So, i had to tell you about a couple things that have happened in the last week - once again my children have humbled me...
So, Tuesdays we go to school early for my oldest's prayer group - but this only for Junior Higher's - so me and my 2 younger children spend some time talking to God together and learning something. This Tuesday we read a section of in my son's Bible about faith. Now faith is one of those fancy Christian words that people talk about a lot but i'm not sure what it looks like in everyday life, if you know what i mean. So, i was trying to explain to them that having faith means that you believe that what you hope for will be true - and the best kind of faith is when what you hope for is good and true and pure, not to get new xbox games or for your worst enemy to break their ankle or something like that - it is best when it is when you hope for what God would want in each situation...It was a good conversation and i think they understood what i meant but it is hard to explain and harder still to live.
We finished and they went to their classes and on with their days, and i with mine.
Then the very next morning we were talking with God about some friends of ours who are being evicted by their landlady, who seems to be downright evil and who had forbidden them from fixing their sewer - leaving them with no place to go for now and having to go to the neighbor's house to do laundry, brush their teeth, wash dishes, etc. Let's make it clear, they were offering to even pay for the repairs, which they should not have had to, and she wouldn't let them. So, as i was talking to the kids, i said that we should pray for these friends, that they would find a place to live and that God would help them in the meantime.
Well, i came time for the kids to pray and Sophia, the youngest started out - she talked to God about family and friends and our days and our neighbors - all the usual things and then she went on to talk to Him about our friends - "Help them to find a place to stay and take care of them. And please help their mean landlady to have a soft and loving heart and to see how great life can be with You. Help her not to be mean anymore." Then, one at a time, they each prayed for first our friends and then the mean landlady.
I just almost couldn't take it. I had just been taught a lesson in faith. You see, i could give talks about faith and i believe God will give our friends the perfect place to stay and that He will take care of them. But, until my kids satarted talking to Him, i never even considered trying to believe that He would reach down into the heart of that mean lady and bring healing to her hurting heart. But, my kids saw through her meanness to her broken heart - to whatever it is that makes her so mean. And more than that, they saw that God could and wanted to, help her just as much as us, our family, our neighbors and our friends. They seem to understand faith much better than i do - maybe this Tuesday they should lead our time together!
The Truth is, there is no one beyond the reach and love of the God who made all that is - He wants everyone to have life that is full of wonder and freedom.
If you are sick of living in a world that is just not seeing all there is, we would love to have you join us - we will be hanging out at McAllister Recreation Center - just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette, from 6:45-8:00PM this Thursday, October 20th. We would love to meet you - and maybe we can open up our minds a little more than usual!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
The Amazing Diversity of our Minds!
So, after talking about what More than more meant to us, we had some time, as we always do, to notice the amazingness of God and to notice the amazingness of people and their brokenness.
We began by talking about the way we think. I related a quote given me, and shared with permission, by a patient with ADD. He came into my office and his presenting complaint to the nurse was "Because you can't change the world if you can't focus." Now, why is that so important?
Because, he realizes that he has something amazing in him that could change the world, but he cannot seem to get his mind to focus long enough to get to it.
Why will he change the world? Well, let me tell you with a question.
If you want to balance your checking account, make a budget, get everything to add up perfectly, stay on schedule, what kind of a person do you ask to help you? Proabaly not someone with ADD. You would be looking for someone with a compulsive tendency, very organized and structured, right??
But, if you are stuck in your thoughts, trapped in a box of ideas from the past that you just can't seem to out-dream. You are bumping into a problem with the ame solutions and just can't seem to get past the usual ways of thinking. You are blank and just can't dream any more ideas. Who do you ask for help? Do you run to the compulsive person who is doing your books? Or do you ask your buddy with ADD and tell him not to take his medicine?!
I think you are getting the idea now. So many people consider their mind type and their thought life to be a handicap of some kind. They hate that the numbers all need to add up - they don't like being so organized and anal. Or they hate their tendency to wander and wonder in their thoughts - they just want to accomplish things and they can't get their heads out of the clouds long enough to do it. Yet, on a second look, we see the value in the organized and compulsive mind - someoone needs to keep everything reigned in and moving in a positive direction. And at the same time, we see the value in the ADD mind - ready to imagine outside the box,to dream new dreams, new combinations of dreams. To unleash their mind on the unsolvable!
Isn't it amazing? Now, seriously, how, by accident, did we all develop so differently and yet so much like pieces of a puzzle - perfectly fitting together to make sense. Put an ADD person with a compulsive person and they may irritate each other, but they will gt so much done and complement each other amazingly. No, this variability in our minds that leads to such amazing possibilities is obviously an expression of the creativity of a God who loves us deeply (and who clearly has a sense of humor).
So, the next time you notice the difference beteen how you think and how you want to, or how you think and the person next to you does, notice. Pay attention for just a second. And then thank the God who made you that way. Invite Him into the moment with you. Ask Him to be part of your days. You see, why would God go to so much effort to make us so amazing only to abandon us? The answer? He didn't - He very much wants to be a part of your life. And as He becomes more and more a part of your life, your perspective will change - you will begin to have a life that opens up and is More than you ever dreamed. I hope you'll try it!
