Draw from the Well

That Which We Don't Speak Of

This is a very clever idea:

Here's a link to Morning Star Church.

Old Dog, New Tricks

This week two of my teammates are on vacation and I'm filling in for them this week.  I was reflecting on this today and paused to congratulate myself.  In 10 months I have gained enough ability where I can produce the bulletin and program our weekend lights.  Both of these endeavors take special knowledge and skill not normally possessed by the masses.  They are new things I've learned to do.  I'm no Einstein, but...I never want to stop learning.

Amazing

Things That Make You Pause

I'm all for Bible reading plans.  Having a plan is much, much better than no plan. 

Having said that, if your reading plan begins to run your devotions you've entered into a danger zone.

Because of this I personally struggle with reading plans because I am always interrupted.

It's challenging for me to read three chapters from three different books because something always captures my attention.

I will give you an example from this morning.

I set off to ready to read the 2nd chapter of Romans.  I only made it four verses when I ran into this:

"Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?"

Here's the amplified: "Or are you [so blind as to] trifle with and presume upon and despise and underestimate the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering patience? Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repent (to change your mind and inner man to accept God's will)?"

How can you read that and not pause.

The overwhelming kindness of God caused me to pause and ponder. 

I will have to read more Romans tomorrow.

I Wanna Be Like Agur!

Sometimes our Sunday School Biblical Literacy just doesn't cut it.*

For example, if I were to ask you about who wrote specific books of the Bible, you'd probably resort back to what you learned in Sunday School.  Nothing will give a Fundementalist a mental wedgie faster than to discuss Biblical authorship.

Take the book of Proverbs, for example.  Who wrote it?  Good student that you are, you'd say "Solomon, son of David."  And you'd be mostly right.  Except for...

Agur and Lemuel.

Proverbs 30 & 31 are credited to them. 

Little is known about these two fellows.  Lemuel is a king, but Agur...perhaps he was the original "everyday joe".  I wonder were these two guys hanging out with Solomon and he turned to them and said "got anything to add?"

Speculation aside, I was very encouraged by Agur's words today:

"Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die; Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God." Proverbs 30:7-9

Now that's wisdom.  Keep me honest and give me just enough.

*[I'm in no way knocking sunday school nor children's ministry, only suggesting that we need to continue to grow in our knowledge!]

Decisions, Decisions

Wow.  The last few weeks (months?) have been filled with a million decisions.  It's been a bit of an emotional roller coaster: extra work projects, parent in the hospital, trying to buy a house...  While I will offer no excuses for my long absence from the blogesphere (I blame twitter like everyone else!) it feels like there have been reasons. 

However, I've missed it.  I'm hesitant to make any promises, but here's my feeble attempt to get back in the swing of things.

BTW a) work has calmed down a bit b) mom is out of the hospital c) find out soon if I'm a home owner.

Keep It Simple

I am totally intrigued by this troupe's approach to communicating deep true in simple ways.  PROFOUND.  (One litter of God's sweet goodness!)

The Power of Social Media

People will no longer be ignored.  3 days, almost a 1/2 a million views.  Power to the people!  Dave has promised to write two more songs and videos.  I mourn the loss of the Taylor guitar - they are sweet.

The Power of Influence

This weekend, Pastor Jon talked about influence.  He shared a story about Woodrow Wilson and DL Moody.  It was a great illustration yet I wondered how many young people connected to because of relevance. 

So here's another example of being salty as told by the atheist illusionist Penn of Penn & Teller:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHS8adO3hM

For some reason it won't embed. Sorry.

Vacation Time...Almost

Officially my vacation begins in 17 minutes.  That's when the clock rolls past midnight and it's Monday, June 15.  I am always torn when I have to get up early for a trip to the airport - do I just stay up or try to get a few hours sleep?

Well for now I still have a few things I need to finish for work, some laundry drying, and then it's off to dream land for a short three hours...maybe.

Before I head off to San Diego for 9 days of fun, I wanted to share something I felt the Lord has been speaking to me about this vacation...that I'm to go minimal technology this time.   Unlike some, I do not have a hard time turning work off...I'm a very much "what's in front of me now" kind of person. Therefore the technology deal hasn't been that big of one for me on past vacations.  I could take it or leave it.  As I've prepared for this vacation, I've felt the nudging of the Lord to "leave it behind."

First it was my laptop.  This is actually a relief because I hate carrying it through the security check.  And I don't really need it, since I have the nifty iphone (which Jesus has made no mention of yet!)  It did feel liberating to contemplate not bringing it...so this was an easy decision.

But then I realized I'd left my noise-canceling, little-slice-of-peace-and-quiet headphones at work.  These babies are a lifesaver on airplanes...they really do work.  And slapping those things on insures peace and quiet from my neighbors.  As I headed to work to retrieve them, I felt the Lord suggesting a better way.  While the laptop was easy, these are not...even a three hour airplane ride is enough to tip this poor introvert over the edge.  Nevertheless, I'm trusting Jesus' leading and leaving them behind.

What do I think is going on?  Not totally sure, but here are a few thoughts (only 6 minutes left I need to write fast!)  My new role at work is technology laden.  My own personal learning curve has been off the charts.  I do think I'm techno-tired.  I also know that I've really been asking the Lord to speak in new and fresh ways.  Clearing out some of the things that can clutter will help with my hearing.  Finally, it just feels good to be less burdened down with stuff.  This is one thing I really miss from China - life was much simpler and less filled with extras. 

All in all, I'm looking forward to it.  Just wanted to share a bit of my process with you.  I don't know if I will post much in the next two weeks...I can from my iphone, but much more than pictures are a pain.  Well see how it goes.  Later!