"You Be the Judge"...by the way, THAT'S NOT YOUR JOB! 

It's amazing to me how cruel some people can be.  Take for instance the fuss over Sanjaya Malakar on American Idol.  Go to YouTube once and listen to what people have to say about this young man.  They cut him down every which way from Sunday.

I wonder if he's heard it yet.  For his sake, I hope he never does. 

I really hope his mother doesn't have to endure listening to the "verbal beating" that America is giving her son.

That can pretty much damage a 17- year old's perception of himself when all of America voices their own opinion about someone who they don't really know.  It's bad enough when it happens at school, but to have all of America throwing it at him must be pretty tough.

In these moments I realize that this world is as far away from God as it possibly can be.  So far removed that America feels the need to replace God with an idol of its own.

It makes me sad.  Jesus would have never treated anyone like that.  He would have encouraged the young man.  He would have egged him on to continue to pursue and develop his gifts.  He would have "spurred" him on.

As we need to spur on one another.

Granted, I don't agree with the premise of there being an "American Idol".  I believe there should be no idols and that our full worship should be to God.  However, I do catch the show periodically (admitting shamefully).

I would never have the guts (or the voice) to do what these people do on a weekly basis.  I give them props for having the guts to get out there every week to the praise/criticism of the American public.

However, that doesn't open the door to such harsh criticism as I have been reading about not only Sanjaya, but many of the other performers.  Since when did God give us the right to judge anyone?

Last I remember that isn't our right at all.

Last I heard God did all the judging and we did all of the "love thy neighbor as thyself-ing".

But that's not the world we live in anymore.  We live in a society of gimme, gimme, gimme and everything being about me, me, me.  Where material overcomes spiritual and spiritual is talked about in hushed whispers in darkened corners lest anyone hear of us speaking openly about a Savior who saved and loved us first so that we may love others.

Where we create our own idols in place of the only One who ultimately sacrificed His life that we may live.

God forbid we be about anyone other than ourselves.

I really wish God did forbid selfishness.  I really wish He would take that out of our society, our "wiring", reboot the system so that our main goal and focus is to encourage one another, take care of our poor, be kinder and more peaceful and not rush to an answer of war with every question of unsettlement.

To love as He first loved us.

I really wish that we did not have the capability to bestow a "verbal beating" upon anyone.  You try and get up on stage in front of an audience and millions of viewers and tell me you wouldn't be nervous and mess up and time or two.  Don't knock it till you've tried it first hand.

And if you have been on the other end of one of these "verbal beatings", you know how wrong it is to do that to anyone else.

Love.  Joy.  Peace.  Patience.  Kindness.  Goodness. Faithfulness.  Gentleness.  Self-control.  The fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).  The things that grow us and deepen our faith and make our narrow-way walk all the more enjoyable.

So instead of judging, try loving for a change.  Instead of yelling, try patiently listening.  Instead of fighting, give peace a chance (tee-hee).

And the next time you get the urge to verbally beat down someone on tv or in your life, put yourself in their shoes.  Don't judge them (IT'S NOT YOUR JOB!).  Give them a chance.  Let God speak through them into your life and give this "love thy neighbor as thyself" thing a shot.  Be encouraging.  Uplifting.  Be radically loving in a world that is ordinarily hating everything and everyone that either gets in their way or upsets them.

Don't look like the world.  Look to God.  Put on the full armor of God.  Be Jesus with skin on.  And eventually your "American Idol" will crumble and you will turn to unending praise to our Heavenly  Father.  You will start to see God's uniquely placed gifts in other people, and perhaps spur on a few as they develop those talents.

Live as an ordinary radical in a radically unloving world.

Peace in Christ.

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Lost in Love (one seekers random ramblings)

I've kinda been lost as to what to write lately.   At a loss for words.  Lost in thought.  Lost in translation(s) (biblically speaking).  Just kinda, well, lost.

Lost on a narrow way with only a small candle to light the next few feet.  Blindly creeping forward into an unknown future.  All I have on me is my sword (the Word of God) and my Father in Heaven beckoning me onward to "come and see".  To see what life is like in Him.  And not just church on Sunday life.  LIFE.  Give it all away life.  Reach out to a stranger who then becomes a friend life.  Living not for myself but for the One who created me life.  Taking up my cross daily life.  Showing love and peace in a world full of war and anger life.  L~I~F~E.