Hope to see you next Thursday at McAllister Center - just off 20th and Schuyler - in Lafayette - from 6:45-8:00PM.
Have a thoughtful week!
We began by talking about the way we think. I related a quote given me, and shared with permission, by a patient with ADD. He came into my office and his presenting complaint to the nurse was "Because you can't change the world if you can't focus." Now, why is that so important?
Because, he realizes that he has something amazing in him that could change the world, but he cannot seem to get his mind to focus long enough to get to it.
Why will he change the world? Well, let me tell you with a question.
If you want to balance your checking account, make a budget, get everything to add up perfectly, stay on schedule, what kind of a person do you ask to help you? Proabaly not someone with ADD. You would be looking for someone with a compulsive tendency, very organized and structured, right??
But, if you are stuck in your thoughts, trapped in a box of ideas from the past that you just can't seem to out-dream. You are bumping into a problem with the ame solutions and just can't seem to get past the usual ways of thinking. You are blank and just can't dream any more ideas. Who do you ask for help? Do you run to the compulsive person who is doing your books? Or do you ask your buddy with ADD and tell him not to take his medicine?!
I think you are getting the idea now. So many people consider their mind type and their thought life to be a handicap of some kind. They hate that the numbers all need to add up - they don't like being so organized and anal. Or they hate their tendency to wander and wonder in their thoughts - they just want to accomplish things and they can't get their heads out of the clouds long enough to do it. Yet, on a second look, we see the value in the organized and compulsive mind - someoone needs to keep everything reigned in and moving in a positive direction. And at the same time, we see the value in the ADD mind - ready to imagine outside the box,to dream new dreams, new combinations of dreams. To unleash their mind on the unsolvable!
Isn't it amazing? Now, seriously, how, by accident, did we all develop so differently and yet so much like pieces of a puzzle - perfectly fitting together to make sense. Put an ADD person with a compulsive person and they may irritate each other, but they will gt so much done and complement each other amazingly. No, this variability in our minds that leads to such amazing possibilities is obviously an expression of the creativity of a God who loves us deeply (and who clearly has a sense of humor).
So, the next time you notice the difference beteen how you think and how you want to, or how you think and the person next to you does, notice. Pay attention for just a second. And then thank the God who made you that way. Invite Him into the moment with you. Ask Him to be part of your days. You see, why would God go to so much effort to make us so amazing only to abandon us? The answer? He didn't - He very much wants to be a part of your life. And as He becomes more and more a part of your life, your perspective will change - you will begin to have a life that opens up and is More than you ever dreamed. I hope you'll try it!
Hope to see you next Thursday at McAllister Center - just off 20th and Schuyler - in Lafayette - from 6:45-8:00PM.
Have a thoughtful week!
The intro from last time is too much to miss!
More than more last week was a good time - if you were there, i'm so glad and if you were not, you missed out.
I don't usually restate our introductory/relax and chill out question on the blog - partly because sometimes the answers are a little too personal and partly because sometimes the blog entries are too long...but this time i must:
The intro question was, "Describe what More than more means to you in 1 sentence or less."
The answers were humbling.
"Family"
"Acceptance"
"Noticing the amazingness of God and people"
"Caring"
"Seeing life differently"
"Living beyond the usual American way"
These are just a few - i was nearly in tears, as people of all walks of life (one of whom came from lunch break just to be with us and his wife! - thanks Kale) gave voice to the fact that when a group of people begins to notice God and invite Him into their worlds and notice each other and the people around them, both their value and their brokenness - lives are changed. It was cool.
This, if for no other reason, is a reason to join us. Come hang out with us next Thursday night - October 20th - from 6:45-8:00Pm at McAllister Recreation Center. If you are tired of the usual life, a dose of some acceptance and caring and healthy family might be just what you need.
I don't usually restate our introductory/relax and chill out question on the blog - partly because sometimes the answers are a little too personal and partly because sometimes the blog entries are too long...but this time i must:
The intro question was, "Describe what More than more means to you in 1 sentence or less."
The answers were humbling.
"Family"
"Acceptance"
"Noticing the amazingness of God and people"
"Caring"
"Seeing life differently"
"Living beyond the usual American way"
These are just a few - i was nearly in tears, as people of all walks of life (one of whom came from lunch break just to be with us and his wife! - thanks Kale) gave voice to the fact that when a group of people begins to notice God and invite Him into their worlds and notice each other and the people around them, both their value and their brokenness - lives are changed. It was cool.
This, if for no other reason, is a reason to join us. Come hang out with us next Thursday night - October 20th - from 6:45-8:00Pm at McAllister Recreation Center. If you are tired of the usual life, a dose of some acceptance and caring and healthy family might be just what you need.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Paths, Creeks, and Freezers
I wanted to take a couple minutes and share with you a couple things that have struck me in the last few days.
