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Faith in Real Life

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In Faith in Real Life

Till 2010

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This past weekend I had the incredible opportunity to take eight of our youth leaders down to the National Youth Workers Convention in Atlanta Georgia.  We heard from some great speakers, (Andy Stanley, Francis Chan, Perry Noble, Steven Furtick, Donald Miller and others) all of us were challenged in one way or another.  We learned what it looks like to lead in uncertainty, we were challenged to love the Lord with all that we are, we were asked to commit to leading Godly youth ministries focused on Jesus, and challenged to share the greatest story that has ever been told with an unswerving diligence and dedication.

Over the course of this extended weekend I honestly believe that God has stretched me.  There were times of heartfelt worship, moments of raw emotion, thoughts of missed opportunities, and words of encouragement.  I was challenged to adopt a bigger dream and vision than ever before.  There are many details that I need to work out yet before I share with you and my church body what this means and looks like.  However, I know that this is exciting!  It is big!  It is going to rock our worlds and hopefully the worlds of many around us.

So in preparation for this dream right here at the start of seeing God fulfill it I have decided to quit blogging for a little over a month.  I will resume blogging here at www.thesaltlick.tv on January 1st, 2010.  My desire is to use this time to really focus on listening to God, and following the leading of His spirit.

Others in the blogging world have called what I am doing a “Blogatical”.  That’s a pretty good description…  There is a lot that I don’t know about what’s to come over the course of this next month.  However, here’s what I do know.  I know that God is the God of all things!  I know that I want to hear from God.  I know that I want to rely solely on His Holy Spirit and be led by Him alone.  I know that I want to see God do some amazing things here in this online community as well as the community that I live in.

So until 2010, I’m signing off!

~Peter

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Where the Wild Things Are

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Last Sunday I had the opportunity to teach in all three of our main gatherings here at church.  I always appreciate the opportunity to teach.  For me part of the process is unlocking the creative imagery for whatever topic we are discussing…  This week we used the book by Maurice Sendak, “Where the Wild things are” to help illustrate the teaching time.  Here is the video that was seen in the morning gatherings and was supposed to be seen in the evening gathering.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ui2zxiwA_U]

This week we were talking about God’s Love.  Here are a couple thoughts and questions to think about…

  • How often do you run to where the wild things are?
  • How does it make you feel to be reminded of the truth found in Romas 5:8? “But God demonstrates His own love toward us that even when we were sinners Christ died for us.”
  • You have never experienced a loveless day in your life!
  • Which lie do you have the hardest time not believing?
    • I’m to dirty for God to love me
    • Everyone else is against me, my world is falling apart, God can’t love me in all this
    • If I’m good enough I can earn God’s love
  • How does understanding the depth of God’s love for you motivate you to love others?  Should it?  Does it?
  • 1 John 4:11 “If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

Just some good Wednesday morning thoughts…  What do you think?

~Peter

 

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Can this be possible?

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpXPCJUC2Kw&feature=popular]

Here’s what I want to know… Is this even possible?  I mean honestly?  $29.95 will get me that sculpted body, in 6 simple minutes a day?

So, here’s what I think.  I think that it’s crazy!

What do you think?  Do you think the shake weight can actually work?

Seems like a short cut to me…

I’m shaky on the shake weight…  Are you solid, or shaky?

~Peter

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The secret’s out…

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Here’s the deal…  I like some crazy stuff…

I like peanut butter on top of my poptarts

I like Ketchup on my taco salad

I like a little bit of coffee in my creamer

I like pork roll at anytime of the day…

Here’s one other thing that I secretly like… I’ll let you in on the secret…

I love the song Umbrella… ella… ella… eh… eh.. eh…

But seriously, Rihanna gets me every time that song is on… It then lingers in my head for the rest of the day.  So, when I heard this song I thought man now this is something to truly celebrate.  Usually I wince whenever christians try to imitate art/culture instead of create it… but this was pretty good, I must say.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE57VcA8E_M&feature=player_embedded#]

What about you?  What funny thing do you secretly like?

~Peter

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Have you

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slowed down?  Do you remember the last time that you enjoyed the moment?  Dependent upon your part of the country, have you enjoyed the crisp fall air?  When was the last time you enjoyed the moment?  Whatever moment it was?  I don’t know if for you it was a walk at night with your special someone… or maybe it was a large coke!

