Faith in Real Life – Page 7

In Faith in Real Life

Runners in Spandex

February 1, 2011 2 Comments

This past Sunday we were traveling home from our winter retreat on 611 up by the river. If you have been on that stretch of the road you know that it is tight enough for just two cars to pass by one another. Now let’s put a bus into that mix. That is an even tighter squeeze. As I said, we were driving home on this very tight roadway when we come upon a man jogging on the side of the road. Fortunately for us their was not a car coming in the oncoming lane so we easily passed by him. I have two questions for this guy…

1. Why are you running in the freezing cold with spandex on?

2. Out of all the possible roadways and trails available to you, why did you choose this particular road to run on?

On this Tuesday morning neither question truly matters to me. However, I can’t get the image of that man running out of my head. I’m not a runner. I wish I was. In fact there is something inside of me that is telling me that I probably should start running. (That’s beside the point.) BUT, I think that many of us are professional runners and we might not even know it.

When finances get really tight and the bills start stacking up on your counter where do you run?
When a friend hurts you and leaves you out to dry where do you run?
When your spouse sits you down for a difficult “chat” where do you run?
When you find out that your teenager is going to be a mother/father where do you run?
When you get called into your bosses office and find out that as of Friday you will be unemployed where do you run?
When the Dr gets the test results and tells you “it’s not good” where do you run?
When life takes a turn for whatever you could have least expected or wanted where do you run?

To often many of us run and hide, run for the bottle, run towards that affair, run for that chemical high, and run to something that can only protect you for a few moments. We will frequently choose man made solutions that can and will only provide man sized results.

In Psalm 11 we see that King David has some advisors that have given him the counsel of running and hiding from his problems. David however is not tricked by the counsel of these men. Check this out:

“In the Lord I take refuge; How can you say to my soul, ‘flee as a bird to your mountain;'” Psalm 11:1

David writes this about God, the Lord, the one in whom he takes his refuge;

“The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.”

And…

“For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.” Psalm 11:5 & 7

David knew that whatever he would run to could only let him down and disappoint him. He chooses to run to God. He chooses to run to the refuge that God provides. See check this out… God is never shaken, He is never absent, and He is never unaware. David has it right. He says from the get go, I run to God.

I don’t know what David’s circumstances are that prompted this Psalm. But I know where David chooses to run.

I don’t know your circumstances, but I know where you should run. Why don’t you run to God, the one who can and will produce God sized results!

I think we are all running. Where are you running to? What are you running towards?

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

When Possum’s Attack

January 29, 2011 3 Comments

My poor wife. First off, she has to deal with me, but then on top of that there are so many times when I am out and about, away from home. It seems that only when I’m away do I get texts like this one:

Text 1: “Just saw a possum right up against the back door glass… lovely!!!!”

Text 2: “Yeah just figured out why he was hanging around. He was eating through our garbage u left on the driveway… He went for the P.F. Changs leftover box…”

Ah… Life is never dull around here. Just thought I had to share this one… As I said, only when I’m away does this stuff happen.

~Peter “the possum hunter (when I get back)”

