Day Off - 2nd Edition
My second day off is already as enriching as last Wednesday. Thank God for the gift of Sabbath!!
I had a good (short) run to start the morning. I saw a raccoon in the neighbor’s yard that looked sick. After I got back and got cleaned up, I played "Guess Who" and "Guess Where" with Shani and Kim took Seth to school. On her way out of the neighborhood Kim confirmed that something was wrong with the animal. So I called the neighbors and they were more than happy to have me take care of it. I used a .22 that was a gift and had the opportunity to share with my neighbor how God had called me to sell some guns a few years ago in order to contribute to the building fund of our church. God eventually gave me that .22 and a shotgun that more than replaced what I had sold. Cool opportunity to share that it’s impossible to out-give God!
I finished an amazing book today called “Velvet Elvis” by Rob Bell. This book is going to be at the top of my recommended reading list. I thank God for Steve Hartman (a young pastor in MI) for encouraging me to buy it. We share a similar journey. Rob Bell understands grace, the abundant life, and what it means to be “in Christ.” He writes about our new nature and having a new identity that is all wrapped up in living our lives based on believing what God says about us being new creations is really true. Awesome!!
Something that is grabbing my spirit is realizing that God is saying the same thing to His Body through a variety of authors that I’ve been reading lately – people like Miles Munroe and Steve McVey and the author of Blue Like Jazz. They’re saying the same things to us about our identity in Christ and what it means to bring the Kingdom of God to this earth.
Here is on excerpt that really spoke to me today:
Eternal life then is a certain kind of life I am living more and more now and will go on forever. I am living more and more in connection with God, and I will live connected with God forever.
This has huge implications for when I do stumble, when I sin…
I admit it.
I confess it.
I thank God I am forgiven.
I make amends with anyone who has been affected by my actions.
And then I move on.
Not because sin isn’t serious, but because I am taking seriously who God says I am. The point isn’t my failure; it is God’s success in making me into the person he originally intended me to be.
God’s strength, not mine.
God’s power, not mine.
So what does this mean for the Christian life? To begin, Christians are people learning who they are in Christ. We are being taught about our new identity. Do you see how deeply this life affects the life of a community? I heard a teacher say that if people were taught who they are, they wouldn’t have to be told what to do. It would come naturally. When we see religious communities spending most of their time trying to convince people not to sin, we are seeing a community that has missed the point. The point isn’t sin management. The point is who we are now. (p. 143-144)
Today’s N-Cite: The more I rest in Jesus, believing what He says about me is really true, the less I focus on me and my failures and shortcomings. Then I am free to live abundantly, loving other people unconditionally. Thank God that the entire work of salvation is His part and simply believing and receiving and resting is my part. I’m learning how to embrace and enjoy my part. What a great life!
Catching Up
Tuesday
Tuesday night I went to a healing service and during the music I was blessed with some heavy-duty, old-fashioned conviction. I had to confess the sin of self-reliance and living like everything depends on me. God lovingly disciplined me for my unhealthy independence. It can be frustrating to re-learn lessons I thought I had successfully implemented in my life already, but this experience has given me a more realistic understanding of how much we are still like the OT Israelites who had to learn, mess up, and learn again. God's grace really is amazing. It sure is good to be forgiven.
Wednesday
I had an indescribably good day Wednesday - the first day off in a long time. A run in the wind, playing games with Shani, taking Seth to school, and a nice long nap.
Thursday
Kim and I had a special treat Thursday morning and had breakfast with Mike & Elizabeth Adams. Mike is an evangelist I really enjoy hearing. It was nice to catch up and we will get to see them again soon since he is preaching in Fostoria in a few weeks.
Thursday night house church was cool. We celebrated Tom & Shirley's 35th wedding anniversary and I was privileged to spend the evening with the children. We're still learning how to make the HC intergenerational and meaningful for everyone who is part of our faith community.
