The Hunt for the Peace of God

So as Levi and I went on a little hike and hunt today we finally stopped and took a rest by a steam. I was at total peace enjoying watching him have so much fun and sense of adventure on the hike. By the stream, as Levi fiddled with sticks and asked me a few times when we'd see a deer it reminded me of our relationship with Christ. Although Levi typically seems to be a patient kid for his age and he was sitting rather quite in-spite of being little anxious, as adults we can be fidgety and unappreciative of our time with God on any given trek we're on with Him. All the while He is just glad to be on the trek with us; and of course all the while God knows exactly where we're going and watching out for our every move. He even guides our steps, so the Bible says. Today - remember that God enjoys watching you walk with Him. Not necessarily watching you work for him. Be at peace today knowing that God loves you, cares for you and will safely guide you onward in your adventure through life.

Shooting Rabbits & Christianity

Very simple: while rabbit hunting its common to see a rabbit, shoot it, get all excited about hunting rabbits and....... within minutes you're walking through the woods with your gun down to your side while you day dream about lunch. When the next rabbit jumps out in front of you; you miss it. In Christianity, we see God, have a great experience and...... then walk about our week with little hope; and when God moves suddenly in our lives again, we are not prepared for Him and we miss it. The cure? Faith, Hope, Love; Repeat.

A God Moment

A God Moment: The other day my 6 yr. old son asked to help me mop @ the church. He was mopping the bathroom floors and cafe area w/ his ipod on singing the words "Not to us, but to your name be the Glory"...mopping floors. What a teachable remind-able moment for my boy to remind me that everything we do on Earth, even the little things, even to the least of these, even mopping floors or sharing a smile to the cashier or telling the waiter he did a good job: everything we do is for God, not for us. Every action, every good work, every act of faith, all hope - and our hope - is for God to be glorified. As Levi mopped away I stood still & knew HE was God. And today @ Velocity I had another God moment; the kind of moment where God fills us beyond explanation. I hope tomorrow I have another few minutes where time stands still and I am aware of God's presence! Furthermore, I hope you do too! Look for God at every turn in your day, He's there to help you see things clearly!

Christmas: A Story of Faith and Hope

The story of Christmas is a story to remind us that our faith and hope are not in vain. Everything we hope for and believe in as Christians will be revealed to us in full at the appointed time. God made it known through the prophets many thousands of years before Christ was born that there would be a savior for Israel and for all people! Throughout the centuries from when Israel and Judah collapsed to when Christ was born; Jews were made slaves and dispersed to other parts of the world, most doubted and lived without hope, but others hoped yet never saw the Savior in this life. However, the Bible talks of Zechariah and Elizabeth in Luke chapter 1 who were faithful and found righteous. Because of their faithfulness, God sent them a son in their old age in which they were to name John - that same angel Gabriel then went to Mary and proclaimed the time had come for the Messiah to be born and she would be the mother of the promised Savior! At this time in history, it had been over 700 years since anyone had seen God move or speak. And now the time had come. In your life, don't lose hope. Even when it seems God has not moved or spoke to you. Even if you feel like God doesn't hear you and does not respond to your prayers: At the Appointed Time God will reward you for your faithfulness! Long after others quit serving God, strive to remain faithful because there will be a day when there is no more shame & no more pain. God promises.

Take a Walk; Have a Talk

Matthew 4. When Jesus was tempted by the devil, there were three ways the devil came at Jesus; Physical, Mental, Emotional. The enemy can’t attack your spiritual – that’s all God’s domain. But you can allow the enemy total access to your spiritual by letting him break through another avenue of your being. Stand strong, and when you’ve done everything you can, Keep Standing! 1 Corinthians 16:13
"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong." Walking, Reading, and talking to a friend can help keep your physical, mental, and emotion tuned up. You will have to stretch yourself in these areas as to not become numb to your initial efforts. Keep the faith - move forward in everything you do! Put your hand to the plow, don't look back. Press on toward the goal - this includes your Earthly goals and most important the goal of staying true to God until you've reached heaven.