But I am afraid.  Afraid of not knowing where I will end up by laying all down.  Afraid of disappointing my God.  Afraid that I have been living an empty, surface-only faith for too long. 

"The Irresistible Revolution" messed me up.  The Bible messed me up, but in a good way.  Messed with my mind and my preconceived notion of what a person who genuinely lived their life for Jesus looked like.  What have I been taught?  To love my neighbor.  What have I seen?  The same people who taught me that I need to love my neighbor rally on for a war where our neighbor is being killed on a daily basis.

What have I witnessed?  A church (not specifying denomination but meaning one church connected) full of devoted followers praying for God's hand on the lost and hurting and "least of these".  But yet do I hear of anyone, including me, actually going to where the "least of these" are and befriending them?  Putting a face to and giving a voice to the poor instead of just writing them off?  Bringing them a blanket or money to pay the rent or a friendly smile instead of walking quickly by and perhaps missing out on meeting Jesus?  And doing it not for selfish reasons or a tax write off but because God loved us first and now we pass that on to His children?  No.  Because comfort and complacency have taken the place of genuine love.

I see mission trips planned left and right.  People of God embarking out on a quest to a foreign country to preach the Gospel and bring some joy.  That is awesome.  I am so thankful for missions-minded people.  But sometimes I think we forget that we have a missions field right here in the U.S.  In Duluth.  In Willmar.  In the Twin Cities.  In our entire United States.  Lonely, hurting people crying out for what is missing in their lives.  Homeless, forgotten people aching from a society that labels them as nothing.  Wealthy people with a house full of possessions yet sitting with emptiness in their hearts that they can't explain. 

First off, people are not nothing.  So if you think that, bear with me a second and I'll explain.  God created each person in His image and with a purpose in mind.  He looks past class, race and status and sees us for who we really are.  We are dearly loved children of an unfathomably loving Father.  We are brothers and sisters in this dysfunctional family of God. 

Every poor person, every homeless person, every wealthy person, every middle-class person who is barely making it is a precious, loved, adored child of the Most High.  We are all in this boat together.

Unfortunately when we don't work together to paddle we end up going around in circles.

Circles of jealousy, anger, selfishness, status, fear, loneliness, love of everything but what we should really be in love with ~ God.

Everyone in the boat has their own agenda.  On a different page from that of the person sitting next to them.  Rowing in the opposite direction and getting nowhere fast.

STOP!  Please, stop rowing.  Just stop, take a deep breath and listen.  Listen.  Pray.  Love God.  Answer His call when He beckons you to get out of the boat (whether it be a boat of work, a comfort zone or disappointment..whatever your boat may be) and walk towards Him on the calm surface of the narrow way.  To live LIFE minus the worry and the possessions and the jealousy and the unforgiveness and being afraid. 

He asks us to just love and be loved.  Love our neighbor as ourselves and really mean it.  Love as He first loved us.  Just love.

And let Him love you.  Please.  Just let Him love you.  Don't push Him away, don't box Him up, don't ignore Him.  Just let Him love you.  And slowly but surely the anger will be lifted, the jealousy depleted, status disappear.  And you will see a world full of brothers and sisters and not just homeless and rich.  You will see a dying world in need of small things done in love.  We can change the world by just simply loving others.  Being at peace.  Being a community of true, authentic Jesus followers instead of just playing one on tv.

These are the things that run the track of my mind on a normal day.  God has got me and He is setting me free of my strongholds with love.  He is loving fear right out of me.  He is redirecting my thoughts so I see things in a light I never noticed them in before.

He's messing with my programming and rebooting the system.  

And I am still lost.  A desperate dreamer on a narrow way.  A purpose-driven seeker, even though I don't know what God's purpose for me is yet.  Crying out to my Father and falling on my knees and praying and pleading for a church that needs to come together and break the barriers of denomination.  Silently screaming for a whole world to learn to love as I struggle to learn the same lesson.  Seeking and finding and questioning and praying and doubting and learning and seeking and....on and on and on.

Reach out and love someone.  Not worldy love.  Not romantic love.  Not the distorted version of love that the media portrays.  God's love.  Agape love.  Philio (brotherly) love. 

So, that's what I think about.  That's what I pray about.  That's what I try to wrap my head and heart around on a daily basis.  And what I will continue to seek.  I am still lost, yes, but the One who seeks me finds me where I am and reassures me that I am on this path for a reason.  He has me lost in love.

