Note: Here's another entry from my journal as I continue to read through Seth Barnes' The Art of Listening Prayer.
"And once again, David asked God what to do...so David did what God commanded, and he struck down the Philistine army. So David's fame spread everywhere, and the Lord caused all the nations to fear David."
What a fascinating concept David illustrates here. He asks questions of God as though He were sitting at the table with him, right there. And God answers. Rather than procrastinate or make excuses, David acts...and, of course, is successful. It's interesting to note that, in verse 17, it was David who got the glory. I wonder if he even wanted it? Nevertheless, it's clear that God orchestrated the whole thing, and communicated this to David.
Lord, I wish I had the heart of David. I wish I had the courage to ask You questions and to expect an answer. I say I do, but I don't really think I am doing that. I know You're trying to speak to me now, God...please let me be still enough to listen! I doubt this whole "dialogue" thing so much, but I know it works, because I can see the fruit of it in others' lives. Father, please cast my doubt aside!
Was yesterday one of those days where Your voice was shouting at me? Mark Balmer of Calvary Chapel took a break from his current sermon series on Exodus--the one week we decided to go and check the church out--and speak on a subject that's been on my mind and heart quite often lately: living desperately for Jesus. He referenced Luke 9:1-11, where Jesus sends His disciples out to do His work. He tells them not to take much--nothing, really--with them, in an effort to leave their "comfort zone" behind and trust fully in His provisioning. Basically, abandoning all to Him.
Are you telling me something here, Lord? Can this be mere coincidence? Or am I reading more into this than is actually there? God, I've heard You say to me the last few weeks that You have great and wonderful things planned for me. What does that look like? Do I have the faith to step out and let You lead completely? Why do I doubt You? Show me, God, what You would have me do!! Lord, like David, give me the faith to act on it...for Your glory, Father!!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
back from a blogging break...
Well, I really didn't think I would let that much time go by, but I look up and see that it's been a solid two weeks since I posted! I don't have a great excuse for not keeping up with things here; truth be told, I simply haven't felt like writing lately. What's strange is, I have thoughts that go through my head that I'll think I should write about (and, of course, these thoughts occur when I'm away from my laptop), but I never get around to it sometimes. That's been amplified these last couple of weeks, for some reason.
I did switch my schedule at work, to a night shift, so maybe that's got something to do with it. Right now I'm getting home between 11pm and midnight on the weekdays and, no matter how much I may want to, I haven't gotten up as early as I've planned to. Which eats into my "creative" time (for me, the mornings). Anyway, no matter what, welcome back. Thanks for sticking with me.
Here are a few things going on in my (our) life recently:
- College Football is back. Thank goodness. I won't spend much time here on this subject (although I do love to write about it--maybe another, separate blog is in order?) except to say I'm thrilled to have something other than baseball and golf to watch on Saturdays. I'm giving a bigger welcome back to the NFL, too, than I normally would, simply because of my involvement in several Fantasy Football teams. I told you about this several weeks ago, if you'll remember. Turns out I went a little overboard--I've got 3 NFL teams and a college team and, frankly, it's really hard to keep track of all of them. I'm concentrating on just one more than the others, so we'll see what happens. So far the results have not been good. Note to self: just one team next year. Please.
- We will be buying a new car soon (like in the next few days). For those of you who get our family update emails, you know that both of our cars are getting into retirement age. We actually had a bunch of work done to the Kia, but still feel like it's time to move on. God has richly blessed us by providing the funds to go do this, so we'll be buying a "new to us" car--probably a minivan--soon and selling our other two. We looked at a really nice Chrysler Town & Country the other day and made what I thought was a very fair offer, but the guy said no way, even though it's been sitting with no action for three months. I was kind of bummed about that, as I thought for sure it was a done deal. Oh, well, just means God's got something else in store for us!
- Jacob's first tooth is starting to come in. Accordingly, Mommy and Daddy's sleep has started to erode away! Actually, it hasn't been too bad. He's a tough kid and faring pretty well. Hard to believe he's 8 months old already!
- The IRS finally came through. As I wrote about here, our economic stimulus check was massively late. Well, it finally came. Needless to say, it made a quick entrance into and exit from our bank account, as we really needed it. And there's actually good news from this whole thing. Last week we got notice that, somehow, we had overpaid our taxes and would be getting an actual refund of around $1200 in about six weeks or so! Now, based on what I know of the IRS, I'm taking a "wait and see" approach on this...so, if it does indeed come, it will be a nice bonus. But whatever happens getting an IRS envelope is usually not a pleasant thing, so the fact we don't owe anymore is big. Again, I'll let you know what happens.
