the middle of the summer oddly enough I find myself missing a rainy spring day. And in the dead of winter, I long to be outside in a flannel shirt and a vest. Then in the spring I miss sitting under our favorite blanket on the couch with a cup of hot coffee. Every season reminds me of the beauty and joy of the season before it.

In the midst of all of this change, I am reminded of one thing that doesn’t change–God. Whether there are leaves on the trees or leaves on the ground, or they are somewhere in the in between stage, God is still in control. In fact, God is the one who causes leaves to bud out, grow, and then one day fall to the ground. God is holding that together right now.

For some of you it isn’t the natural seasons that you’re concerned about. Right now you’re in the midst of changing seasons of life. Some of you have lost a job, gotten a divorce, or found out you have cancer. Or maybe you’ve recently become a parent, or that precious baby you used to hold in your arms is now breaking free and headed off to college. These changing seasons can be incredibly difficult.

No matter what season of life you’re in remember that God is one who doesn’t change, even if you do. I love the words from Lamentations 3:21-23

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

What is one thing you need to hope in God for today?

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

Saints or Sinners?

October 2, 2013 No Comments

When you walk into church on a Sunday morning, who do you see around you? What are those people like? Are they people who have it all together? Do they struggle? Do they doubt? What do you think and feel?

I know that walking through the front doors of a church can be incredibly overwhelming for some people. Some people are afraid that if they come to church their skin is going to burn from the holy light that is in that space like some sort of exorcist movie. They believe that they have done so many horrible things that they won’t ever be accepted in a place like this. Maybe that is how you feel, or used to feel. Interestingly enough, the way that we view others affects the way that we engage with others.

It comes down to this? Do you see church as a collection of saints, or a collection of sinners?

One of the primary reasons that people don’t spend more time engaging in confession and accountability is because they are afraid of being judged by you and me. Too often we think that the church is a collection of saints and that we are the one sinner that slipped into that community. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, we are all sinners, we are all people who at one point in time or another were separated from God. Too often we believe the lie that I can never measure up, or I’ll never change. We loose hope and we start to just throw in the towel.

Don’t buy the lie.

That’s the amazing thing about Jesus. Anyone can come to Him and find that there is still hope no matter how dark their world may seem. It is because of Jesus’ death on the cross that each one of us with our bruises, scars, and warts can come before God and be seen as beautiful and clean by Him.

The church is not filled with better people, just people who are better off because of it.

So what do you think? In an honest moment here, do you lean more on the side of seeing people as saints, or sinners? Let’s take a poll.

~Peter

[polldaddy poll=7439758]

In Faith in Real Life

When Life Feels Like Too Much: 4 Rhythms to Recenter Your Soul

October 1, 2013 No Comments

Have you ever felt like life is just flying by you? Work is cranking out endless tasks and responsibilities… The kids have countless events that they need chauffeuring to… There are multiple required social events on your calendar filling up your weekends… And some how you need to find time to just simply go to the bathroom in all that mess of a schedule.

This happened to me the other day. I was in a rush to get as many things into one 24 hour day as possible. I was running from one event to another and found that it was making me grouchy, irritable, and just down right testy.

I had to hit pause.

For about 40 minutes I simply sat still and watched life around me. Instead of watching life go by I did my best to be fully present in the midst of it. I sat and journaled and prayed and listened to some music. In those 40 minutes I felt more refreshed and rejuvenated than before.

When life is flying by you and feeling out of control try these four things…

1. Pause

As difficult as this may be, there are times when you need to simply just unplug. This might mean the dishes in the sink pile up for a little bit. Or the lawn doesn’t get mowed today. These things need to get done, but not necessarily right now. Your pause could be 30 minutes, 2 hours, or even a full day. It all depends on what you are willing to carve out of your schedule.

2. Reflect

Our minds are moving a million miles an hour, thinking about thousands of different things. It is a gift to stop and process what has been happening in your life the past few days, or weeks. It could be as simple as answering two questions: Where have I seen God lately, and What has God been showing me through these past few days or weeks?

