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Archive for the ‘Formation’ Category

Fan It Back Into Flame

Posted in Formation, Grace, Hope on January 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Today, during my time of being present with God, I read the first chapter of 2 Timothy.  As I read, Paul’s words reminded me of something we all need from time to time.

He assured Timothy that he believed Timothy possessed strong faith.  He shared that he had seen this faith in Timothy’s grandmother and mother and now sees it in him.  But then he said something very telling.  He says, “I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you.”

He goes on to explain that this gift is a spirit not of fear but of power, love and self-discipline.  I was reminded that I don’t always live with a spirit of power or of love or of self-discipline.

But the point of encouragement for me today from Paul’s words is that, as a believer, I already possess this gift – I just need to fan it into flame!

If this describes you as well, take some time today to think about this fact.  As a believer, you already possess this gift but maybe it has died down to a smolder.  Fan it back into flame.  Realize that God is a mighty God.  God is fully aware of everything in your life and is ready to provide for your needs.  God is still in control.  Regardless of what lies in your path today, God is saying, “I’ve got this.”

There is noting impossible for God.  There is nothing too big (or too small) for God.

As a believer, you know all of this.  So fan this gift of power, love and self-discipline into flame today.

Go impact your world!

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Come Awake

Posted in Formation, Grace, Hope on January 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »

One of my favorite current praise songs is Come Awake.  When I sing this song, I am reminded how easily I doze off to what God is doing all around me.  I become so distracted by the busyness of my life – doing good things – that I become numb to God’s activity, and even God’s calling.

If this describes you as well here is my challenge for us today:

Take 10 minutes to be still – to settle your mind and your heart.  Open your eyes to God’s movement.

Come awake!

Be blessed!

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What Would the World Be Like If . . .?

Posted in Community, Formation, Hope on January 23, 2012| 2 Comments »

In preparing for our devotional time last night, I ran across a quote from Lion and Lamb, by Brennan Manning.  He said,

What distinguishes the Christians whose faith is deep, burning, powerful, and luminous is . . . seriousness.  Seriousness is not the opposite of joy but of superficiality.

He then went on to use Francis of Assisi as an example saying that he was fun-loving, light hearted and whimsical.  But that was only a part of his character.  He was also committed to a “relentless search for truth and reality.”

And then he made this statement about Francis of Assisi.  He said Francis was a “Jesus-haunted man who gave up all to obtain all.”

Jesus-haunted.  I don’t guess I have ever thought of it that way.  I interpret this idea as being unable to rest in our pursuit of Jesus – pressing ever forward toward knowing him more fully and deeply and living out of that increasing knowledge and growing relationship.

I have been challenging our 1st B family to be the church outside the walls.  Yesterday, I made the point that our community would forever be impacted if each family member were completely tuned in to the same unified focus of becoming more like Jesus.

So often, our biggest problem is superficiality – we don’t take the whole “Christian thing” seriously.  I can’t even imagine all the ramifications of what our world would look like if we all lived a sold-out existence for Jesus.  Can you?

I challenge you to dream with me.  What would it be like?

I would love to hear your thoughts.  Please take the time to comment here or on Facebook or even email me at bhill33@me.com.

Let’s put our heads together and dream of a world in which Jesus followers were sold out for Him.

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What If Jesus Were Our Only Focus?

Posted in Formation, Hope on January 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Today’s Pray-As-You-Go Jesuit podcast reading was out of the Gospel of Mark.  It was the account of Jesus having to get into a boat and push out into the water so that he could speak.  We are told that people were coming from every region to see and hear him.  In this particular account, there were so many people crowding around him that he could not even speak – thus the need to get out into the water.

Jesus was an amazing teacher.  When he spoke he spoke with authority – like no one before him.  It was fresh and real and people just knew it was the truth.  People were drawn to him.  Sure, some were drawn because of the miracles and maybe even the thought of a free meal (funny – a free meal still works today).

I believe people are still drawn to Jesus – the real one.  Not the one that we sometimes fabricate in our churches.  But the one in scripture – the only ONE.

