Tag Archive - God

rhythm. how’s yours?

April 22, 2010 in life, videos with 2 Comments

Everyone has rhythm. Yelp, even me. The question is how’s yours?

Lately mine has been fast. Too fast. Sure, a fast rhythm can be exciting, but I find I feel more connected to God when I slow down. If we aren’t intentional about slowing down the rhythm of our lives from time to time, April turns into May, and 2009 turns into 2010, and life gets away from us.

We look up and find we aren’t any closer to God in 2010 then we were in 2009. And then 2010 becomes 2020. And there we are, still chasing iPads, and iPhones.

I want to make sure I take time to slow down and connect with God.

It may just be me, but God seems to really like slow rhythms.

I want to pop the big. blue. balloons.

March 30, 2010 in life with 1 Comment

This picture reminds me of my life lately. There is the one thing worth focusing on. The one thing deserving of all of me. The one place where all of life is found. Then in an attempt to take our attention away from the one thing, is this big, blue, balloon.

I have a lot of these big, blue, balloons in my life. It seems that lately they are all over the place. My mind is going a million miles a minute. It’s all mostly a mix of good, and just ‘neutral’ stuff. Seminary, ministry, work, family, travel, dreaming about ways I could change the World for the cause of Christ, and just living life. Then things like Lost, 24, ipad’s, my fish tanks, rss feeds, naps, projects, and the rest of the things that take up my time. All big, blue, balloons.

I haven’t gotten much sleep lately, instead I’ve been consumed by these big, blue, balloons. (Again, it isn’t that these balloons are all bad) – but they are distractions. Things attempting to keep my focus off of the one thing that really matters.

I want to pop all of these big. blue. balloons.

Tonight I put away the Hebrew parsing, the mountain of books I have to read, the sermon prep for Easter Sunday’s sermon, the ministry planning, the iPhone, and all the rest, and I just sat with God. I popped all the big. blue. balloons, and just sat there, at the foot of the cross, with my God. It was nice.

I read through Psalm 63 tonight, the entire Psalm is beautiful, however I really like verse 1-4.

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.”

My soul really does thirst after God. I know this land is dry, there is nothing here for me. It’s lame in comparison to my God. No iPad, no Iphone, no degree, no anything can compare with how awesome God is. In fact, that Psalm says, “Your love is better then life.” How true is this! The fact that the Holy, Loving, Powerful, Creator, God loves a guy like me. Enough to send His Son to die in my place, and take ALL of my sin, and put it on His Son so that I could have a personal relationship with Him, that blows my mind. That is better then any of the big. blue. balloons.

God’s got a lot of work to do on me. A lot. But my prayer is God will help me to get better at popping these big. blue. balloons.

insufficient.

September 29, 2009 in life with 1 Comment

Screen shot 2009-09-30 at 12.06.18 AM
The following prayer was in a devotional book that I read. I like it. A lot. I need to pray this more often, becuase this prayer expresses how I feel every day. I feel so small. So unable. So insufficient.
(The good news is I have a relationship with a God who is able. Who is sufficient. That keeps me going.)

“Lord, I am insufficient in everything I will encounter today. I have insufficient wisdom to make the decisions I’ll be required to make. I have insufficient strength to resist the temptations I’ll face. I have insufficient skills to manage the conflict that may arise. I have insufficient resources to minister to the people I’ll encounter. I am entirely dependent on You.”

Wow! What a powerful prayer. May your view of God and His “ableness” grow more and more each day! He is Big!

Times Square is a lonely place

August 18, 2009 in life with 0 Comments

a recent shot of times square in new york city empty

I have been in New York City the past few days, and every time I come to New York I enjoy spending lots of time in Times Square.  I enjoy interacting with people.  Ok, I thrive on interacting with people.  It’s the way God wired me.  If you have ever been to NYC then you know how jammed packed with people times square is.  It doesn’t matter what time of the day (or night) you go there – you’ll always find someone trying to get you to buy a watch, a purse, a broadway show ticket, a comedy club ticket, or sell you a hot dog.  It’s packed.  With people.  Lots of them.

As much I enjoy going to Times Square, I am always heart-broken by how lonely, broken, and hurt so many of those people are.  Sure, most of them would never admit that.  But, I wonder how many of them know that there is a God who is head, over hills in love with them .  A God who created them.  A God who knows their loneliness.   Their pain.  Their hurts.  Their Fears.  Their Worries.  Their desire to “fix” themselves.  (Adam and Eve did the same thing by the way.)

A God who desires to know them in a very personal way.

I’m not sure, but there is one thing I do know;

“Times Square is a very lonely place.”

God sure does make really cool stuff….like Laminin….

July 8, 2009 in life, videos with 2 Comments

lamininBy now I”m sure you’ve seen this clip – but if you haven’t you need to. (I’m blown away every time I watch it.) It’s a talk given by Louie Giglio about you, me, God, laminin, and how incredible He [God] is.

If you’re not “into” “church talk” at least skip to 4:03 where Louie starts talking about a molecule called Laminin(picture to the left) – it’s amazing. Wow – God really knows what He is doing….

God is…..Triune

July 7, 2009 in life with 9 Comments

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A few days ago I asked my friends on twitter and facebook this question;

“If you had to describe God in one word; what would it be.”

(not that any amount of words could ever adequately describe God)

Here are some of the many replies….
—————————————-
Awesome
God
Love
Indescribable
Unconditional
Word
Holy
Good
Father
Daddy
Hope
Faithful
Perfect
Amazing

——————————————-

While most of these are great adjectives for God; I was saddened that no one described Him as the one quality that is His, and His alone – Triune.  It is this quality that sets God apart, that sets Christianity apart from any other religion. If you have the other qualities, but not this, then you don’t have a Biblical picture of God. Why is this not one of the first things that comes to people’s minds when then think about the One, True, God? Why do so many “Bible Teachers” neglect to talk about God in Triune (Biblical) terms? Why do we not teach our students (let alone our adults) about the face that God is Triune? That if God wasn’t Triune, if Jesus wasn’t fully God and fully man, then His death wouldn’t have mattered? Why do so many neglect this?

I’m so thankful that God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and that each is fully God and there there is only one God.

This is so vital because

“What a person thinks about God is the most important thought they will ever have. Because what a person thinks about God will determine what he thinks about everything else.”

Are we “thinking” right about God? Are we teaching Scripture to people in a way that would cause them to think “right” or “Biblically” about God? To think of God as Triune? Every time I open up the Bible to teach Scripture I ask myself “How can I make sure people walk away “thinking” CORRECTLY about the God this Bible describes?”

How about you? How would you answer the same question? When is the last time you have heard a sermon on the doctrine of the Trinity? When’s the last time you taught someone about the TRIUNE God? Do you make it a priority to teach about the Triune God of the Bible? Just some thoughts….

{On a side note – there are two professors at DTS, Dr. Scott Horrell and Dr. Jeffery Bingham, that God has used to really change my life, and my teaching. These men taught me more about the Doctrine of the Trinity and the importance of TEACHING it in my sermons then anyone ever has. I owe these men more then I can ever repay them. Thanks guys, you’ll never know the impact you have had on my life.}