And I believe.  And I hope.  And I have faith.  And I have love.  And the greatest of these?  Love.    

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My Father's House
Current mood: creative

I walk with steady steps through the doorway to my Father's house. It has been so long since the last time I crossed this sacred threshold that my heart trembled with fear. My fear was that He would not welcome me back into His house. That I would be left on the doorstep, cold and scared. I put one hesitant foot in front of the other, teetering the line between turning to run and continuing on.

Large windows allowed light to spill in and flood the house with radiance. I stepped forward and called out in a shaky voice, "Father, are You here?" The only voice I heard was my own echoing back to me from places where light did not go.

Further into the room I found a seat by the piano and sat down, patiently waiting. The light from the windows slowly began to filter out, allowing darkness to come in. I got up to find a light switch and flipped it on. Once again I took my seat and waited.

While I waited I looked around the room. The glow of the lights was warm and inviting with green carpet and high walls. I stepped over to the piano and plucked out an old familiar song. It was out of key and the piano badly needed tuning, but the song remained the same.

Each note echoed through the room, bouncing from here to there and back to its origin and then ceasing to quiet silence. I stood still and listened for my Father to arrive. After many long moments of quiet solitude I resumed playing, filling the silence with the sharps and flats of my familiar tune.

"Where have you been, my child?", a voice softly spoke.

I paused before I answered, and still not quite sure what to say I started speaking. "Father, I have been gone. Gone for so long that I had forgotten the comfort that being in Your house brings me."

I paused again, choked with emotion. Trying to form words was painful and nothing I could say made my guilt any less. I continued.

"Father, while I was away, I saw many things. I traveled everywhere, but felt that I didn't belong anywhere. I witnessed the beauty and majesty of the mountains, the calm serenity of the water, the ferociousness of the wind and the cleansing of the rain. Yet through all of the things that I have seen and all of the wonders that I have witnessed, something has been missing. I didn't quite know what it was so I kept on searching for whatever I could find to fill that empty space in my heart and soul.

I tried money, but the joy of that lasted for only a short while. It did not satisfy or quench my thirst for that missing peace.

I tried possessions but realized that the luster of gold and silver tarnishes and fades through time. That wasn't able to fill my empty heart, either.

I ventured all through this great land searching for my heart but nothing eased the ache and emptiness I felt. No worldly possessions made me feel better, so I came home to the only place where I felt my heart and soul filled with love, peace and understanding. I came home, Father. Of my own free will, I journeyed home."

Again I paused, shaking and crying making every effort to regain my already tattered and weary composure. I could not stop my hands from shaking. I fell to my knees in exhaustion. My heart was beating fast as the tears came harder. My body shook with pain and reflection.

"Father, can you forgive me for straying so far from you? For leaving for so long? I have certainly missed you and I beg your forgiveness. I am sorry."

"I know, my child, I know," He said.

The tears welling up in my eyes slowly slid down as I turned my face upward. I looked into my Father's eyes and saw understanding and forgiveness. He spoke again.

"My child, why would you ever doubt my love for you? I have been waiting patiently for you. I let you go on your own because I knew that some way, somehow you would find your way home. No matter how dark and lonely the path was, I was with you.

Child, I have always been with you. Through good and bad, light and dark, happiness and sadness. Even when you thought you were alone, I was sitting there beside you guiding you home.

My love has always been with you and so I welcome you back from your long, hurtful journey. Bring me all of your problems and worries, your gladness and tears. Welcome home my child."

I stopped sobbing and stood with shaky legs. I walked forward to the altar and bent to kneel once again. I put my hands together, closed my eyes and prayed. I prayed so hard that I heard my own soul cry out. I felt my Father's redeeming grace. I could feel my Father's love course through my veins as I knelt by that altar and prayed. "Thank You, Father, thank You."

After a few moments had passed I opened my eyes and looked around my Father's house. The familiarity of it gave me comfort and I drew on that as I willed myself to my feet. I slowly looked around taking in the Cross, the altar, the pulpit and the pews where I worshiped for so many years before I was lost to the world. I then glanced again into the understanding gaze of my Father's eyes. I felt joy and peace as I descended that altar.

I went to the pews and grabbed a hymnal. I opened it up and found the old familiar tune. I plucked out "Amazing Grace" on the piano once again. Yes, it was out of tune but it still sounded as sweet as it had the first moment I heard it all those years ago.