Oh and here are a couple possum pics…

In Faith in Real Life

Coffee: The Subject of Tea’s Jealousy

January 26, 2011 No Comments

The other day my friend and I were sitting in class, during one of our breaks a discussion of tea and coffee came up. He has spent some time in England and has come to truly appreciate Tea Time. I on the other hand feel like I can say that 2010 was the year of Coffee for me. See, it was in 2010 that I learned to drink coffee in the morning almost every single day. More appropriately I should say that it was in the year 2010 I learned that I love coffee every morning. Our discussion of tea and coffee was brief, but long enough for me to think about my coffee consumption habits.
In the year 2010 I found myself waking up and tiredly rolling out of bed to begin my typical routine of helping get the kids ready, fed, and dressed. Then I would shower, dress, and get on to packing my bag for the day. I would grab my to go thermos of coffee and head out the door. I have found that, my consumption of coffee had gone from being “with breakfast”, to being “for breakfast”.
One of the reasons I like coffee is because of it’s thicker than tea feeling. Now maybe that is because I use a portion of creamer that would make any young calf jealous, or maybe it is because I use enough sugar which requires the use of an old fashioned egg beater to mix it all. Coffee seems to stick to your bones a bit more then tea does. It seems to take on the form of breakfast far better then it’s watery English girlfriend, the tea bag.
With all of this having been said, this has become a problem for me. I have realized that for far to long I was not eating one of the most important meals of the day. I was not fueling my body for what was to come and I was not experiencing life to the fullest. Coffee, or tea for that matter, was never intended to be a breakfast supplement. It was only ever intended to enhance the meal itself. This has led me to the decision that each and everyday, as best as I can, I will eat breakfast. Let 2011 be known as the year of the breakfast.
While the previous stories are true of my life and experience, breakfast and coffee are metaphors for a much larger epidemic that runs rampant in our Churches and Christian Communities. I find that there are many who say that they are followers of Jesus, but what they are really saying is that they are followers of church attendance. They are turning coffee into breakfast. I have talked with people who have the most disciplined devotional time and who work their way through the whole Bible in one year yet they show no signs of a connectedness with their Savior! They have turned coffee into breakfast. I know that there are people who approach the communion table and wonder more about if it really is the first week of the month, rather than spending those precious moments in a time of remembrance, embracing the mystery of Jesus death, burial and resurrection. They have turned coffee into breakfast.
It is not enough just to be a really religious person. It is not enough to be a person who looks really good on the outside but on the inside is like an empty warehouse! Jesus has so much more for you than that. Bible reading is great, I highly recommend it, but not in place of truly knowing Christ. Perfect church attendance is awesome, but not in place of truly knowing Christ.

Are you enjoying coffee for breakfast or along with breakfast?

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

Professor Night Lectures Again

January 20, 2011 1 Comment

[Written two days ago on my way from Philadelphia to Dallas on board a very small plane. At least I had a window view!]

“God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon. Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening.”. Psalm 19:1-2 (the message)

As I quietly pluck the keys on my keyboard, I am flying at 36,000 feet somewhere over Wisconsin, staring at a brilliant full moon, reflected on the great lake below. The night is crisp and cool. Actually, the night is freezing and bone-chilling. The sky is dark, except for the “lesser light” (Gen. 1:16). The light that was given to us in order to rule the night. The lesser light shines in its glory tonight. The lesser light hangs perfectly in the sky because God you set it there.

This is majestic. This is glorious. This is amazing! God is Majestic. God is glorious. God is amazing!

As I look at this scene laid out in front of me I am amazed at how small I am. To think that the God who created the moon, the stars, and the galaxies cares enough to know me. Even more amazing is that this same God who only spoke this lesser light into existence loves me. He loves me so much so that even when I was running and striving for things in opposition to Him, He forgave me. In fact my creator God loves me so much that He sent Jesus to hang on a cross so I wouldn’t have to. This leaves me speechless.

When was the last time that you were left speechless by God? Go ahead, share… It will be like a little online worship service.

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” Psalm 8:3-4

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

Chaotic Life!

October 21, 2010 No Comments

This past week I have been focusing on Psalm 51 and learning what it means to meditate on the word of God. I have been doing this for one of my classes at Biblical Seminary called “Formation and Mission”. The project at hand was to learn two new spiritual disciplines and put them into practice in our lives. Our group choose simplicity and meditation. Before you start getting all up tight thinking I’ve become too eastern or anything understand that meditation for a Christian is far different than any other form of meditation. Richard Foster in his book “Celebration of Discipline” explains it like this:

“Eastern meditation is an attempt to empty the mind; Christian meditation is an attempt to fill the mind. The two ideas are quite different. Meditation of Scripture centers on internalizing and personalizing the passage.”

After practicing this discipline for a few short days, I have really appreciated the discipline. Now, on to the good stuff.

As I mentioned our group chose meditation, and we chose the passage of Psalm 51 to meditate on. One of the coolest things that I came across after meditating on this psalm was verse 10. Listen to how the Message paraphrase puts it.

“God, make a fresh start in me,
shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.” Psalm 51: 10

Can you imagine what that would be like? We know that Psalm 51 is a psalm of David that was written after he had an affair with Bathsheba. His life is wildly out of control and he was chasing after the desires of his own heart at this time. Then brokenness hits him. The reality of what he had done has struck him in the face through the prophet Nathan. David begins to pour his heart out to God in repentance in this psalm.