In Jesus’ day, there was no internet, no cell phones, no newspaper.  The word about Jesus spread solely by word of mouth.  And yet, there were so many people seeking him out from all over the region that he could not even speak without getting into a boat and pushing out into the water.  What would happen today if we got the word out about Jesus.  If we were to use the resources at our disposal to proclaim the news about Jesus we should see our world turned around.

Jesus, when he was talking to his disciples, made the statement that he would be lifted up and when that happened, he would attract all people to himself (you can see the discussion here).  Now not to take this out of context because he was referring to being put on a cross explaining how he would die – but the truth of his words are still true today.  I believe that when we put Jesus first, when the focus of our ministry is to promote Jesus – to lift him up – people will be drawn to him.  What if that was our only focus today?

How will you lift up Jesus in the next 2 hours?

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Who Has Your Heart?

Posted in Formation, Hope on January 18, 2012| 1 Comment »

Who has your heart?  Obviously, your literal heart is beating inside your chest.  But what about the center of your being?  When the Bible talks about the heart, it is referring to the deepest part of you – that part of you that only you and God truly knows (and by the way, God knows better than you).  That part of you that defines you as a person – what makes you tick.

All of us have that center – the heart of who we are – complete with dreams and aspirations, passion and focus.

So who has your heart?  It could be your job.  It could be your family.  It could be yourself – and many of us fall into this trap often.  Our biggest desire is to be in charge of our own destiny and focused on ourselves.

Today, try giving your heart to Jesus.  Focus on his leadership in your life – his compassion for others.

How your day goes will be directly related to where you put your heart today.  Make a good choice.

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Make an Investment

Posted in Community, Formation, Hope on January 16, 2012| 2 Comments »

I had an idea of what I was going to ramble on about today.  I had to leave the house early to head to Lubbock and I left early on purpose in order to have time to stop by my new favorite coffee shop.  As I drove, the sun was just beginning to come up and the sky lit up with an explosion of orange and purple.  It was breath taking.  I took some pictures with my phone thinking I would talk about the beauty of God’s creation.

Then I arrived at J & B Coffee and all of my plans changed.  As I ordered my house coffee, I surveyed the room to find a place to plant and write.  I noticed a group of people around a table but really didn’t pay any attention to what they were doing.  My coffee in hand, I headed to the doctor bar (the place where I take the perfectly good coffee and add things to it so that I can actually drink it – yes – I am a wimp).  As I stood there adding half and half and a Splenda, I noticed the group more closely.  It was made up of 5 people – two young ladies in their 20’s and two young men about the same age.  But in the middle was a man in his 70’s.  Being a little intrigued, I looked more closely.  I thought maybe that this was a study group – J & B is just a few blocks off the Texas Tech campus.  But as I observed, I realized that each of the people around the table had their Bibles open.  What a refreshing sight!

As a pastor, I wanted to go over and make a fuss about how great it is to see folks gathered for Bible study in a public place.  Or how cool it is to see people up early to spend time together in God’s word.  But I decided to take a seat across the room and just watch and write this little post.  As I sat and watched – and even tried to listen in just a bit, the picture that overwhelmed me was a 70 year old man investing in the eternity of 4 young adults.  As he led the discussion, his eyes were on fire with passion for God’s word.  Even though I could not hear what he was saying over the Indie music being piped in through the sound system, I could see the compassion and love in his face.

It was a humbling and beautiful sight – even better than the sunrise today!

I was inspired to renew my commitment to invest myself in others.

Who will you invest in today?

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Where Do You Encounter God?

Posted in Community, Formation, Grace, Hope on January 12, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Where do you encounter God?  Is it at church?  When you are there, do you sense God’s real presence?

Or maybe you encounter God when you witness a breath taking sunrise.  The colors and magnificence scream of an amazing God.

Maybe for you, God can be found in the face of a child – their eyes filled with trust and innocence.

Honestly, I encounter God in each of these ways – and others as well.

But what about in the face of the homeless person you see at the corner with his sign that reads, “Homeless – Please Help.”  Do we encounter God there?