I started singing along. When it was finished I stood silently, listening to the blending between my voice and the piano as it echoed throughout the church. My tears peacefully flowed as I realized that I was really home.

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A Fool for God - Fanatically speaking of course
Current mood: wound up

This blog is kind of a call to action.  I heard a sermon today that just blew me away and convicted me in a lot of ways.  I'm feeling pretty fanatical this evening so hold on.  We are going on a little journey....

I need Jesus.  You need Jesus.  And I am going to tell you that everyday until you accept Him because God loves you, misses you and treasures you like nothing else.  There is a church that I used to go to where the pastor says, "we are going to Heaven and want to take as many people with us as possible".

Is it because of numbers?  Do I think the more people I lead to salvation the faster I jump to the head of the line when I die?  Are you under the impression that I have to meet a certain quota of saved souls by the time my number is up on Earth?  NO. NO. NO.

Is it because I am trying to be obnoxious and in your face about the very real threat of you going to hell if you don't accept God's free gift and a ride on the J-Train to Heaven?  Well, I am trying not to be obnoxious about it, but if that's what works then YES.

For too long I have been the back pew Christian.  Ready to praise and worship God on Sunday, lift my hands in the air and look good to others around me by showing how much Jesus I got in me.  On Sunday. 

What about the other six days of the week?  What am I doing then?  Am I raising my hands in the air when I am in Shopko and hear a Christian song come on over the store speakers?  Am I living a life worthy of God's calling and modeling that to others so it is obvious to them that I have something they might not have?  Am I stepping out in faith to do anything?  Certainly not.  That would look foolish, right?

Well, let's take a look at this for a second.  Foolish...hmmm....when Jesus preached in front of crowds of thousands of people, the Pharisees called Him foolish.  They thought His teachings were blasphemous.  How dare He call Himself the Son of God, the King of the Jews, the Chosen Messiah?  Foolishness.... 

His own disciples questioned their Master.  Surely there was no way to feed thousands of people with a meager amount of bread and a few fish.  They thought He was foolish for thinking they could.

They questioned Him from the very beginning and at the end.  "Throw our nets out?  We have been fishing this sea all night and have caught nothing and now this guy comes around and tells us to throw out again?  Is He crazy?"  They were exhausted and they thought He was foolish. 

When He performed miracles by healing the sick and bringing people back from the dead, the skeptics said He was walking dangerous ground and better watch His step.  To them He was being far too careless and foolish. 

But look what foolishness produced.  The sick were healed and the dead rose.  The people were fed with food to spare.  The net practically exploded from the expansive amount of fish they were trying to haul in.  The people listened, the people believed.  The Pharisees were humbled when they crucified this foolish man and He ROSE on the third day, DEFEATED death and WON you and me back to our Father's side.

Foolishness.  To a world that doesn't believe it is.  To a dark and Godless world, the Bible is a book of old stories that have no relevance to this day and age.  Jesus was just a guy who healed some people and came back from the dead but not much else.  God is whatever they believe He is to be.  The world even tells us that we can be our own gods.  That you have the power to control your own life, your own destiny.  More is better and it's survival of the fittest.  Kill or be killed.  Do whatever it takes to get to the top no matter who you have to hurt in order to get there.  Chaos and mayhem.

I'm not going to buy into what the world says. I don't want to be my own god.  I need a Savior.

You need a Savior.

The world needs salvation and I am not going to miss the opportunity to tell everyone.

We as a generation of young adults need to step up and be the hope and inspiration for our generation.  We need to be a beakon that shines through the darkness to bring the great Light of God that shines so brightly in each one of us.  We need to be foolish for Christ.  I like that.  Being a fool for God.  It's fun.

No more sitting on the sidelines where it is comfortable.  No more complacency.  No more excuses.  God has called us to be HIS people.  He hasn't called us to be "His people on Sunday's and then the world's the other six days".  He has called us to be more than what we can even imagine we can be.  He has touched our lives to be HIS hands and feet while we walk this planet.  And the more people we can bring home with us the better.  

