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Archive for the ‘Formation’ Category

Healthy Tension

Posted in Church, Formation on August 31, 2011| Leave a Comment »

 

Switchfoot is one of my all-time favorite Christian bands.  Last week I wrote a post using some Queensryche lyrics (you can link to that post here), so this week I thought I would balance that out.  I had the opportunity to see Switchfoot in person a few weeks ago at Rock the Desert.  They did an amazing job – fighting dust and the suffocating west Texas August heat.

Yesterday, I ran across this music video of theirs from the song, Dare You To Move.  As I watched, I really listened to the words for the first time in a while.  The words that caught my attention and have stuck with me up to this point are these:

Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here
Tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be

I have been wrestling with these words.  I often feel that tension – in fact, I would say that I feel that tension each and every day.  I feel the tension between who I am and who I could be.  I also feel the tension between how it is and how it should be.

You see, as a follower in the Way, I firmly believe that God has called followers to push for the change that would move our world from what it is to what it should be.  In fact, I have committed my life to the struggle that is part of that tension.  Anyone can go with the flow – that is easy!  It takes courage and strength to push for change – to call our world into tension.

How about you?  Are you living in tension?  Maybe you should be!

I dare you!

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Are You Looking For God Today?

Posted in Formation, Hope on August 30, 2011| Leave a Comment »

When is the last time you saw God working around you?

Last Wednesday, I had prepared for our Bible study that evening.  I had been through my notes and re-read the passage for discussion.  As I prepared, I knew there was more to be said than what I had on paper but I could not seem to wrap my head around it.  I prayed for God to speak through me and open all of our hearts – which is my normal prayer before I speak.

As we began our Bible study, I had barely moved into my first point when a lady in the back of the chapel answered a question that I had asked.  All of the sudden, the truth of the passage opened up to me and we spent the next 15 minutes having great discussion around what that meant for our church.

As I drove home, I realized, God had shown up.  It is not that God is not normally present – the Bible teaches us that God is always with us.  But in that particular instance, I could see God at work.

I find that the problem is not that God is not working everyday, all around me.  The problem is with me.  I don’t slow down long enough to see.  My sensitivity to seeing God at work has been numbed by all the sights and sounds of this world.

Take time today to slow down and really look for God at work.  The question is not whether God is working – the question is whether or not you will see.

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Our Weakness – God’s Strength

Posted in Formation, Hope on August 29, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Last night at church, we talked about God’s power.  We looked at what Paul faced throughout his ministry.  We know, from reading in the Book of Acts and the letters Paul wrote, that he was an amazing giant in the faith.  He endured persecution and imprisonment, he was ship wrecked on the way to share the Gospel, he was rejected and beaten by different villages.  He endured all kinds of challenges but never once do we see in the New Testament that he was deterred from following through with what God had asked him to do.

I find it interesting that Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12 talks about his weakness.  You can read about it here.

We are not told what Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was but there is no denying that Paul felt that it rendered him weak when it came to following what God had for him.  He asked God three times to remove it.  God answered by saying, “No – it is through your weakness that my strength comes through.”

Is God able to show strength through your weakness?  Have you thought about it?

God created you to be capable of doing many things.  But maybe you have thought to yourself, “If I just had more training, I could lead that small group.”  Or maybe you have thought, “Once I retire, I will have more time to do what I know I should be doing for God.”

What I find in myself is that I tend to work within what I deem to be my strengths.  I feel I know what God has gifted me to do and so I strive to make the most of it.  This approach is Biblical and I feel it is what God would have us do.  But I am left with the question, “What am I attempting to do today that if God does not show up, I will fail?”

Are you planning on attempting to do something today that is a little out of your comfort zone?

When we take the first step to venture out beyond our comfort zone, that is when God can do his best work.

Venture out today.

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Spiritual Formation and Queensryche

Posted in Formation on August 24, 2011| 1 Comment »

This may come as a surprise to those of you who have not read my ramblings until recently (those long time followers already know this about me) but I am a rocker at heart.  OK – the secret is out.  My typical music in the car is Christian rock, but every once in a while, I move to a station further up the dial and listen to some classic rock.  Yesterday, I was headed to watch a couple of our students play volleyball at the high school and the radio was set to the rock station.  A song came on by Queensryche that I recognized but had not really listened to closely before.  More or less the song dealt with escaping into a fantasy world where the singer was free of pain and struggle.

The words that struck me were these (actually the title of the song as well):  silent lucidity.

I don’t know why I was taken with this concept but I began to think about what that meant and how different the world might be if we were all a little more lucid in our thinking.   Lucidity is unhindered clarity of thought (my definition – but close to Webster’s).  What if our world was filled with folks with clear thinking?  It would be a better place.

We all have the capability of thinking more clearly – but our primary problem is that we spend very little time thinking at all.  Often, this is particularly true of our walk with Jesus.  Our lives are so filled with doing that the majority of us leave little time for thinking.  I am guilty of this each day.  I fill my calendar with good things but rarely do I include time to just think – to sit and listen for God’s promptings.

Today, take some time to strive for silent lucidity.  Pray that God would speak clearly to you today!

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Real or Fake? Your Choice

Posted in Community, Formation on August 23, 2011| Leave a Comment »

This past Sunday we talked about the fact that we all carry burdens.  We have things in our lives we wish were not there.  But when we come to church, we feel like we have to hide those things.  I was reading one of my favorite authors (Thomas Merton) this morning and ran across this passage in New Seeds of Contemplation:

For me to be a saint means to be myself.  Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I am and discovering my true self.

