I am amazed and at the same time not, that nothing disappears. This blog spot I set up over six years ago, forgot about it in the business of life and just now had a friend send a link to it.

She was thankful for a post from 2011 which talks of the silence of God in the midst of struggle. Unique in this is that this weekend I am preaching on that very topic from the Psalms. The timeless word of God and the truths found there are amazing.

If I can and when time permits I will post from time to time as this provides a forum for discussion and thoughts to be shared.

God's blessings from the one who is no longer a youth pastor, heck not even a youth. I'm just a vagabond wanderer journeying toward the Son.

As a deer

Good morning again. It is a wet day here, but the rain is much needed. I love to just sit and listen to the raindrops fall as they water the dry ground. It's a wonderful sound and soothing to the spirit.

Much like God's voice when he speaks to us in our quiet times. Getting alone to pray and seek his face really inspires the spirit, lifts the soul and sets the course of the day so much better than getting up grabbing a pop tart and bolting for the door.

What do we do though when God doesn't speak? When he doesn't answer? Or worse yet when he does, and gives us a response that we wished we had not received? Is God messing with us? NO! He is growing us. He is stretching us and challenging us to step into places and to do things that we normally would not go or do. The silence of God at times can be deafining.

Have you ever sat back and asked: "Why LORD are you not answering me?" "Why am I so troubled?" Many times we feel that way when God seems to be silent. We struggle with the lack of response and feel distanced from him. Yet, God is doing something in his silence. He is teaching us to walk with him even when he seems to be aloof to the goings on of life. Why? To teach trust and faith. It is not a divine game of "I shall mess with so and so because its fun." It is a test as it were to see if we really wish to have him or not. Will we press in? Will we persevere and continue to ask him even if he holds back his response?

Psalm 42 tells a story of at least one of the Sons of Korah. He seems to be going through a dry time, a time where God isn't talking to him. He is troubled in the deep part of his soul and wonders why. His feeling is that God has forgotten him. Don't we sometimes feel that way? For whatever reason, we get the sense that God has left us to walk alone.

Yet, he never does. He is always there, and is watching over us. I would encourage you as I have been encouraged, remember what he has done for you in the past. Recall his faithfulness and his steadfastness and hold tight to that in the times of silence.

"Give me strength LORD, to walk in your silence." Most times our greatest lessons are learned along that quiet road.

That's the way the world goes round

Good day. Not much to say for those of you who humor me by reading my blog. Except I have a good many thank-you's.

It has been one of those summers to forget. I am happy that I can sit down at my desk, type a bit, process more and listen to some music. To the elders and the congregation here at COTR, you are all awesome. I serve a great congregation. PR and Suzanne, thank you as well for your prayers and support. In addition, my early morning coffee dudes! You are all awesome. And especially to my wife, without whom I do not believe I  would have the ability to see the forest for the trees.

Sometimes life takes twists and turns that we are either unprepared for or we just simply do not wish to walk to roads that present themselves. Yet, off we must go onto paths we would rather leave untrod. God leads, trains and lifts up his children, and he uses those around us to remind us of important things. Along those same paths we wish to stay away from, we find that by stepping onto them some of the greatest lessons can be found. I have taken some of those lessons, stored them in my heart and will draw from them as I move forward.

In the midst of two funerals and at last count 7 road trips throughout NE, life goes on. Planning for Elevate youth happens this evening, and the young adult group has begun to form. We are looking at Paul's letter to the Ephesian church. I will use this blog as a means of facilitating that conversation beyond our weekly meeting. I am excited to see what this new "year" (school year) brings to life. Time marches on and life happens. We can grab it by the reigns and with the help of God set out on that faith journey marked out for us. OR we can sit back and let the winds of change take us to the wherever stop-off. One turns into a life well lived, while the other is a life lost in the valley of entropy.

Me, I want to take all I have learned these few months, apply it, learn from it and seek the LORD more. Why? Because letting the currents of the river take you where ever and then complaining about where you landed is quite silly. I would rather steer the boat, let the LORD give direction and land right where he says to. As the world continues to go round, what is your assignment in the midst of the goings on in your life? I challenge you to dig in, pray and then act. Make changes where they need to be made. Focus on the one who solves problems and not the one who causes them.