Have you had seasons or decades in your life where you were like David? Okay, maybe not running around spying on naked women from your roof, but maybe you were living a life that was wildly out of control and seeking after the desires of your own heart. Can you resonate with the words of David? I can.

I love the beauty in the way the Message put it; “shape a genesis week from the chaos of my life.” That’s powerful! A genesis week, the week when all that we know to exist was created. Shape it from the chaos in my life! Wouldn’t you love to turn over your life’s chaos and have it shaped into something beautiful?

I know I would.

~Peter

Check out this video by Gungor called “Beautiful things”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqy1a_Gz0zQ]

In Faith in Real Life

Exciting News

October 19, 2010 No Comments

A while back I shared with you that my sister and her husband are moving their family overseas to Bangladesh to serve the people of Bangladesh and bring the light of Jesus Christ to a very spiritually dark and dimly lit country. Well when I first shared with you about their aspirations and desires they were somewhere around 8% supported. It excites me to share with you today that they are 100% supported! They have received 100% of their travel expenses as well as their monthly support.

It has only been 51 days and they have received all of their financial commitments. THIS IS INCREDIBLE! GOD IS AMAZING! It is exciting for me to watch God provide and take care of them. 51 DAYS! You can follow what they are doing over at their blog, www.thelongfamily.org, I would ask you to subscribe to their blog, or check regularly, pray for them as they head out, join their prayer team. Their is no doubt in my mind that God is going to use them in incredible ways!

Check out their latest blog post here.

To learn more about their ministry there check out this video here.

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

Enter the Mind of Noah

October 14, 2010 2 Comments

The other day Noah and I were building with blocks and I began to question him what it was exactly that we were building. A lot of times we just build for building’s sake. Good times had by all. This time he was persistent to get it just right. We put up the four walls and then added two slanted pieces to simulate a roof line. The walls were tall, towering, and void of windows. Their was one way in, no way out. Their was a parking lot and a prefered parking space near the door for the wealthiest individual. All of the people were sitting in a straight row in the very back of the facility. Then there were 4 people on the opposite wall, they were all standing.

I got really curious and asked him what we were building and who all of these people were. He responded with this is a church. These are the people, and this is the worship team. (I had to help him with the term worship team, that wasn’t natural, but they were clearly defined in his mind.)

I watched as he carefully and intentionally positioned people, and blocks. He was sure that he was building the church. In reality he is. This looks a lot like our churches, right? What if we looked at the book of Acts and the early church? Would we come to the same architectural structure? What about the placement of people, would that be the same too? I doubt it.

However, by the time Noah turned five he has a pretty good idea of what the church in the west looks like. I hope that when I am building blocks with Noah’s children that maybe the face of the church would look a little different, a little more like a group of people huddled together rather than neatly lined up in a row. Maybe it would be in a facility of some sort, just not so predictable. Can you imagine church being any different than it is now? Should it look a little different than it does now? What do you think?

Oh by the way, Woody and Army Man stopped by because they heard the wonderful music inside. They said they weren’t really into the whole God thing, so they sat in the balcony that day.

~Peter

Can you spot all of the things that are messed up with Noah’s form of church? Tell me what you see.

[slideshow]

In Faith in Real Life

Gather as much as you can

October 12, 2010 No Comments

I feel like a squirrel getting ready for winter. I am on a firewood collection rampage because this winter I will heat my house solely with wood. It worked last year and I am excited about not having to pay an oil bill again this year! I am hoping to have around 8 cords of wood for this winter. You never know what old jack frost is going to throw at you! Yesterday I spent the entire day hauling, cutting and splitting. I am determined to be ready, to be prepared! I have a method and a plan laid out in my mind as to where I am going to stack it, which pile I’ll pull from first and so on and so forth. This winter we should be sitting pretty.

My small group that I’ve been meeting with for about a year now has been doing a study that really encourages scripture memory. It has been a good practice to engage our mind and dive heavily into the word of God. It seems to me that their is a striking resemblance between my wood cutting and gathering tactics and scripture memory. Both of these tasks are storing up for later benefit! I have found great personal benefit in memorizing scripture during the process for sure, but an even greater benefit when it comes back to my mind at appropriate moments. Check out what Proverbs 2:2-5 says,

2 Tune your ears to wisdom,
and concentrate on understanding.
3 Cry out for insight,
and ask for understanding.
4 Search for them as you would for silver;
seek them like hidden treasures.
5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord ,
and you will gain knowledge of God.

