God – Page 3 – Peter Gowesky

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

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

In Uncategorized

Plan B

September 29, 2010 No Comments

I am certainly behind the eight ball on this one. I have neglected to share with you about an awesome resource and a very powerful book that has recently come out. This is none other than the book by Pastor/Author Pete Wilson. If you or a friend are going through difficult painful times I would highly recommend you purchase this book for yourself or as a gift. Even if everything is going great, I would recommend that you get a copy of this book and read it! There is a ton of great stuff in this book to think about.

In this book Pete gets to the heart of some of the deepest most painful situations that life can throw at you. He is pointing anyone who is going through difficulties to “the God who keeps his promises. The God who is with us every moment and is in the process of working all things for good.” Pete promises no answers for these difficulties yet offers some great thoughts to think about while in those difficulties.

Pete writes, “I’ve wanted to usher people down a path of sudden and painless spiritual transformation when in truth there is no such path.”

I highly recommend this book. Check it out.

What are you reading that I must? Have you read this yet?

~Peter

In Uncategorized

This disturbs me

September 27, 2010 No Comments

Yesterday has come and gone. Sunday’s clock has ticked it away into a memory. We are onto Monday, which will shortly be over too.

Yesterday people gathered in their churches and gatherings in order to hear instruction from the Bible, to fellowship, to serve, and to worship God. Some would say they even came for the coffee and donuts… Some don’t even know why they came.

Many of our worship gatherings were well thought out and planned by worship pastors and leaders. They are well rehearsed and neatly packaged sections of our Sunday.

Here’s the deal though. I think we all can agree that the singing portion of our morning isn’t the only part of worship. If not check out Romans 12:1-2 and then let’s talk. So my question is why do you worship? How do you define worship? Is it something that you do because a guy behind a guitar started singing?

Have you fallen into the worship trap? The concept of ‘I’ll worship You when You pull through.’ I’ll give you my love, attention, sacrifice, and my life when I can see that you give a rip about me. Well what about when it seems like God doesn’t give a rip about you. Do you stop worshipping God?

This disturbs me: Exodus 4:31, “So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, then they bowed low and worshiped.”

See that? It was quick. It was one word, THEN. Only after seeing that God gave a rip for them did they THEN worship Him! This is unfortunately a trap that has not become outdated, extinct or uncommon. Even though the Exodus of the Israelites was thousands of years before this moment, the concepts in this verse are no less familiar to me.

When is your worship the sweetest?

When is it the most intense?

When is it the most regular?

I wonder if we are really honest with ourselves how often do we put that one word, THEN, in our worship. I’d like to call a vote to eliminate the word THEN from our worship vocabulary.

~Peter

In Uncategorized

Card Houses…

October 16, 2009 No Comments

The other night I was hanging out with a good buddy of mine, Rob. Rob and I go way back… We go back to the days of middle school. We were young morons that grew up together and lived life in the fast lane together. The stories could go on forever. So we got our families together for a fun evening of hanging out and catching up. We ended up playing cards but then the card playing digressed into talking… Which was awesome… So I started building… My hands are always doing something… Got to keep them busy… I started building a card house… Didn’t get very far. But then I thought about a little experiment… Let’s see how many cards I can get on top of this card structure. Here’s a few pictures…

card foundation... 104 cards on top... Besides the obvious skill involved in getting all of those cards to balance there was a vital and necessary element to the whole production; the foundation.

Foundations are essential… It doesn’t matter what you are doing… Foundations are vital…

They are vital in:

card houses
real houses
friendships
marriages
jobs
school work
sports

It doesn’t just stop there. Foundations are essential in your relationship with God and your understanding of Him! With the simple card hut in mind, what kind of foundation are you establishing in the spiritual corners of your life? Do you find yourself strengthening those foundations? Are you spending time reading God’s word? Are you finding times of quiet where you can pray and commune with God? Are you finding times to be silent before the whole world and ask God to speak to you? Are you finding times to spend with other christians so that you can encourage one another/build each other up/pray for one another and sharpen one another? It’s these moments and efforts that help us strengthen our foundation.

Let’s try it.

~Peter

In Uncategorized

Sweet Spot

June 3, 2009 1 Comment

The other night I watched bits and pieces of Dave Matthews playing live at the Beacon Theater in New York. I have to admit that I am a Dave Matthews fan. I never had the DMB sticker on my car, I did sport the hemp necklace for a while, I never went to a show, but all the while still loving what the band was pumping out musically. This concert was what I always expected a DMB show to be like… Except there was a lot less smoke than I expected! Anyhow…

I can give you one really good reason why I like Dave Matthews Band. Because he has some of the most stinkin talented musicians I have ever seen. I can appreciate every single one of them as musicians. Carter on the drums is absolutely redic… Boyd on the Violin tears it up, Lassard on the bass has an amazing funk and groove, The Big man on the trumpet is a phenom, and the new guy on the sax just played as if he has always been with the band. They are incredibly gifted and talented musicians…

One thing which I never could have predicted, since I’ve never seen them playing together, was how well they played together. Yeah, I know that seems like duh, they should definitely play well together if they are that gifted, but I mean these guys just play extraordinarily well together. Not only are they playing well, they are doing so with smiles on their faces, just looking at each other like, “Yeah, that was awesome, and we know it!”