Jesus died for YOU.  Let this sink in for a moment.  While He was bleeding to death, gasping for every breath, enduring the pain of nails that were brutally hammered through His wrists and ankles, enduring the taunts and abuse of a crowd of people who watched Him die in front of them......He was thinking how nice it was going to be to see you come home someday.  HE WAS THINKING OF YOU.  As He was being beaten, YOU were on His mind.  You were on His mind with His first breaths of new life in a manger in a little town called Bethlehem.  He thinks of you alot...He loves you...He wants you to one day come home to Him. You are His chosen, His beloved, His favorite.  YOU (pause for reflection)...YOU.  Believe it or not He thinks of you and misses you and cries with you and comforts you and offers you a free, eternal gift called salvation so you can be with Him, too.

And that is far too important not to tell you. 

You have a place at our Lord's table...it's set and ready.  God's waiting for you.   

I'll be praying for you, too.  God's blessing on you today and always.

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From Eden to Esko and Everywhere in Between
Current mood: Held in Arms of Grace

I really enjoy chatting with an old friend.  I love the familiarity of a friendly voice as we catch up on what's happened since we chatted last.  I don't appreciate those moments near enough and really need to appreciate them more (thanks for reminding me of that Ryan even if you didn't think you did).

Community.  It's what God intended for us when He formed His church.  Intimate connection.  Genuine relationship.  To spur one another on.  Accountability and partnership. Agape (God's) and Philio (brotherly) love for one another.  Through good and bad, for better or worse. 

Like the familiarity of chatting with an old friend.

It's sad how we have become so disconnected with one another.

Internet.  Text messaging.  Instant messaging.  Cell phones.  All of these replace relationship that was intended by God to be real and meaningful.  It's one thing to "chat" with someone on Messenger or text someone over your cell phone or have a MySpace page available for friends to view.  It's quite another to have intimate connection with those people...to talk face to face.  There are some responses you can't get through instant messenger.

Unfortunately this technological age has turned authenticity in relationship into a cheesy emoticon widening the gap between people and meeting together.  Just think of how easy it is to lie to someone now..they can't prove it 'cause they can't see you do it.  Lying, in case you are taking notes, is a sin.  So is denying God.  That's a serious, wages-of-sin-is-death, unpardonable kind of sin.

I prefer face to face interaction.  I prefer to see how a situation is affecting someone so I can be an effective encourager.  So that I can have prayer time with that person.  So I can "spur them on".

So does God.

I also think it is really sad that these modern conveniences have replaced God in our lives.  I am as guilty of it as the next person.  Sometimes I put this blog in God's place.  Take a phone call during a devotion time.  I am writing when I should be communing with my Heavenly Father.

Where else am I going to learn to be an authentic relational human being?

From the dawn of time God has had relationship with man.  Adam and Eve in the garden (God created Eve so that Adam would have company)...you and I in the concrete jungle.  Throughout centuries of people all the way up to present-day Earth, God has had relationship with us.

He desires it.  He craves it.  He sent His Son to the Cross so that He could have it with you and me on a whole other personal, eternal level.  That's how much He loves and dotes on us.  He was willing to "lay down His life for His friends" so that you and I can have a personal relationship with our Creator.

He delights in nothing more than you returning the same delight in Him to Him.  He delights in speaking with you.  He delights in intimate relationship that can only happen between a Father and child.

Nothing makes Him smile more than us taking the Word to the streets and sharing our community with others..sharing Him with others.  Increasing our family of God not because we are forced to but because we genuinely want to.

He loves chatting with an old friend just as much as you and I do. 

He knows you.  You'll see.  From the first tear-filled confession to the last breath-filled praise you utter as you are passing from this world to the paradise that awaits you with Him.  And that's something that text messaging won't reveal.

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When driving the highway of life....
Current mood: Amazed and Perplexed

About Kaio - Greek for "kindle or consume", "to set fire", "burn, light".

"You must first set yourself on fire (for God) and then let them (the world) watch you burn."

So, in your walking around everyday life, do you exert this consuming energy, this fire that cannot be extinguished?

Are you an out-of-control, nine-alarm fire Jesus Freak?

Or are you like a lot of the rest of us and just lukewarm?  Barely above room temperature.  Not even close to scorching hot but more towards the "not-even-warm-enough-to-make-a-good-cup-of-tea" lukewarm.

Lukewarm, my friends, is a dangerous place to be.

Revelation 3:15-16 tells us what God does with a lukewarm walk:

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Revelation 3:15-16 (NIV)

And in The Message (through verse 17):

"I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You're not cold, you're not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, 'I'm rich, I've got it made, I need nothing from anyone,' oblivious that in fact you're a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless."