Some things are desirable to know, but these things must be known! Is there a better way to tune in to wisdom or concentrate on understanding than to have it running through your heart and mind? Gather as much as you can!

Have you spent any time memorizing scripture? What hidden treasures have you found?

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

Salty Coffee

October 11, 2010 No Comments

I could go the rest of my life without having another ice cream cone. I could die a happy man never having had another milk shake. To not taste the cold teeth chilling frozen nectar of the cow would be just fine with me. It is no secret, I am a fan of salty foods. I can pass on a chocolate bar of any variety, but a bowl of chips, not so much. My weakness is salty foods!

I’m a salt guy. Some of you are sweets, I’m salts.

This past saturday night we were with some friends and our families were hanging out sharing a meal together. After the main course, we finished up the meal with a cup of coffee. A delightful treat if you ask me. So I got up to go fix my cup of coffee and another well known fact is that I am not a black coffee drinker. I love coffee, but it has got to have scream and sugar in it. I was making the perfect cup of coffee, I stirred it all up and then I was going in for the test. The sweet, hot, belly warming cup of joe was ready to satisfy when all of a sudden my taste buds screamed at me, ” WAIT, STOP, GO NO FURTHER, THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS!” I had “sweetened” my coffee with none other than 2 tsp of salt!

I can’t tell you how quickly I spat that out of my mouth. It was a matter of seconds. It was disgusting, and revolting. Have you ever had a moment like this, where something tastes so bad that the only thing you can do is spit it out of your mouth?

It’s funny to me, that salty coffee invoked a response of immediate propulsion from my mouth. It’s just coffee, it’s just a bad taste, it has no significant life altering ramifications attached to drinking it. I was not in danger. I just flat out couldn’t stomach it.

In the book of Revelation God tells John to write this message down. To a specific church in Laodicea he says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” God is saying you are lukewarm, you have a lazy faith! This kind of a thing drives me nuts!

I totally get what God is saying. It’s kind of like Salty Coffee.

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

When your best isn’t enough

October 8, 2010 No Comments

Okay so we all remember that trite rhyme,

“First is the worst,

Second is the best,

and third is the one with the hairy chest.”

That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. First off, it had to have been written by a consistant loser. No one in their right mind thinks that second place is the best. That has got to be the worst feeling of all. You know in the olympics the guy on the lowest block (bronze) is praising God that he got on the block at all, the guy on top (gold) is feeling like the king of the world, and then there is the second place guy. He is without fail always ticked at being in second. But, according to this “cute” rhyme, he is the best. Hmm… I think not!

Am I all alone here?

Help me with this one. Have you ever been in second place? How about fourth? What about 354th? Yeah. Me too. How about when you don’t make the team, and you weren’t one place away from making it but more like three or four places away from making it. Or the promotion is open in your office and you throw your name in the ring with a fair level of expectance that you will get it and BOOM the guy from the copy room is now your boss.

How do you deal with the times when you best just doesn’t seem to be enough? I focus on two things.

The first is: Do not let pride gain any ground in your life!

Pride can ruin a person. Pride will convince you that you are better than they are, stronger than they are, prettier than they are and far more competent than they are. The Bible says that pride leads to destruction! Check out what 1 Peter 5:6 says…

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time.”

I love Proverbs 4:23-26…

“Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth and put devious speech far from you. Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established.”

I love this because this is what happens when you become arrogant and proud. You start shooting off your mouth, or belittling the person or group of people who beat you out. I love that line, “let your eyes look directly ahead and let you gaze be fixed straight in front of you.” That is focus. That is intention. That is get yourself back in gear, pick yourself up off the ground and get going again. Pride won’t ruin that kind of determination. Your timing is usually never God’s timing.

The second is: Commit it to God.

I don’t know what it is, I don’t care. Whatever effort you are putting forth commit it to God: your relationships, your teammates, your marriage, your school work, your employment, your family, I don’t care what it is, give it over to God. Check out the rest of 1 Peter 5:7…

“casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

Give it up. Don’t give up the dreams and goals. Give up the extraneous effort and wasted sleep over those very difficult moments. Give it up and give it over. Take a few steps back and breath.

Do the best you have with the time, and resources you have and trust that God will use it to accomplish His plan!

~Peter