God's Voice

I was in prayer today at the church and I know God spoke to me as clear as He ever has. It was during my repetitive walks around the sanctuary that my mind became very still; I knew it was God. Apparently, it was predestined that I “over heard” Krista listening to a podcast of Joyce Meyer and John Eldridge agreeing that hearing the voice of God is not only possible for today, but it’s essential for today. They talked about the potential awkwardness of explaining to others about the whole idea of God speaking to us on a personal level. John 10 states clearly that those who belong to Jesus will hear his voice, still! Later, I went to pick up Molly from pre-school and Andy Stanley was on the radio talking about being confident in knowing the voice of God. It’s a great day when I can settle my heart and mind to let God speak to me. You can do the same by being still and giving God your undivided attention. Being still and doing nothing are two completely different things. Being still is difficult, but with God’s help its attainable. God will speak to you when He has your undivided attention.

Indescribable Uncontainable

So, to recap the week: On Monday in my Fab 5 Mtg. (you can laugh, we do) I learned not to let desire become expectation to the point of do or die. On Tuesday I learned to pace myself during the heat of the day: my thermostat busted and my body overheated. As my body began to shut down w/out explanation I thought of many things. On Wed. after my brain and body had a chance to kiss and make up I evaluated many things in my life, slowly! God clearly presented a thought to me while still sipping juice and topping off on potassium:

"I've been called to do the impossible by the immeasurable who lives in me."

Since God lives in me & His power and might are immeasurable, that makes the impossible seem reasonable.

Still too wordy? If God is for you, who can be against you? Are you acting alone or with God's blessing? ...I've always believed that the right question will flush out the best answer.

You may feel overwhelmed these days: if so - inquire of God about His desire and hope for you and how He can help you move forward in your faith and understanding of who He is and how He works in people's lives.

Deep Breaths. Lots of prayer. Find a trustworthy friend to share all. Read the Bible. Simmer down.

On Thurs. a friend came to hang out with me and confirmed I was going to live!

On Friday my wife and another friend went as a team (while other friends and family watched the kids, thank you all!!) and cooked for the Light for the Lost Dinner in Parma, OH. "As a team" makes all the difference!

Today I am glad for friends, family, truth, and am moving forward in my faith due to a week of running hard, stopping fast, starting slow, counting blessings, and looking ahead to a bright and exciting future w/ The Immeasurable!

HonorBound

Tonight we kicked off our men's ministry efforts at Velocity Church. I'm excited about seeing the spiritual growth of our men over the next several months. By Christmas we should be much more the men we were tonight because of our desire to move forward in our faith!

I say Men's Ministry "Efforts" because even though we like to meet up for breakfast once a month and inhale bacon like it's going out of style, we're more than a group of AM meat eaters. We're about helping others. My prayer for our Velocity Church Men is that we are keenly aware of our own spiritual aptitude so that we can make adjustments to personally move forward & be of good use to those who are closest to us; whether it's a spouse, child, co worker, or even the cashier - my goal is for our men to see the need and meet it without hesitation. Our wives need to be loved, kids need to see Jesus, co workers need a good example and cashiers are people too; and we're ready to give people something to believe in.

Our Velocity Church Men's Team is called HonorBound... a term that will mean something positive to many people before too long!

Forgiveness

A story is told that when da Vinci painted the "Last Supper" he was fighting with a fellow painter; so he painted that dude's face on Judas's body! But when he began painting Jesus, he couldn't continue; so he erased the face of the other painter from Judas's body. Forgive: da Vinci did it; more importantly Jesus did it, so can we.

Lesson Learned

I've been asking God to make things clear to me recently. I love the catch phrases He's been giving me to keep it clear and simple. See if this helps you: "I need to let go of frustrations I have with some people, and others I need to let it fester." Here's the Case: I had a reservation about something today. But I played it off as myself being to critical. Wrong: in my heart I knew there was reason for my gut check. Thankfully, as I'm learning slow but sure, God has been surrounding me with some armor bearers that help protect. For your sake: give everyone the benefit of the doubt, don't leave them unattended. The Point: Follow your intuition until the coast is clear. Evaluate the circumstance with prayer and fasting and proceed from there; slow but sure.

Bunch a Linchpin's

Don't let your circumstance, job or your ministry define you. Define it first, in other words, cast vision, paint a picture of what it needs to be, and by what would make you proud to be apart of it, and work to that end! Do things that will help you move forward and eventually help your office or construction crew move forward. Was reading a book called Linchpin for a while. I still flip its pages every so often. The book is for middle managers first, and everyone else a close second. Basically, serve so efficient at what you do that you create an atmosphere and an idea that you really are irreplaceable, even though every one is, you can still be of such good help and encouragement to those around you that they will wonder what they'll do if you ever leave. Be the definition, not the word that defines it. Think about it: would you like people running around calling you a Linchpin or would you rather people say "that person is who holds the many elements of our complicated structure together." Be more than hearers, say more than words: Be action.