It was a thrill to join the BGSU students at Impact Thursday night. I spoke about a topic that has been on my mind a lot the last few weeks: Hearing the voice of God. The end of the night was especially powerful. After our sermon dialogue, we prayed for a while and then I asked people to share what God was saying to us. Probably 10-12 students began sharing by saying, "I beleive the Lord would say to us..." and after each one finished we all said together, "We receive your Word, Lord!" Priesthood of believers in action. Body building at its finest. Kingdom of God stuff that was awesome!
Friday
I was in class most of St. Patrick's day, finishing my 10 hours of post-licensing class the great state of OH requires. We partied with some friends all evening and I laughed so much I thought my jaws were going to hurt. Real friends. Real life. As Kim said, we don't realize how much we have missed seeing some people until we had the opportunity to get together.
Saturday
After working for a while, Andrew B and I got together to pray. We met at Prout Chapel at BGSU and it was powerful. God met with us, and I entered into a deeper rest and was reminded of God's desire for me to enjoy abiding intimacy with Jesus. Lesson learned - again! By the way, please pray for Andrew and several leaders in NW OH who are praying and believing God is calling us to a major evangelistic thrust to teenagers in our area. I beleive God can and will raise up teenagers to plant churches, so that's what I'm praying will happen.
Zakiya (from Uzbekistan) came to watch Seth play b-ball today and then I held an open house for another realtor. I met some very nice people and got one good lead on a potential client.
Daniel & Jennifer are coming over for dinner. Tomorrow we are heading to Sidney to worship with some other HC leaders and it's going to be a great day.
Over the last few days I finished reading "Preaching Re-Imagined" by Doug Pagitt and started reading "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell. Both are great books that offer major challenges to former ways of thinking and these authors write with a style and skill that it makes the badly needed medicine taste good.
Full days
Full. That's the best word I know to describe my life right now. Sometimes, it's a little too full, like this weekend. Margin is good because it makes room for thinking and resting and just being. But I didn't have much margin this weekend.
Friday was full and I think I successfully negotiated my first commercial contract. I also completed 5 hours of post-licensing class requirements (half-way there!) and attended my first office party. It was a very good day.
Saturday was a full ministry day: three half-time devotions at Upward, coaching Seth's team, showing 4 houses, a graveside service, speaking at PowerHouse and spending some time with one of our house church leaders. I was pleasantly surprised to see my brother Eddie Saturday morning and appreciate him driving 4 hours to see Seth play for an hour. If you read this Eddie - thank you! A day full of joy, full of the Spirit, full of blessings, full of Jesus, full of LIFE.
We had brunch this morning with dear friends and neighbors, Dennis & Julie. Then my first open house. It went very well and there was a lot of traffic. No offers, but traffic is good. On to a repeat house showing that may end up in an offer to purchase. If it does, great. It's a cool house that I think they would be happy in. If it doesn't that's fine because I really want to see this couple get the best house possible. Then on to the Cub Scout den meeting, for which I was very late. Some friends on the BGSU football team spent time with the boys, Coach Brandon gave them a tour of the Fieldhouse, and then we went to DQ. Then I was full of ice cream!
After talking with Kim (who is an amazing gift from God!) I decided to take Wednesdays as my Sabbath, starting this week. I'm sure it's overdue and I'm looking forward to it.
Full. For the most part, it's a great feeling.
Today's N-Cite: More than anything, I want to stay full of the Spirit, full of grace and truth, full of love. That's the only way all the other fullness will have significance.
Can you put my picture on your computer?
Last night when I got home from an appointment, Shani was eager to sing for me and asked, "Can you put my picture on your computer?" I quickly grabbed my camera and took this picture of my beautiful daughter who was thrilled to wear her pajamas today to her preschool. I look forward to showing it to her tonight.
My mind is racing this morning with all the things I "need" to do and the people I "need" to see. In this quickening pace, Shani's love has reminded me how eager I should be every day to sing songs to my heavenly Father, to have him get a good look at me so that the picture of my heart felt worship brightens His whole day, just as this picture is brightening my day.
The older I get (my birthday is coming up in just a few weeks, hint, hint)the more I realize that I have a lot to learn about life, about my role in the faith community, about how to yield so that Jesus truly lives His life through me. So I think I'll get started - singing as I go!
Today's N-Cite: A picture is worth more than a thousand words!