Life is like Fangorn forest. The trees are so thick sometimes that no light gets in. Bilbo didn't complain, he climbed to where the light was and found where he needed to go. Yup, a Hobbit reference. I'm a nerd.

Many blessings to you all and I pray that I will be solid enough to return again tomorrow: Same bat time same bat channel...

How do you honor an absent Dad?

Today is Father's day and to all the Dad's out there, Happy Father's Day to you. To my Father- in- law, my step-Dad (Dana) and to Bruce. All three of you stepped in where one checked out. You chose to be Dad in each situation you found yourselves. I am blessed to have you all as a part of my life.

As I read my devotions this morning, specifically Our daily bread, it spoke of an Olympic athlete whose Dad suffered a heart attack in the stands and passed away, just before the games were to begin. He honored his Dad by entering the venue for his event wearing his Dad's old hat. The one worn so many times as they fished and did other things together. It was his way of honoring him for standing beside him through the years.

This is a poignant moment, one that really causes me to reflect as I do every Fathers Day. It causes me to ask the question I tend always to ask: How do you honor an absent Dad? Now by absent I do not mean Dad has passed away and he is no longer with you. I mean the Dad who packed it in and drove off into the sunset never to be seen again. By choice he decided, in effect, not to be a Dad. You see, O.D.B. ends with the request to honor our Dad's and show them respect for the good values they taught us. Assuming every Dad did such things. Unfortunately, in a broken and weak world that simply is not true. There are a good many "first generation Christians" such as myself who had no example, much less a Godly one when growing up. So again I ask, "what can one do to honor your absent Dad?

I cannot, nor will I presume to have the answer, but I will share what I have learned.

First: God did not give us the option to honor our parents. It is a command, and one that comes with a promise. Moses mentions it in a list that we all know called the ten Commandments. It is the fifth of ten and the first that relates to our relationships one to another.  Therefore, it is one that we must understand. Paul re-emphasises this principle in his letter to the Ephesians. He starts off the sixth chapter by repeating the commandment to honor your parents, and reminds us that it is the first command with a promise. That promise being long life. It's a hard one to follow when you have a situation like mine. I find, if I may be honest, that I have struggled with this commandment. It requires me, that's right, requires me to honor my parents. Even my absent Father, who for whatever reason, just decided he wanted to check out.

Second: The Love of Christ Compels me. The moment I accepted Jesus, I became accountable to a better way. The world says: He doesn't deserve air to breathe, and quite frankly that may be true. But my life, including my heart attitude, no longer belong to me. I have the choice to do whatever I wish, as God will not violate my free will. But is that really being the Jesus follower I am called to be? No! I have to submit those feelings to him and place them under his authority. I then ask the dangerous question: "How Lord, do I honor my Dad? Scripture is full of answers. The one that stands out is the one I started this paragraph with. It is because Christ's LOVE compels me. The better way of God is the road I choose to take.

Third: "Do as say, not as I do." That's what my Dad always used to say. I can happily say with all love, that if my Dad taught me anything it was how NOT to be a Father. I do not say that sarcastically or with bitterness. I miss my Father and wish he had made different choices, but he didn't. He is absent and will be most likely until he leaves this world. As I have aged, I have found that I learned a lot from Dad. Some good, most not. My challenge as a "first generation believer" is to honor him, regardless of his choices. He is and always will be my Father. Quite honestly, were it not for his choices in this life, I would not be the man that I am. Had he not left, I would not have gone to Vermont. Had I not gone to Vermont, I would not have found the most beautiful woman God ever put on the face of this planet. Had I not met my wife, I would not have my four children, who have turned out awesome! I would not have my grandson, be in the ministry or even typing this story. So Paul was absolutely correct when he says in Romans 8:28a: "And we know that IN ALL THINGS God works for the good of those who love him."  I have been living the truth of that scripture since the day I packed my 1975 Mustang and pointed it north.

