It's Been A While

I know it's been a while since I posted, but I'm honestly taking a bit of a break from blogging. This season of life has been rewarding and revealing and I just need some time to process in my own head before I share it with the world. (or the 100 people who stop by here regularly {and I LOVE you guys and gals!}) I'll leave this post with something I read today that totally resonated with me.

"Love to worship? Pray for Iranian Christians who long to 'shout to the Lord' but usually have to sing quietly and in secret." -From IRAN 30 (http://twitter.com/iran30)

This so speaks to why I work with them and why I respect those who worship Christ in closed environments so much. My heart hurts for their oppression and longs to live with their level of passion.

Amazing News

I just got some amazing news from my friends @Iran30. They just announced that Maryam and Mazrieh were released after 259 days in prison. I've been overwhelmed and amazed at the response from twitter and facebook friends. People have really responded and it has shown me that people are indeed praying for those being persecuted for their faith. God is indeed good. All the time.

You can check the entire article here:

http://elam.com/articles/Released/

Honesty

My heart has been a little wrecked recently. There's more than one explanation as to why that could be the case but none are really worth rehashing here. I was surprised by the way my heart has been revealing itself recently. Just the other day I sat down at the piano and this chorus came flowing out:

I want to tear down the walls of apathy and make believe

Take off the mask I wear of everything is perfect here

I wonder if I will ever find a place where I can just be me

I want to live...honestly

Now I hadn't been doing a ton of thinking about living honestly but I will say that I live (and have for the past couple of years) in a state of what I call "holy discontent". My heart has been heavy with the desire to be a great leader, a phenomenal Dad, a wonderful husband and a difference maker in the world for His sake. And the truth is that on any given day I feel like I stink at a number of those things but I don't know who I'd actually say that to. I have a great wife, amazing family and wonderful friends but some days I still feel all alone.

In many ways I think I just want to be able to be real. Human. Honest. Broken.

Do you ever wonder if you'll ever find honesty? Do you ever dream of a place where you can share all your stuff and hear truth and love in response? I do.

Powerful Video from Compassion

This is worth 15 minutes of your time. Check it out and bring your kleenex.

Catalyst 2009 Compassion Moment from Catalyst on Vimeo.

doing the devil's dirty work

{stepping onto the soap box}

Yesterday's phone call wasn't the one I wanted to get. I love getting the calls about exciting things happening in ministry. Even the calls about life crises are welcome because they force me closer to Christ. This was one of those calls. The friend who had to move. Not because they'd done anything wrong but because someone else trashed them. Ruined their reputation. Tried to destroy their life and ruin their marriage.

I know this friend pretty well. Not perfect, but honest. I was sickened that the pain they've experienced (tragic loss, personal sickness) was multiplied by their church family. Petty disagreements led to personal assault and what was once fun and games became life or death.

The accusations being thrown around had almost destroyed a family. I was reminded in that conversation that accusation of the brothers was somebody else's job.

Revelations 12:10--

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.

Some people close to my friend have been doing the devil's dirty work and I wish they'd stop.

{stepping off of soap box}

A Jesus Manifesto

It's been a minute or two since I last blogged. The family and I have been on vacation and I'm just getting back into the groove.

I wanted to share something with you that I read before leaving for vacation. It's called "A Jesus Manifesto" and it was written by Leonard Sweet & Frank Viola. Not the most obvious pairing on the planet, but a great testament to the truth that they've agreed to in this document. Here's a taste of what they have to say:

What is Christianity? It is Christ. Nothing more. Nothing less. Christianity is not an ideology. Christianity is not a philosophy. Christianity is the “good news” that Beauty, Truth and Goodness are found in a person. Biblical community is founded and found on the connection to that person. Conversion is more than a change in direction; it’s a change in connection. Jesus’ use of the ancient Hebrew word shubh, or its Aramaic equivalent, to call for “repentance” implies not viewing God from a distance, but entering into a relationship where God is command central of the human connection.

I challenge you to take a few minutes and visit their site. Read the manifesto and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart. If you're like me (and let's hope you aren't ;-), expect to be confirmed, convicted, challenged and motivated. My prayer is that we would all embrace Him and make it our mission to make Him known.

An Eternal Song

I shared this illustration with our congregation this past Sunday in worship and I thought it would be worth sharing here. We were finishing up our set with a little old school Tomlin; "We Fall Down". As we sang the chorus in rehearsal ("We cry holy, holy, holy") I began to reflect on the eternal nature of the song we were singing.

We hear the song being declared from eternity past in Isaiah 6. Isaiah describes seeing seraphs surrounding the throne of God singing continually "holy, holy, holy is the Lord almighty. The whole earth is filled with His glory."

We see the song declared in the eternal future by these same creatures in Revelations 4. John describes them singing "holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty. Who was and is and is to come". This triggers a worship offering from the 24 elders that I can't wait to see.

The point is that there is an eternal song happening right now. At this very minute those creatures are somewhere in their "holy, holy, holy" song. How powerful is it that at any moment of any day we can join their song and sing the eternal praises of our God?

I encourage you to think about that imagery the next time you hear those words in a song. Allow yourself to connect to that eternal song and appreciate the depth and wonder of an eternal song to our eternal King.