Art and Value
The weekend has been good. Upward basketball yesterday morning, then a shopping trip to Elder Beerman. It’s been a long time since I’ve bought any clothes and needed to get some dress shirts. Fortunately, there was a big sale so I got some good deals. With the 40-50% discounts, the prices were only 1/3 more than they should be all the time!
Today I fixed French toast for breakfast and we played games most of the morning. Then I got some work done on a funeral I’m speaking at tomorrow before we went to the Maumee Valley Country Day School today to see Seth’s snowman project on display at the NW OH Youth Art Exhibit. It was a neat event and we had a nice time.
I had some training at the office Friday afternoon and the speaker told us that ultimately every purchase (houses, cars, clothes, etc.) is emotional. At first I didn’t agree, but the more he talked the more convinced I became. It’s kind of funny how good it feels to wear a new shirt! I guess that’s OK as long as that feeling doesn’t lead to more buying just to get that feeling again.
From there we went to Lily’s first birthday party and thoroughly enjoyed simply being with friends and celebrating life together. Seth, Shani and the other kids enjoyed playing pin the tail on the donkey and one of my friends volunteered me for the position, saying I would make a good ass. I'm sure that there would be more widespread agreement with that statement than I'd care to admit. It feels good to laugh!
I also worked for a while, getting the final details ready for all the marketing that needs to be done for my first listing. It’s a little surprising how much paperwork is involved, but the more time I spend with it the more familiar I am getting with everything. The house goes on the market this week and I’ll have my first open house next Sunday afternoon.
I got a short nap and enjoyed the evening at home, until the kids went to bed. Then I spent a few hours playing cards with friends and it was cool since I was getting great cards. We talk a lot with the kids at Upward about enjoying the game, but the truth is that it is always more fun when you’re winning!
Today’s N-Cite: I’m glad that we’ve been bought with a price that wasn’t discounted and was willingly paid by the ultimate Artist and Creator of all that is.
Unity
Psalm 133:1 says, “How good it is when brothers live together in unity.” I love that verse for a lot of reasons. I know how much I need other people; we were made for community. And I know how blessed my life is when there is real unity (and that’s more than the absence of open conflict.)
This week has been one of unity. I was privilege to share responsibilities for a funeral with the new pastor of my former church, who has been a friend for a long time. It was really cool to serve with him in unity.
I’m also enjoying unity with my new colleagues at work who are celebrating a pretty amazing week with me. Yesterday I got my first listing contract AND my first buyer’s contract. (Praise God!) It was pretty sweet to pray with the sellers and testify to the buyers. Kingdom of God stuff happening every day in the marketplace! Tomorrow I meet with what I hope will become my first commercial property client, and another buyer is planning to sign a contract to make me their exclusive agent on Saturday. My friend and one of my real estate mentors has invited me to co-list a property with him next Monday and next Wednesday I am meeting with another potential client and hope to leave that meeting with a signed contract.
This has been a totally awesome week! As a friend from Troy, OH (Mike Lyons) reminded me: Seek first God’s kingdom and everything else will be added. (Matthew 6:33) I’m seeking and He’s adding – always true to His Word!!
This morning my friend Gary’s dad died and I arrived about five minutes after he took his last breath. (I wasn’t able to drop everything and run when he called because I had the privilege of fixing steak and eggs for breakfast for Dave and Mark and Kevin. What a great way to start the day!) It was an honor to pray with them and we all sensed the very real presence of Jesus in that hospital room. Please pray for all of us as we prepare for the funeral that will be on Monday.
To add even more blessing to my already overflowing cup, our house church gathering tonight was simply amazing. We laughed so hard I could hardly catch my breath. We experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit so strongly, learning deep truths from God through each other, that it nearly took my breath. These people are honest. They’re authentic. They’re committed to God and each other. And we are united. How good it is!
Today’s N-Cite: God speaks to me very loudly through other people – especially people like Julie George, who is one of the most Spirit-filled and gifted teachers I have ever met. I thank God for her influence on our family, our house church, and on our entire community. Thanks for letting Jesus live through you, Julie!