So, thank you Dad. Your choices helped me make mine. Your life defined mine in ways that may not have been how God intended. Yet HE has worked it all together for the good. I have a beautiful wife and four beautiful children and am serving the LORD. I honor you in every sense of the word. You are my Father and though you will never read this, the work that the Holy Spirit had done in my heart allows me to not only honor you, but more importantly to forgive you. By forgiving you, I am free to love, to move on and to honor, even an absent Father...

Harold Camping, Rob Bell and playing on the freeway...

I often wonder what drives people to do things incorrectly over and over again, while at the same time fully expecting the outcome to be different. The world watched, laughed and mocked their way through May 21, "knowing" full well that the 22nd would arrive without the world being destroyed.


I am also baffled at how we can sit back and laugh at such things. Rob Bell puts a book out called "Love Wins" and many in the Christian community label him a heretic, want to throw him out of the church and spend an inordinate amount of time ripping him apart. Now I do not agree with much of his theology to be sure, but he has been labeled now as someone who is a danger to sound doctrine.
Harold Camping stakes his entire life on unsound doctrine and poor Biblical exegesis, and teaches millions to do the same and all we do is laugh at him. I read an article about a man who spent $140,000 advertising the rapture. Another man sold his house, spent all he had to pack his wife and two kids up for their last journey across the country before Jesus took the 200 million Christians "home". Only to wake up in California, broke, unemployed and in dispare. Living with the hope that our world is so bad that we pray for it's destruction while all the "good" folks get to go to glory is no way to live. Yeah, I know it's their fault for believing him. However, does that mean Mr. Camping gets a free pass? I don't think so. Unsound doctrine is unsound doctrine regardless of who is the one delivering it.


So I am struggling with a couple things, yes only a couple:

1] Why would a people pray for the destruction of this (our) world and all on it?
We are told to preach the Word to the world. That is the great commission found in Matthew 28. Why? Because God so LOVED the WORLD (not just the people on it) but the world, that he gave us his son, so that we may believe and become his children. We are never commanded to pray for the destruction of this planet.
2] If all we are hoping for is that Jesus comes to take us (the chosen few) out of here, where is God's love in that?
The second coming of Jesus to this earth is the cornerstone of our faith, and is as Biblically sound as one can be. When that event is to happen was not revealed in scripture.
Matthew 24:36 ~ "No one knows about the day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the son, but only the Father." Camping taught that even though it says that, we actually can know. People believed.
Acts 1:7-8 ~ "He said to them: 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when The Holy Spirit comes on you...'" Camping states that based upon this verse we will have a desire to know as the end time approaches and because we have the Holy Spirit, we can know. Even though Jesus said: IT IS NOT FOR US TO KNOW. People believed.

No matter where you stand on the theology of the Rapture, if that is all we focus on as the next great event, you have missed the call of Jesus. It is not our out! We have responsibilities here on this planet and Jesus will judge us, his people, as much on what we have done as what we have believed. Reference Matthew 25:31-46. If all we do is hope we are taken away while all those awful "non-Christians" get theirs, we miss what God is doing.

Scripture tells us that Jesus died once for all. Scripture also tells us that God is slow in coming in the hopes that ALL will come to him. We read in Romans that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. [Romans 3:23-24] It doesn't say that only some are justified, but by implication all are justified. Not all will accept that justification, but because of Jesus' ressurection all are. We don't choose who goes HE DOES. We get to choose whether we go by accepting his justification, but we don't determine who else goes.

Rob Bell in his book says that in the end Love wins, no matter what we choose, whether it be heaven or hell. Although I disagree with him regarding our ability to choose heaven after we die. The book of Hebrews tells us that a person is destined to die once and then the judgement. Call me silly, but I see no wiggle room there. Having read Love wins though, I find there is a great deal of truth regarding how we are to live today for Christ! I can sort that out from the bad stuff and say I agree with him on that.