One song I watched, I think that when Matthews wasn’t singing in the mic, he was looking at Carter the whole time, even having a conversation, all the while doing amazing things! They were in the zone. The crowd was loving it. To be honest, I was getting in to it. It started off with me saying, I just want to watch one song, and then it was half an hour later I realized that Jon and Kate plus 3 million was on next, so you know how it went from there…

Here’s the deal… They are phenomenal musicians yes, but as I was watching them jam I wondered how many of us get to that sweet spot in our relationship with God? Have you been in a situation lately where you can just sit there and enjoy who God is and totally be in tune with what He is doing in your life?

What types of things do you do in your life to get to that sweet spot with God?

~Peter

In Leadership & Calling

Carry the conversation

May 26, 2009 4 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZhsHsCuR5g&feature=channel_page]

As usual, here is the rundown from last night’s service. Honestly, Sunday night was kinda funky, huh? There were just so many crazy things happening. Sound issues, technical issues, and all kinds of strange things… I know that I was feeling like there was something going on under the radar… With that in mind, can I challenge you to keep praying for the Five? We would really appreciate your prayer…

So, we were picking up in the series Raw Worship, where we take a look at what happens when worship and life collide. We were in Psalm 130 last night and we were taking a look at what does it mean to worship God in and through the waiting? As always we look forward to and encourage questions/comments, here are this weeks…

You mentioned that you are tired of all the “smallness”, referring to what we wait for God to do. What encouragement and assurance do we give to those God calls to do the boring, unpopular, uncool, and truly small tasks?

This specific comment was made by me while we were discussing the concept of hoping in the Lord. What I was referring to was how I feel that we as the Church for the most part do not expect God to do incredible things. I think that instead what we expect from God is for Him to show up and do small things (as I mentioned); pay the mortgage, make sure that the budget is met… etc… See here’s what I mean… Why are we shocked when we hear stories about how God provides miraculously… As if this was like an unbelievable feat for God to provide? I mean honestly, this is the God of the universe that we are talking about! Why is the box that we think/allow God to operate in so stinkin small? When we read verses like 1 Cor. 2:7-9, or Eph. 3:20. do we go, Man God is huge, or do we say, eh, God is pretty powerful I guess. I realize that we can’t comprehend how HUGE God is… so, why then do we make Him so small? Whew, I better stop here and actually answer the question before I turn this into a book…

The seemingly “small” tasks that we have the privilege to be responsible for are not just that: small and insignificant. Those types of tasks may be uncool, unpopular, and even monotonously boring. We would be sorely mistaken if we viewed God’s calling on our lives to be small and insignificant. The gifts and talents that God uniquely gives each one of us are given to us in order that we can bring honor to God, and cause others to see God for who He is… I don’t care if you are filling communion cups, or cutting the church lawn… Your role in this huge organization that God has established; The Church, is not insignificant. You are vitally needed. Paul was a hero for this cause… watch what he does here in Ephesians 4;

11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

To the one who feels marginalized, underused, unimportant, small, insignificant, negligible, frivolous, and peripheral: You are incredibly important. Your work may not be cutting edge, it may not be flashy and all that attention getting… In fact you may not be thanked or praised much, if at all. However, we work not for the approval of man. We work diligently, unswervingly, whole-heartedly dedicated to the cause of Christ! We sacrifice our time, efforts, talents, money, and everything else we have in order that we may see the Gospel go forward to just one more person. The part you play is vital in the ministry of the Gospel. Don’t you for one minute think that you are unimportant, expendable, or peripheral. Just because your task may be borin, unpopular, or uncool, I don’t believe for one minute that it is small. As a pastor I praise God for people like you. You are the types of people that allow me to do what I do. (Go do a study on Acts 6:1:7)

To the one who submitted this question: thank you! It is conversations like these that get me charged up to keep doing what I do, and to help equip others to keep doing what they do! It really is all about Jesus. It is about introducing more people to Him. We are all charged with that mission…

To those who have a public ministry, a flashy ministry, a lot of responsibility, get a lot of thanks because of the publicity of your position: Find three people today who are behind the scenes people; i.e. The counters, the janitors, the lawn maintenance guy, the one who changes the sign out front, the one who folds and stuffs the worship guide… THANK THEM FOR WHAT THEY DO! CHANCES ARE YOU WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO DO WHAT YOU DO IF IT WASN’T FOR WHAT THEY DO!