Or maybe it was…

  • Holding hands with your spouse
  • kissing your kids goodnight,
  • waking up and feeling the warmth on your sheets compared with the cool air
  • SNOOZE!!!
  • the first sip of a hot cup of coffee
  • A good laugh that almost makes you cry…
  • What is it for you???

I have to admit…  Sometimes I stink at stopping and enjoying/appreciating those!  See it’s moments like those that get lost in the BIG details, the expenses, the deadlines, the pressures, the stress, and the overall crud.  Right now I need to see beyond moments like this…

Broken heaters...
Broken heaters...
Rodents invading my home!
Rodents invading my home!
Broken down CARS!!!
Broken down CARS!!!

It’s moments like that where I get lost in the details and the stress, and I miss out on enjoying the moments like these to the fullest:

Making music...
Making music...

FIRE FIGHTING!
FIRE FIGHTING!

Investigating their first rodent extraction!

Investigating their first rodent extraction!

Here’s the idea… Let’s take life a little slower.  Let’s focus on the beautiful moments more than the stressful ones…

Could you walk through life a little less hurried?  Could you stop and admire the details a little more?

What keeps you from living slowly?

~Peter

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Typhoon Ketsana

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website

As many of you are aware, there have been several tragedies worldwide lately.  A friend of mine, Jeff Davis, put this website together.  It is my hope that you would jump over there and spend some time watching the video, but also remember that these just aren’t dramatic pictures, but they are glimpses into the lives of real men and women, boys and girls.

Let’s join together in prayer for each one of these people!  Click here to visit the site.

~Peter

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Laugh at God?!?

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The Bible is filled with some crazy stuff.  I know that.  But I read something today that I hadn’t noticed before.

Side Note: (It is so cool when you read through a familiar passage of the Bible and all of a sudden you see something fresh and new about God and who He is.  Or you notice a detail that you hadn’t seen before!  There is one more reason why you should be reading the word of God every day…)

So anyway back to it… I was reading today about a time when Jesus was healing people.  You can read about it in Luke 8:40-56.  Jesus had been healing several people over the course of the last several verses and then there is this story.  There is a pressing problem.  So much so that the dad came to talk to Jesus personally.  He came to plead with Him to come and heal his daughter.

As Jairus, the dude, is going to get Jesus and is in fact walking(maybe briskly???) back to the house with Jesus someone comes and says, “forget about it.  She’s dead. Don’t waste His time.”  Jesus says, Don’t be afraid, only believe and she will be made well.”  So they get to the house and they dismiss everyone and Jesus says, “STOP CRYING!  She’s not dead, just sleeping.”

AND THEY LAUGHED AT HIM!

The people laughed at Jesus.  Can you imagine laughing in the face of God?  He just got done saying, don’t be afraid, only believe and she will be well.  Then the very next second Jesus says, she’s not dead, just asleep.  THE PEOPLE laugh… Remember who the people are… They are the parents of the “sleeping dead” girl.  I’m telling you this is odd behavior!

If I were Jesus I would be like, forget it.  I’m not healing her now… Laugh at me again, see what I do.  I ought to smack you from here right back into Egyptian Slavery!  How did you like wandering around for 40 years, sleeping in a tent every night?  Go ahead, try that on for size!  PUNK!

That’s just me.  Not Jesus.

Jesus says, Child arise.  AND SHE DOES!

So, here’s the weird part.  These people really didn’t have faith.  Jesus says, believe and she’ll be fine.  Yet when it comes time to believe they are so far from actually believing.  They laugh!  Out Loud.  But He still heals the child.

After not having noticed this juicy little tid bit before, it made me wonder, and think, how much faith do I really have?  Have there been times when God has whispered to me, “I am going to do ______ through you or for you”… I hope that my response isn’t laughter!

What about you?  Do you have the faith to believe that God means what He says?

~Peter


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where have I been

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There has been so much going on in my head lately… some of which includes, sinus congestion, others of which include Auto Tune, Leadership, the Church, Kanye West, and tons of other stuff…  Unfortunately I just haven’t had the time to get anything down on paper.  They keep escaping me.

I feel like my mind is a restless wanderer lately…

What things/ideas/circumstances make your mind go in a million directions?

I’d love to know.

~Peter

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