I must admit, I have allowed myself to become callous to the scene.  I have allowed my busy schedule and my own needs to blind me – to block those folks from my vision (at least much of the time).

But I can’t get around this passage in my mind.  Jesus told us that we can encounter God in the hungry and in the hurting.

Today, I will not look past or see through the suffering.  Today, I will look for Jesus in everyone.

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Seeing With God’s Eyes

Posted in Community, Formation, Hope on January 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I was reading an article written by a pastor in the early 1900’s last night.  The title of the article by Percy Ainsworth is The Wilderness and the Sunrise.  The overall theme of the article is the hope we have in Jesus.

One of the statements Ainsworth made in the article has set me to thinking and reflecting on my approach to people.  Here is what he said:

Jesus knew more about the sinfulness of the world than anyone else could ever know, and yet he never seemed to be expecting to find sin in human hearts.  He was always looking for something good.

Let that thought wash over you for a few minutes.

Jesus, who knows everything about you – he not only knows your actions, he knows your thoughts, your motives and your attitudes.  He sees what is in your heart.  And yet, when he looks at you – he looks for the good.

What a thought!

That should bring you hope today.  That should motivate you to look for the good in others as well.

For me, I have been challenged to strive, with God’s help, to really look at the people God puts in my path today.  I want to look past what the outward appearance presents to the good in each person.

Isn’t it possible that we could find something positive and good in each and every person we find standing in front of us today?  That is seeing people with God’s eyes.

Those are the eyes I want.

Be blessed!

 

 

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More Like Jesus

Posted in Formation on January 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday’s sermon was the beginning of a series we are calling, The Family Resemblance.  Over the next couple of weeks, we will be talking about and thinking through the need for us to look like Jesus.  God calls us to this lofty task and not only that but our world needs us to be the light in a dark place.

As we work through this series, there will be one aspect that remains constant through all of it and that is my challenge to you today.  We must make time to be with Jesus on a daily basis if there is to be any hope of us becoming more like him.

Yesterday, I asked our folks to think about why they decided to follow Jesus in the first place.  You see, most of us go through times on our journey when we lose that original passion and excitement.  If we are to strive to be like Jesus, I believe we must do so out of conviction and commitment but also with passion.

I must confess, as I did to our congregation yesterday, that over the last couple of months, it seems my relationship with Christ has grown stale.  My prayer has become that of the Psalmist who said, “Create in me a pure heart O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”  I long for that passion to follow Jesus.  I desire to be more like him today than I was yesterday.

I invite you to this prayer today as well.

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Constantly Creating

Posted in Formation, Hope on January 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »

As I drove to work this morning, I plugged in and listened to some Gungor.  To be honest, my mind was on the mountain of tasks that this day holds.  So I wasn’t really listening to the words of the song.  But one sentence caught my attention.

Jesus – your the one who saves us – constantly creates us into something new.

Has Jesus saved you?  Is he creating you into something new?

When we turn the control of our lives over to Jesus, he begins his work.  You see, when we make the decision to follow Jesus and his teachings, we don’t automatically and magically become all that God wants for us.  Growing in our relationship with God and as a follower in the Way is a journey – a progression.  But it is constantly happening.

I guess that is the word that stuck out for me this morning – constant.

As I have mused over this little word I have been reminded that the Holy Spirit uses all kinds of things to shape us – to mold us into the people we were created to be in this world.  Think about this – just about everything you do today and everything that you encounter could be meant to be a growing opportunity – a learning experience – a part of the process and progress.

That means that the little inconvenience you experience when the person just drops by to say Hi! and it turns into an unplanned 30 minute interruption may be intended to grow you.  That added task you did not have on your To Do list when you got up this morning is meant as a life lesson.

The key is being sensitive to this process and being willing to be molded.

Years ago, I chose the name of this blog – Clay In The Hands – intentionally.  As a follower of Jesus, we must see ourselves as clay to be shaped.  But dried out clay isn’t pliable – it can’t be shaped.  In order for the artist to be able to turn a lump of clay into something beautiful, the clay must be willing.

Are you willing today to be molded – to be constantly created?

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