Who do you see in your church that is a great example of an unnoticed servant? Share their story! Click on the comment button below and let it rip… Let’s encourage one another…

Thankful for those behind the scenes people…

~Peter

In Uncategorized

Perspective…

April 28, 2009 1 Comment

Perspective is everything. Or so they say. Perspective has an incredible potential/way of directing the path of our life. Alot rides on how you look at things. Think of a situation that you’ve been through recently and evaluate what your perspective was in that situation.

Some of us are the glass is half empty people.

Others of us are the glass is half full types.

Either way the glass is at %50 capacity- that fact remains true. The question isn’t about ounces, it is about the perception of what those ounces mean! In life we run around some of us with the glass at 95% capacity, while others of us have spent 95% and have 5% left. This can apply to so many different things.

I came across this thought today. I think that it is worth a little bit of your time to think about this one: Are your greatest moments with God in front of you or behind you?

Is your spiritual glass half empty or half full? Is your life winding down, or just beginning to ramp up? Do you find yourself more and more wrapped up in God and His grandeur and His beauty? I want the greatest moments that I have with God to be today. But here’s the catch, I want to say that again tomorrow, and then tomorrow’s tomorrow, and then that tomorrow’s tomorrow.

What about you… where are you at? Was that missions trip in 10th grade the last time that God rocked your world? Or maybe it was on the first breath of your first born that caused you to say, “God you are truly infinitely amazing!” Or was it the last time that you were at that Concert and your favorite worship leader was there, and that was the last time that God showed you what’s up. Sometimes we say and think, well God can’t use me anymore… or I have done so much that would make God not love me. Or, I don’t think that I could ever be in a situation that is more incredible than that one… Don’t let your perceptions limit the limitless, infinite, vast, all creative, majestic, wildly imaginative GOD!

So, here it is… what about you- Are the greatest moments with God ahead of you, or behind you? Do you need a perception adjustment?

Praying for the best moments TODAY!

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

Fatherhood

April 1, 2009 1 Comment

Yesterday and today I had the privilage of watching both of my kids close their eyes and enter into a time of rest. Much like their dad, they like their back rubbed in order to fall asleep. (to Noah’s future wife: I’m sorry, if this is setting you up for countless nights of back rubs…) So I was gladly rubbing their back and watching my little 3 1/2 year old and 2 year old fall asleep. It really was amazing. If you aren’t a parent you may be wondering why this is so inspiring. I didn’t get it till I became a dad. (so, hold onto your hat…)

There is nothing that disturbs me more than when my child is distressed. Crying in fear, crying in pain, and crying in panic. I hate that. I want nothing more than to wrap my arms around them both and protect them from feeling that way. So, as I watched their tears turn to calm steady breathing, turn to resting, it was a beautiful picture; one which I will not soon forget.

Noah and Grace, it is a joy to be your daddy. I love you both so much.

At The Five, we are in a sermon series called Plan B. This is looking at what do we do when life doesn’t go our way? How do we react and respond? I couldn’t help but think about how God must feel when we are all in a panic, and we are running around like crazy people. Don’t you think that if God created all of our emotions, and we are made in His image, that we must be feeling a portion of what He would feel? I wonder… if God gets as much joy and pleasure out of watching us rest in Him? I’m willing to bet He does.

Take a break. Quit trying. Rest in God.

~Peter

In Uncategorized

Refinished

March 28, 2009 3 Comments

Right now I am in the midst of a project. I have a dresser laid out in the basement receiving its first coat of primer. It was stained a honey”ish” color, and we are going to be using it for my daughter Grace. So, here’s the deal. We didn’t like the color, and we didn’t like the handles. We liked the dresser overall though… It has great potential. It is in decent shape. It needs a little love from the gorilla. That is the gorilla glue… But, it will be a solid piece of beautiful furniture once we are done with it.

Yesterday I sanded it down, roughed up the finish a bit so that it will be ready to accept the primer that I applied today.

It is a work in progress.

It is not perfect yet.

It is just like me.

I am a work in progress. I am not perfect yet.

Every single one of us has incredible potential. We have the ability to be incredible or just honey colored stained wood. God has given each one of us and incredible gift- LIFE. What are you doing right now, today, to increase the beauty that God has instilled in you. What are you doing to refinish your life so that it radiates God’s glory? What are you doing today to take care of the gift that God values at a cost non of us could ever pay?

I’m working on refinishing my life…

~Peter