Life – Peter Gowesky

In Faith in Real Life

Frolicking Shaggy Goats

August 19, 2011 No Comments

Shaggy Goat This morning as I was reading from the book of Isaiah I started to laugh out loud at what was on the page before me. Have you ever done that? Do you ever find the Bible funny? (You should, there are some really funny parts…) I was laughing at the mental picture that was forming in my head as I was reading. I was reading Isaiah 13 when I came to these verses:

21 But desert creatures will lie down there,
And their houses will be full of owls;
Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there.

22 Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers
And jackals in their luxurious palaces.
Her fateful time also will soon come
And her days will not be prolonged.

Seriously, shaggy goats and ostriches are the worst you can throw at me Isaiah? If you had mentioned nests of scorpions or ravenous-belligerent badgers than maybe I wouldn’t have laughed. But goats and ostriches? Owls? It sounds like a petting zoo is moving in.

Or not…

Here is what Isaiah is really saying…

Isaiah’s writing in the 13th chapter is a prophecy against Babylon. Verses 21 and 22 speak about what God is going to do to Babylon in the coming days. God is deeply disturbed by Babylon and has pronounced (through Isaiah) a coming judgement. Isaiah reveal that God is going to destroy Babylon and let it go to waste. Not only go to waste, but be given over to the evil of this world.

Wild animals will find their home their now— this doesn’t speak to the taming of the animals, but to the lack of human life in that space now providing opportunity for the animals to move in.

Owls will fill their houses. Owls, or howling creatures will fill the air with somewhat freaky noises. (ever heard an owl at night screeching? I’ve had to change my pants due to screeching owls) Isaiah is setting the mood, or the soundtrack to what is coming.

Shaggy goats will frolic there. Shaggy goats were connected with demons. (see Lev. 17:7 and 2 Chr. 11:15) He’s saying demons will frolic in your backyard. I don’t think that anyone of us wants our backyard to be the popular playground for demons to come hang out at.

This is certainly not the petting zoo moving into town. This speaks of destruction and abandonment. This is a prophecy of evil running rampant in a place that once teemed with life. This is downright scary, not funny. This is depressing and saddening.

This is written to Babylon, but what about us? Babylon neither acknowledged God or walked in His ways; the day of judgement was coming to them.

We need to learn from the past and encourage more people to turn towards God and walk in His ways. Otherwise the owls may fill their homes and the goats may frolic in their yards. I shudder to think.

It’s a good thing that Jesus came so that we could have life, and really full life at that! (Jn 10:10)

~Peter

In Family & Parenting

Slow it down

October 23, 2009 3 Comments

This week has come and gone with the greatest of ease. Man! I’ll tell you what, time slips by before you know it.

This week I was in meeting after meeting it seemed. We ended up in the hospital with Noah’s forehead… I met up with some other youth pastors discussed long range goals… I stressed out. I cleaned our whole front yard(all million walnuts and all) and it seemed like life flew by.

Today I am going to try and slow it down. Take it in. Listen to each moment. Spend time with the kids doing silly things… drawing dinosaurs, birds in nests, cranes, and whatever else Noah’s mind can think of. We’re going to play pirates, build blocks, and legos. Grace will run around and play kitchen, and tag along with big brother. Today won’t come back…

The next time I’ll visit today will be in my memory.

What is one thing you want to slow down and enjoy today?

~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 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

In Faith in Real Life

The Bread of Life

June 25, 2008 No Comments

This was a blog post that I published several months ago. However, I’ve been listening to Pete Wilson’s sermon series, SYNC and this came to mind… (If you want to listen too click here) It’s good to have a refresher.

Matthew 6:25-34

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? ²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

²⁸ “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, ²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

³¹ “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ ³² These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. ³³ Seek the Kingdom of God^[d^] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

³⁴ “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

I was sitting and reading this passage at a Panera bread [I must admit that was my second meal at Panera that day. My wife who is an avid Panera Bread lover would be so jealous if she only knew] after having looked at these beautiful loaves of bread all day, I couldn’t help but think about how Jesus, (who calls Himself “the Bread of life” in John 6:35) came down and satisfied my needs.

He seriously came down and met my every need. I was reminded today that Jesus will fulfill our needs, not our greed’s. Boy, that is startling isn’t it? How often do I have greed’s that I feel are needs.

Panera has some really delicious bread. And being a self-proclaimed {starch-a-holic} I know a good loaf when I see one. I don’t even need to say loaf of what. You other starch lovers know what I’m talking about. Nothing like a good loaf of carbohydrates which go right to my ever-expanding waste line. I’m told that carbs in control is the way to go. However, since I can’t seem to get that right, I’m starting a club called Carboholics Anonymous.

What if we had a group so addicted to Christ, The Bread of Life, that we had a Carboholics Anonymous class. Addicted to the bread of life? Well, here’s where you can come and meet others who are equally addicted. Or are our Churches and Youth Groups filled with people who are on the Spiritual Atkins diet. You know, cut the carbs, and never eat those evil carbs again! It could sound something like this, “I like religion, I like Jesus, but I can only have 1 portion of Jesus a day, and I prefer him with jelly. In fact I’ll take some more vegetables please.” Do we forget to learn from the Bread lovers? I pray that God makes me a lover of others more than self. However, what if I was so in tune with relying on the bread of life instead of the bread of strife?