Trees and animals have no problem.  God makes them what they are without consulting them, and they are perfectly satisfied.

With us it is different.  God leaves us free to be whatever we like.  We can be ourselves or not, as we please.  We are at liberty to be real, or to be unreal.  We may be true or false, the choice is ours.  We may wear now one mask and now another, and never, if we so desire, appear with our own true face.  But we cannot make these choices with impunity.  Causes have effects, and if we lie to ourselves and to others, then we cannot expect to find truth and reality whenever we happen to want them.  If we have chosen the way of falsity we must not be surprised that truth eludes us when we finally come to need it!

Merton is talking to believers.  God gives us a choice to be the person we were created to be – the person God intends – or to be someone else.  We have a tendency to want to make people believe we have it all together as if to show who we really are would be less attractive or would be less lovable.

The community of believers has to be a real community.  None of us are perfect – so why do we want others to believe it is so?

My challenge to each of us today is simply this:  Be Yourself – Be REAL!

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Things Learned in 500 Posts

Posted in Community, Formation, Hope on August 19, 2011| 2 Comments »

Wow!  It is hard to believe but today marks a significant milestone in this area of my ministry.  Today is post number 500 for Clay In The Hands.  It doesn’t seem possible that I have been involved in sharing my musings that many times since April of 2009.  But here we are – number 500.  So today, I thought I would list some things I have learned through this experience.

  1. It is really hard to have anything to say if I am not focusing regularly on my walk with Jesus.
  2. I have had to learn to be much more observant in order to see God at work around me.
  3. God can use the thoughts I share in ways I could not have imagined or planned.
  4. How humbling it is to have people actually read what I share here.
  5. How much better Mac’s are than PC’s – OK that was not necessarily learned through my efforts here – but it is true none the less!
  6. The joy I have experienced when someone from another part of the world sends me a message about how they have been affected by this ministry.
Those are just a few things I have experienced through this effort.  So I wonder how God will work through the next 500 posts?
Thanks so much for reading!
Be blessed today!

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Strength to Be Bold

Posted in Formation, Hope on August 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday I told you about José and how he serves, day in and day out, in the middle of all the violence in Juarez, Mexico.  As we talked on Monday evening, I was challenged to look at the price I pay to follow Jesus.  I had to admit, it isn’t very high.  But I was also challenged to think about how much more I should be doing since I don’t have to deal with the stress of wondering if I will be gunned down in the next hour or two.

Then today, these were the verses I meditated on from Psalm 46:

1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

Two things jumped out at me.  The first is that no matter what struggles or threats we might be dealing with today, God is present – ever-present!  God is our refuge; our safe place to hide and take cover.  There is comfort in knowing that God is ever-present and ready to protect us.

But the second thing I noticed in this passage is that God is our strength.  With the strength of God on our side – there is nothing we cannot endure and accomplish.  Sometimes the most crucial things in life, come out of very trying times.  God gives us the strength to experience those times.  The psalmist says, even if the earth gives way and even if the mountains fall off into the ocean, God is still in control and present – we have nothing to fear.

So – – my challenge today?  Today, we live with boldness!  Regardless of where you sit today.  Regardless of what you might be dealing with today.  Have no fear – God is ever-present!  Go out with boldness and make an impact for the Kingdom today!  That is what being a follower in the Way is all about.

Be blessed!

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Real Struggles and a Real God

Posted in Formation, Hope on August 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Struggles are a part of life.

Wow, what an uplifting way to begin a post on a Monday morning.  But it is true.  We live in a messed up world.  Struggles come our way on a daily basis.  Those struggles may be shoved on us from the outside.  Or they may be more personal in nature – battling unhealthy habits or desires from within.

But either way, I am here to tell you today that God loves you.  God created you – yes you – in order to have a personal relationship with you.  You are God’s pride and joy!

So. God cares about what you are going through.  God is aware of the struggles you will face today.  But God is present.  You are not alone in this.

Trust!  Listen!  Obey!

Be blessed today!

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How Would Jesus Do Your Job?

Posted in Formation, Leadership on August 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I am sure you have heard of the movement WWJD.  For many years we saw the bracelets and the T-shirts with the acronym displayed on them.  I actually thought it was a great idea and I still do.  Asking the question, “What would Jesus do?” became a pretty popular thing to ask among believers.

But the question, at least for me, seemed to be something that came up as I was faced with a decision.  The idea was that when we had to chose between one thing or another, we should ask ourselves what Jesus would do.

I subscribe to an emailed devotional offered by Lead Like Jesus and so earlier this week, I received my regular devotional and it put this question into a different light for me.

The first question of the Lead Like Jesus post on Monday was this:  “How would Jesus do your job differently?”

Think about that for a minute.  This question moves beyond assistance in decision making to directly addressing our lifestyle and leadership style.  What am I planning on doing today and would  Jesus do it differently?

I have to say that this question caused me to stop and think.

How about you?  Would Jesus do your job differently today?  Would he treat people differently than you normally treat them?  Would he approach the tasks at hand with more vigor?  Would he place the same importance on the things you see as important?

Just some things to think about today.

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God Says “Hi!”

Posted in Formation on July 29, 2011| 3 Comments »

This is just one reason I love living in West Texas.  This was my view on the way to Lubbock this morning!
It is really kind of cool when the God of the universe who created all we know takes the time to say, “Good morning – I am still here and I am still in the creating business!”
Remember that today!
Be blessed!

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