Hungry...

I started praying through the scripture of Ezekiel 37. I'm asking God to awaken every single last dead bone in my body mind and soul and bring life to all facets of my life. Sometimes we have area's in our lives that we don't dare let God have, and it stunts our spiritual growth. God told Ezekiel to speak life into the dead bones of Israel and Judah and He would renew their land, He'd make them whole again. I want Velocity church to be whole and right with God so we can be about His business.

If These Walls Could Talk

Tonight I have a date with my wife, but not just a typical date. We're going to discuss the subject of "If these walls could talk." This past week at ministers retreat we were challenged w/ this subject from the Ohio Ministry Network. Krista and I are going to take the materials with us to dinner tonight and talk about how we got our start and ask each other just what our walls would say about our family if they could talk! We'll examine where we want to make adjustments at home so that we can be all the more intentional about a strong finish in our faith, raising kids, and loving each other.

No matter if it's home, church, work, school, riding motorcycles, playing golf or sitting in your easy chair... Do what you do with the intention of glorifying God. In other words, Make God Proud! Of Jesus He said, "This is my son, in whom I am well pleased!" May it be the same for you as you enter eternity, "Well done, my good and faithful servant!"

Season's

Wintertime...blah. Springtime, Oh Yea!

Seasons: I like Spring, Summer, and Fall the best. However, if it weren't for the Winter season, Spring wouldn't be so sweet!

Spiritual Seasons: Our church is in the middle of a 40 day fast. As far fasting goes, it's like winter time! However, this is still an exciting season for us because we're looking ahead to greater things!

Whatever season you're in; take full advantage of learning something and moving forward! Whether you want it to pass soon or last a lifetime; learn what God needs you to learn from it and share your experience with someone close by!

Do What God is Doing

John 5:19 - Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

I've been at a pastors cohort this last couple days and this scripture verse is one I've been thinking about. The cohort is a year long trek of leadership discussions, self evaluations, church evaluations and more. There are 20 some other pastors included; its good to see many of my good friends there!

Well - let's do what John 5:19 says to do. In fact, Jesus only did what God the Father was already doing. Let's find out where God is moving, where He's working, and let's join together in the efforts of those who are doing that as well! Like my daughter always sings "teamwork, teamwork..."

In 2010, lets stop, look, listen, and pray...slowly. Slow yourself down below 5 mies an hour for once and ponder, consider, think..... And let's find out what God is blessing, what He's doing, and let's roll with God through 2010 and make this year on e of the greatest in the history of the world!

There's a sweet taste to a fast...

For my friends who are fasting for 40 days...And for those who may feel God tugging on them to fast for His will to be done in your life:

From Deut. 8:3, Jesus quotes Moses in Matthew 4:4 when he tells the devil that man does not live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God.

Deuteronomy 4:2 (NIV) Moses delivers this message (among others) during the last 40 days of Israel's wanderings before crossing the Jordan - “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.” ---What ever you feel God has spoken to you about, don't add or subtract from it during your fast.

2 Corinthians 9:7 (NIV) says "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." ---Don't cheat on your fast. Give to God what you decided to in the beginning and find joy in doing so.

On the second day of our church wide (and beyond) fast, I felt like I was doing something worth while when my body started to make it's adjustments, if you know what I mean.

Doing something meaningful and challenging for God's sake is the sweetest taste of victory in the world.

Keep up the good work!

1st day of 40 day fast

After the day was near over, I read from Deuteronomy 4:2. God tells the Israelites through Moses: "Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you." This message delivered within the last 40 days of the desert wanderings. God is instructing them to stay with the plan, read, study, pray, stay devoted, don't be wishy washy, remember where they came from and where they're going.... So, on the first day of my fast I had one big question for a mentor of mine. Between his response and this scripture, I got my answer. I believe I heard form God. I won't add or subtract from His words to appease my own lack of understanding. It's not easy, but if it were, everyone would be doing it...

Perfect Timing

Yesterday, just to show me that He (God) is listening to me, both of my kids came running over to me and hugged me, kissed me, then ran off! Then they did it again, and again! Minutes before that, I was asking God to "hold me close." So He did by way of my two adorable kids.