3. Pray

Prayer is our intimate connection with our Creator, our Heavenly Father, and our God. Prayer is an act of depending on God in all things. When I am running my life and going a million miles an hour, my greatest temptation is to believe that I can do it all on my own. Prayer reminds me that I can’t. I am desperately in need of God’s help and presence in my life.

4. Journal

There is something life giving about writing in a journal. It has been a habit that I have added to my life for the past 8 years. I have filled a few moleskin’s with the thoughts, prayers, and tears of what’s going on around me. Writing is slow. It causes you to think, and process. Writing things out quite possibly can also help you figure things out.

What would you add to the list? Leave a comment below.

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

Escaping the Comparison Trap: Becoming Who God Made You to Be

September 30, 2013 No Comments

Have you ever felt like you just weren’t enough? I’ll be honest, there are times when I struggle feeling like I am enough. I wonder am I good enough, am I strong enough, am I smart enough, am I thin enough, am I ______________ enough. You fill in the adjective, I’ve wondered about it. Jon Acuff said recently, “Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.” That’s tough for me.

Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy”. How true is that?

I was reading through Romans 12 the other morning when I came across verse 2 and it struck me in a whole new way.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12:2 (the Message)

What a great reminder! When I begin to play the comparison game and wonder where I am not measuring up I need to remember these few things…

1. Be Unique

Our world loves to put people into little boxes and categories. If you dress a certain way, that means you are hipster, nerdy, sporty, or chic. If you like to recycle you are a green tree hugger. If you are a hunter you clearly don’t love animals. Come on! There are so many different pressures that we face. The media, our peers, and the world around us want to desperately form us into their mold. You don’t have to fit in that mold.

2. Be Flexible

God wants to transform you into a different person. You don’t have to be like everyone else because God is in the business of making you, you. The old me is exactly that- old. It’s time to bring on the new. This will happen over time and it will happen because He begins to change your thought process. There are times when you need to be willing to not always be right, or change the way that you think about things.

3. Be Teachable

When you step back and see what God has been doing in you, the ways that He has been molding and shaping you, all of the experiences that you have had, and all of the pain that you have gone through, it is a little easier to see what God may want to do through you. The last part of that verse says that you will begin to see what God wants to do through you, in you, and with you. It will require you to be teachable.

I can easily get caught up in the comparison trap. It is not a fun place to be. I’m thankful that God doesn’t want us to stay there and provides a way out of it!

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

Being ‘More’ Together

September 27, 2013 No Comments

Let’s just call something out. You are incredibly privileged. Based upon the fact that you were able to push a button and connect to the information super highway you are among the world’s wealthiest. The simple fact that you are connected online to so many hundreds of other people through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram mean that you have privilege and means. I know that I do. There are times when I wonder am I using my privilege and my means enough to support and take care of those who do not have as much.

It’s funny, the more connected we are digitally, it seems like the more disconnected we are physically.

When Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment in the law is, He responds in Matthew 22:37-40 by saying,

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole law and the Prophets.

When Jesus uttered those words I don’t think that He meant that we should just click ‘like’ on someone’s Facebook rant about the injustices in the world.

I don’t think that Jesus meant that we should stir our hearts to the point of passion, but not enough passion to actually do anything about it.

It’s funny… We are able to explain away so easily what it means to love our neighbors as ourselves. It amazes me how simple it is for me to ignore my neighbors and not give a rip about what is happening in their world. We live in the most connected world ever. What will it take for us to reorient ourselves and look to the needs of all of those people on your news feeds, and timelines.

I love how Jen Hatmaker puts it,

Love your neighbor as yourself. In other words, what standard is acceptable for my own life? My own family? This is the benchmark for everyone else.

What if we applied the same benchmark that we have for ourselves towards others? I imagine that we would give more, listen more, hug more, laugh more, pray more, help more, be more, and see more.

Here’s to being ‘more’. Let’s be ‘more’ together.

~Peter