God dislikes "lukewarm" Christianity so much that He "will spit you out of His mouth".

Whoa.  I guess complacency isn't really a good thing, either.  Complacent, stagnant, lukewarm.  All very dangerous characteristics to have.  Very dangerous indeed, especially while walking God's path.

He would rather you be either cold (not on fire for Him at all) or hot (on fire to the point of exploding).  There is no middle ground, no "lukewarm" with God.  You are either for or you are against.  You can't be both. 

He doesn't want you to walk the line (even if Johnny Cash wants you to) between the world and eternity.  He wants you to start with Him and end with Him.  Begin eternally, end in eternity.  He doesn't want a Sunday-only Christian.  He wants a "Sunday-through-Saturday-seven-days-a-week" Christian.  He doesn't want your praise and glory when things are going great and the blame when things aren't so great.  He wants you to TRUST Him enough to praise Him through the storm, the sunshine, the yucky stuff and everything in between.

Complacency gets you nowhere.  Complacency is like a drive.  You start out, tank full of gas, windows down and the tunes blasting.  You are on fire for the trip.  Ready to take on everything head on.  Pedal to the metal.  Waving goodbye to everything that was holding you back.

Then it's about two-hundred miles down the road and you start to grow weary.  Not exhausted, but definitely not as excited as you started the day out. Gas tank is down to 1/4.  You want to stop but you have a good rhythm going.  You are still carrying the torch, but it's kinda flickering in and out at this point.

A while later you are stranded.  Car out of gas, hot and sticky day, perspiring to no end.  But you don't lose your hope.  You know God will provide and you await someone to stop.  You pray.  You have confidence and that flickering little fire is still smoldering somewhere deep.  You aren't ready to throw in the towel just yet.

But noone comes.

Noone stops.  They whiz on by without giving you so much as a glimpse.  You are frustrated, irritated beyond measure (and maybe you even throw a small rock or two at a couple of passing cars - I am not condoning the act of throwing rocks at cars so please don't do it).

After an afternoon in the baking sun and a speeding processional that barely blinks to notice you, you slump down in the driver's seat and throw in the flag of surrender.  You just don't care anymore what happens, but it couldn't get any worse than this, right?

Complacency.  Not completely angry about your lack-of-gas situation, but not really happy about it either.  You are somewhere in the middle.  You feel, dare I say, lukewarm about the whole thing. 

You have been driving this path that God has led you on for so long.  You have been stranded on this particular stretch of highway for as long as you can remember.  You start to think it's not so bad.  You hunker down and wait it out.  You grow weary, but not weary enough to do anything about it.  You accept where you are knowing subconsciously that God is pushing you to break free from this area. 

Break the addiction.  Break the relationship.  Break the ties.  Break away. 

This is that stretch of road.  Where the rubber meets to road but where the car doesn't move.  You get stuck.  You can't get past people's opinion of you.  You can't forgive someone for something they have done to you.  You swear you won't sin and pray to God to forgive you but then go ahead and do it again five minutes later.

You are stuck.  And somewhere along the line you never totally gave up on God, but you stopped letting Him take the wheel and you pushed Him to the side.  He was still there, but you honestly don't know where to find Him.

You believe but you don't BELIEVE.

Your faith grew complacent.  You went from Kaio to lukewarm in 2.2 seconds.

And the gas that fueled the trip?  Prayer.  Faith.  The Word.  Intimate relationship with God.  Your car was Heaven-powered and spirit-charged for exceptional road worthiness.

And somewhere along the way the prayers became fewer and farther between as the gas gauge slipped lower.  Then you stopped reading your Bible.  Oh sure, you would bring it with you to church, but that was the only place you ever cracked it open because everyone else was.  And the intimate relationship?  Replaced with tv or internet or someone else.  Slowly that needle slipped to "E" and your supercharged life stalled at the side of the road.

Your car lacked spiritual fuel and you accepted where it left you.  You became complacent.

God doesn't want you to sit on the side of the road.  He wants to help you out but you have to let Him.  You have to once again give up the control of your vehicle (your life) and let Him take the driver's seat (PRAY,BELIEVE, REPEAT as often as necessary).

God will pull you out of your complacency, but you need to be willing to reignite your spiritual fire and once again be consumed. 