I did switch my schedule at work, to a night shift, so maybe that's got something to do with it. Right now I'm getting home between 11pm and midnight on the weekdays and, no matter how much I may want to, I haven't gotten up as early as I've planned to. Which eats into my "creative" time (for me, the mornings). Anyway, no matter what, welcome back. Thanks for sticking with me.
Here are a few things going on in my (our) life recently:
- College Football is back. Thank goodness. I won't spend much time here on this subject (although I do love to write about it--maybe another, separate blog is in order?) except to say I'm thrilled to have something other than baseball and golf to watch on Saturdays. I'm giving a bigger welcome back to the NFL, too, than I normally would, simply because of my involvement in several Fantasy Football teams. I told you about this several weeks ago, if you'll remember. Turns out I went a little overboard--I've got 3 NFL teams and a college team and, frankly, it's really hard to keep track of all of them. I'm concentrating on just one more than the others, so we'll see what happens. So far the results have not been good. Note to self: just one team next year. Please.
- We will be buying a new car soon (like in the next few days). For those of you who get our family update emails, you know that both of our cars are getting into retirement age. We actually had a bunch of work done to the Kia, but still feel like it's time to move on. God has richly blessed us by providing the funds to go do this, so we'll be buying a "new to us" car--probably a minivan--soon and selling our other two. We looked at a really nice Chrysler Town & Country the other day and made what I thought was a very fair offer, but the guy said no way, even though it's been sitting with no action for three months. I was kind of bummed about that, as I thought for sure it was a done deal. Oh, well, just means God's got something else in store for us!
- Jacob's first tooth is starting to come in. Accordingly, Mommy and Daddy's sleep has started to erode away! Actually, it hasn't been too bad. He's a tough kid and faring pretty well. Hard to believe he's 8 months old already!
- The IRS finally came through. As I wrote about here, our economic stimulus check was massively late. Well, it finally came. Needless to say, it made a quick entrance into and exit from our bank account, as we really needed it. And there's actually good news from this whole thing. Last week we got notice that, somehow, we had overpaid our taxes and would be getting an actual refund of around $1200 in about six weeks or so! Now, based on what I know of the IRS, I'm taking a "wait and see" approach on this...so, if it does indeed come, it will be a nice bonus. But whatever happens getting an IRS envelope is usually not a pleasant thing, so the fact we don't owe anymore is big. Again, I'll let you know what happens.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
red letters: a review
Several months ago, I was provided with a complimentary copy of Tom Davis' book, Red Letters:Living a Faith that Bleeds, through a blog I frequently visit. You can read the offer by clicking here. Incidentally, take some time to look through Seth's blog...I have been spending quite a bit of time there in the last few months and have been really moved by what I've read and seen. So much so, in fact, I believe God is starting to stir my soul to complete abandon to Him. What that means I'm still not sure of, but I digress. As promised to those who provided this book to me, here is my brief and humble review.
Red Letters: Living a Faith That Bleeds is a straightforward, simple book. In writing that, I don't mean to devalue the message that Davis is sharing. In fact, I believe his writing style enhances his message, which was clearly written from the breaking of his heart. Tom starts our journey by introducing us to Kirill, a young boy who he met on the cold, dark streets of Vladimir, Russia, who also just happened to be Jesus. You'll have to read the book to understand that statement, but it is a powerful and valid one.
Throughout the rest of the book, Tom lays out the reasons we, as Christ Followers, should be consumed with expanding our borders and reaching out to a world that desperately needs to be touched by God's love, and not just told about it. He makes the argument that, in our world today, there is absolutely no excuse to allow the things that go on...things like disease, hunger, criminal injustice, and the like. With the globalization of the world around us, we have, more than in any era in human history, the resources and power to literally wipe these things from the face of our planet. As Bono, of U2 fame, is quoted:
"We are the first generation that really can do something about the kind of "stupid" poverty that sees children dying of hunger in a world of plenty or mothers dying for lack of a 20-cent drug that we take for granted. We have the science, we have the resources, what we don't seem to have is the will."