Harold Camping says 200 million "true Christians" will be taken up. He tells us when it will happen, (re-calculated to Oct 21) and each time gets it wrong. Somehow convincing people to continue to believe in him. Their fault I understand, but just because he is "laughable" and not as clean cut around the edges, does not make him less dangerous. Listen, you can dress a goat up in a tuxedo, but in the end it's still a goat! I find nothing I can agree with him on at any level. His understanding of end times, his false interpretation of scripture and his inability to know when to stop playing on the freeway.

What's with the noise anyway?

Have you ever just sat down and listen to just how loud life is? Even in the relative quiet of your room there is always something making noise. I was awakened this morning (really the middle of the night-but it was after midnight) with the familiar ping of my Blackberry. Sad really, that my ear is so tuned to that irritating little beep, it actually wakes me from a sound sleep. Usually I shut my phone off at night but forgot last night. So much noise, so little quiet.

Its no wonder we have a hard time finding quiet. In fact I find that we are so used to noise that we have become afraid of silence. Yet it is in those quiet times, few as they are, that we hear God. It is not that he has stopped talking to us in this day and age. It is that we have stopped listening.

The Scriptures tell us that Jesus always got alone, or went to a solitary place to pray. I know that was a time and a world that was not so busy and had no electronic stuff to entertain us or distract us. Very true, but as I sit here and type I am looking at my Blackberry (now off) and I see that there are two very facinating buttons. One is the volume, and the other is the off, or red phone button. I hit them both and the world is still turning. We can do what Jesus did. We can find a solitary place and pray, and hear God. The same way Jesus did: disengage from the world and all it's noise. Intentionally shut things down and spend some time in silence. You will be amazed at how loud God can be when you get rid of the noise.

Its been a week...What's new

To my students who went to Compelled by Love, it's been a week since we were in Portsmouth. How are things going? Many challenges were tossed at us, challenges that made us think about how we are to act and respond to those around us.

One that I would like you to look at this week is how can you remain close to God away from an event like convention. I call it the pursuit of a deeper relationship that moves beyone the emotion and feelings. Last fall at our retreat to Singing Hills I preached about Elijah having to learn to how God speaks even in the valley. For us it's the city, town and school. It's the "away from convention" place. Did anything change in your spiritual walk? Are you pursuing God, digging deeper, and putting into practice the things he spoke to you? That's the real reason we go and hear someone like Chilly Chilton. So we can learn how to work and walk in the "valley".

So I got a few things for you: Prayer, His Word, and Stepping out.

1) Prayer: It's here that we learn to speak to and hear from God. The book of Acts is filled with times of prayer and God moving as a result. A lot of those times were quiet pleadings of the Church for direction, salvation and healing. Through the Holy Spirit, God spoke and the Church grew and moved in power! Start here, it's the key to success as God is always faithful to speak to you!

2) His Word: If we dig into his Word as we pray, God speaks through it and reveals things to us that we need to be successful for him. Without his word, we become directionless and weak. Chilly told you that it IS GOD'S WORD his VERY WORD and you should be excited everytime you open your Bible because it is GOD speaking to you. Study it, pray through it and apply it to your life. Store it up in your hearts, and he will use it to light your path toward whatever task he has for you.

3) Step out: Once you are prayed up and studied up are you called to sit in a room all by yourself smiling cuz you found the key to the best party in town? NO! God calls us to share what we have found, we are to invite those who don't know yet to come and see what God has for them. We did not receive from God so we could be selfish, but that we could be like Jesus: Self-LESS. Sharing the good news with friends and enemies!

Let me know what God has been doing. Has he spoken to you, called you or used you to touch the lives of those around you. Let's mess with the world and practice radical acts of forgivness and Love. Overcome evil with good! Love those who are unlovable, in fact invite them to youth group! The P.O.W.'s of your community need someone who is: "just in the neighborhood." Get that Chuck Norris evangelism going, cuz the enemy ain't gonna give 'em up without a fight. What he doesn't get is that he is already defeated because you have overcome by the blood of the LAMB AND the WORD of your testimony. [Rev 12:11]