Read your Bible.  Pray.  Get involved in a Bible study.  Help out with church service projects.  Go on a missions trip.  Take time EVERY SINGLE DAY to meet with Jesus.  Bring your Bible to places you normally don't take it (like work) and read it there.  Be a witness.  Find a mentor.  Do whatever it takes to get that "kaio" fire back.

Hitch a ride with God and leave that "car" of complacency on that stretch of road you no longer have to be stuck on.  Trust God.  Leave the driving to Him.

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Amazing Grace or Something Resembling a Testimony of Sorts
Current mood: Caught in Thought

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beautiful Savior
Current mood: thankful

How amazing is our God?  I mean, really.

Watch the sun as it sets in the western sky - see the orange fade into pink, the pink fade to purple and the purple fade into twilight.

Watch a father as he holds his newborn baby for the first time, counting every finger and every precious toe with tears in his eyes.

Witness the elderly man as he sits and reflects on the blessings in his life - growing old with his true love, growing together with their beautiful children, giving his daughter away to her true love, watching his son become the mature man of God he is today, holding his love's hand as she quietly slips from this world into her Father's grip on the other side.  See the serene smile through wet eyes knowing that God has been so faithful and so good.

Take in the beauty of this great land, from sea to shining sea.  The majestic mountains, the wonderously raging waterfalls, the plain beauty of the heartland and everything in between.

Listen to the laughter of children.  The innocence in their songs.  The joy in their daily new discoveries.  The beating heart of a new generation.

Sunday morning.  Church.  People in praise and worship to God.  The most wonderful sound ever heard.  Hearts leaping in joy.  Tears falling, saved by grace.  Hands raised in thanksgiving and praise.  Voices climbing to Heaven itself to sing to the Lord with prayerful songs.  God moving in His people - to heal, to rejoice, to find, to touch, to forgive, to love.

Just stop.  Look around.  Beauty is all around.  The pulse of hearts beating in rhythm.  A rhythm of grace.  A rhythm of forgiveness.  A rhythm of love.  All this for our King.

God is so good, isn't He?

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The woodstove of the heart
Current mood: Passionately Aware of Being Kaio

Welcome to the tundra that is Northeastern Minnesota.  Step into the ice box, kiddies.  Winter is rearing it's ugly head.

I went out to feed the hunger of a massive woodstove this morning.  The fire was out.  Not a good thing.  Not a good thing at all.  Not good when you can't relight it because:  a) you don't have enough kindling OR paper and b) every attempt to ignite a match is thwarted by the ice-laden wind that only seems to find me when I am lighting a match to start, or restart a fire.  Nevermind the massive amounts of wood I had already thrown into the stove.  Nevermind the fact that I could no longer feel my legs from my hips down and didn't know if I was standing or not.  Nevermind the smoke that was inundating my senses and making my eyes water, which would then crystallize on my face. 

The woodstove was not allowing fire today.  Imagine that.  On the coldest day of the year so far.

Good thing God's fire isn't like that.  Sure, you have to stoke it sometimes to keep it going but He never denies you the fire.  Never.  It's yours for the taking.  And if you choose to burn for Him, then you are in stellar company my friend.

You join Peter.  The Rock.  A disciple.  A denier.  A repentant sinner.  A lover of Jesus and His ministry all the way to the end (did you know he was crucified upside down?  He didn't believe he was worthy of dying rightside up like his Savior did).

Paul.  Once Saul.  A murderer of Christians.  An enemy of the faith.  Encountered God on the road to Damascus.  God ran into him like a Mack truck and he was never the same.  A champion of the faith.  Willing to die knowing greater glory existed with his Father in Heaven. 

David.  A man after God's own heart.  An adulterer.  A murderer.  Earnestly sorry.  Forgiven.  He sought after God till the day God called him home. 

Mary.  A virgin.  Betrothed to a man who wanted to secretly divorce her.  Carrying a child who would one day carry the world's sin to the Cross.  A burden and a blessing.  A blessing that she was to bring our Savior into this world.  A burden knowing the call God placed on His life.  Watching the child she bore suffer and die.  Knowing that God's grace and love would come to save us all.

What awesome company, indeed.

I pray that my fire never goes out.  That God would continue to stoke the blazing persistence and seeking in my heart and soul.  I pray that Satan's cold winds never blow out God's igniting match as He continues to light and relight my consuming (kaio) passion for Him and Him alone.

I like to think that I am a woodstove that never goes out.

God's blessings to you today and keep warm, Minnesota.

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