Harsh words, I know. But I also know he's right. Although he touches on many instances in our world where there is a lack of social justice, Tom's main topic is the AIDS crisis in Africa. The statistics are there, and they're sobering, but what makes this book so compelling are the stories. I've always been a numbers kind of guy: logical, rational, calculated. Sure, the numbers here have an impact on me. It's hard to ignore a statement like: "Though the region (Africa) is home to just over 10 percent of the world's population, it contains more than 60 percent of all people living with HIV." But it's impossible to ignore the heart-breaking stories that he shares. Stories like Adanna's, who watched her parents and sister agonizingly wither away from AIDS and who, at just 10 years old, is now in charge of her younger siblings. Like most girls her age in this position (and there are many in Africa), Adanna, having exhausted all of her resources to provide food for her family, is left with the unimaginable choice to trade one last thing--sex. Unfortunately, this is a common theme throughout the stories in Tom's book.
But, scattered among them...there is also hope. Stories of hope from those who have already answered the call. Hope that we can make a difference. Hope that we will.
As I stated a few paragraphs ago, Tom's message is straightforward, simple, but also extremely hard-hitting. Consider the opening sentence:
"The Christian church owes an apology to the almost fifty million individuals in our world currently infected with HIV/AIDS."
Our apologies can't come in the form of words. Red Letters is a call to action. Will we mobilize together and share God's Love the way He intended for us to? Will we observe and follow Christ's words (hence the "Red Letters" allusion)? Or will we continue to live in our "comfort comas", not oblivious to the plight around us--for it can't really be ignored--but apathetic to it?
I know I've been challenged by this book to do more. That's a broad statement, I know, and while I don't believe God is necessarily calling me to Africa to do it, I do believe there are opportunities in my immediate vicinity to be His hands and feet. May I answer the call...
Red Letters: Living a Faith That Bleeds is a straightforward, simple book. In writing that, I don't mean to devalue the message that Davis is sharing. In fact, I believe his writing style enhances his message, which was clearly written from the breaking of his heart. Tom starts our journey by introducing us to Kirill, a young boy who he met on the cold, dark streets of Vladimir, Russia, who also just happened to be Jesus. You'll have to read the book to understand that statement, but it is a powerful and valid one.
Throughout the rest of the book, Tom lays out the reasons we, as Christ Followers, should be consumed with expanding our borders and reaching out to a world that desperately needs to be touched by God's love, and not just told about it. He makes the argument that, in our world today, there is absolutely no excuse to allow the things that go on...things like disease, hunger, criminal injustice, and the like. With the globalization of the world around us, we have, more than in any era in human history, the resources and power to literally wipe these things from the face of our planet. As Bono, of U2 fame, is quoted:
"We are the first generation that really can do something about the kind of "stupid" poverty that sees children dying of hunger in a world of plenty or mothers dying for lack of a 20-cent drug that we take for granted. We have the science, we have the resources, what we don't seem to have is the will."
Harsh words, I know. But I also know he's right. Although he touches on many instances in our world where there is a lack of social justice, Tom's main topic is the AIDS crisis in Africa. The statistics are there, and they're sobering, but what makes this book so compelling are the stories. I've always been a numbers kind of guy: logical, rational, calculated. Sure, the numbers here have an impact on me. It's hard to ignore a statement like: "Though the region (Africa) is home to just over 10 percent of the world's population, it contains more than 60 percent of all people living with HIV." But it's impossible to ignore the heart-breaking stories that he shares. Stories like Adanna's, who watched her parents and sister agonizingly wither away from AIDS and who, at just 10 years old, is now in charge of her younger siblings. Like most girls her age in this position (and there are many in Africa), Adanna, having exhausted all of her resources to provide food for her family, is left with the unimaginable choice to trade one last thing--sex. Unfortunately, this is a common theme throughout the stories in Tom's book.
But, scattered among them...there is also hope. Stories of hope from those who have already answered the call. Hope that we can make a difference. Hope that we will.
As I stated a few paragraphs ago, Tom's message is straightforward, simple, but also extremely hard-hitting. Consider the opening sentence:
"The Christian church owes an apology to the almost fifty million individuals in our world currently infected with HIV/AIDS."
Our apologies can't come in the form of words. Red Letters is a call to action. Will we mobilize together and share God's Love the way He intended for us to? Will we observe and follow Christ's words (hence the "Red Letters" allusion)? Or will we continue to live in our "comfort comas", not oblivious to the plight around us--for it can't really be ignored--but apathetic to it?
I know I've been challenged by this book to do more. That's a broad statement, I know, and while I don't believe God is necessarily calling me to Africa to do it, I do believe there are opportunities in my immediate vicinity to be His hands and feet. May I answer the call...
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