First, on Saturday morning I was sitting in my tree stand out back behind my house, honestly not really caring much if a deer came or not. I was watching this little chipmunk family who inhabits the space i use once in a while scurry back and forth through an old hollow log (actually wondering how someone seriously got Alvin and the Chipmunks from these little things and kinda wishing they would stand up on their hind legs and start singing...)gather nuts and im sure ration them for winter. I was watching the leaves fall, one by one - it was not very windy and it is a beautiful thing to watch the leave saunter their way to the ground. It was a nice morning.
As i looked around, i looked down the path - this is the direction that the deer usually come from, if they come, which is not usually. This time of year most all of the leaves have not yet fallen and so i can only see a little way down the path, especially from where i sit 15 or so feet in the air. It seemed the path was a place i could walk down - have actually, a lot of times, especially in the May mushroom hunting season. I could walk down a way, check things out, maybe turn left up the hill, or go right, off into some of the meadows down the way - they might be pretty this time of year. But, as i thought of the path, i thought of what i could do and where i could go - it was like the two thoughts jumped off each other - 1st the thought of the path and then right after, the thought of going and doing. The path became an example of my life - go and do, go and do, go and do - this is so much the way i live...
Then, as if drawn, i heard the gurgle of the south fork of the wildcat creek to my right - it is low right now - probably only about a foot where i sit and there is a little roughness to the water there - enough to make an occasional bubbly, gurgly, creek sound - i love it - music to my sometimes worn soul. Then, i remembered the path. But, the creek was not like the path. The creek just moved. It had no direction in particular it was trying to go, no choices to make, no initiatives to pursue - it was simply following along its course. And, before i could think about it, i longed to be more like the creek. I so wanted to not worry and fret about the choices of the paths or to find myself throwing all of my passion into simply going and doing - it seems that i get quite enough of that and it seems to lead me away from the REALLY important things in life. I wanted to be able to follow God in a creek-like way - to be so aware of where He wanted me to be, to be so filled with the noticing of Him and His ways that i could simply live life and follow the course He had plotted out for me - even though sometimes the water is gurgly and sometimes it is smooth - occasionally there is a major boulder in the way - if i could live with the creek banks of His love and guidance all the time, it seems that it would be ok...
Then, there was one more thing. This was today - now a lot of hours since i left the forest - and quite a different thing that struck me. We had our friend Stephanie over for dinner and we were all talking and somehow the packing of freezers came up. This is a longstanding joke at our house, because as wonderful a person as my wife is, she is not a good freezer packer. I was joking, as i often do, that if you pull something out of the freezer when Melissa has packed it, you might want to have steel toed boots on - which poses an issue when you are sitting out some meat for the next day and you have snuck downstairs in your underwear - because it is a little silly to be in steeltoes and undies - but ill leave that one alone for now. You see, Melissa packs the freeer with slope - and all the slope is pointing out of the freezer - to your toes!! So, be careful if you're in the freezer! Anyway, we were all laughing about this and one of the girls said that you have to be careful because sometimes you might pull one small thing out and then the whole freeze might fall on you - as if it was all balanced delicately on that one pack of bacon or something. Well, that set me thinking. Sometimes i feel like that freezer. I feel like i am just so unstable (i know this comes as a surprise to some of you) that if just one thing is moved, i will come tumbling down - all my confidence and self-esteem and everything else, all balanced on a pack-o-bacon!!! It makes me mad - i want so badly to be more stable, more consistent, more like so many people i know that nothing seems to ever ruffle them. I get frustrated with who God made me to be.
So, here's the thing: I know that i do not want to just live the ordinary American life - like the path - always going and doing - always choosing my own way - never noticing, never depending on God. I want to live more like the creek - ready to just rest and follow God wherever He leads me. But, i am sure frustrated by my lack of stability! But, the truth is that my instability may be the very key to my creeklikeness! You see, if i was always stable, always had it all figured out, never got ruffled or upset or hurt, i think i would just always choose my way through life and never get off the path and into the creek. Instead, i find myself reeling with every package of bacon that someone takes from my freezer, and as frustrating as it is, i find myself looking to God and His control and soon find myself drifting down the creek of His guidance, noticing and loving and at peace with life!
So, tonight i am glad that i am unstable - can't believe im saying that - but i pray that you will be too, if that's what it takes to help you find the Truth in this life - and to be able to notice God's way in every day.
First, on Saturday morning I was sitting in my tree stand out back behind my house, honestly not really caring much if a deer came or not. I was watching this little chipmunk family who inhabits the space i use once in a while scurry back and forth through an old hollow log (actually wondering how someone seriously got Alvin and the Chipmunks from these little things and kinda wishing they would stand up on their hind legs and start singing...)gather nuts and im sure ration them for winter. I was watching the leaves fall, one by one - it was not very windy and it is a beautiful thing to watch the leave saunter their way to the ground. It was a nice morning.
As i looked around, i looked down the path - this is the direction that the deer usually come from, if they come, which is not usually. This time of year most all of the leaves have not yet fallen and so i can only see a little way down the path, especially from where i sit 15 or so feet in the air. It seemed the path was a place i could walk down - have actually, a lot of times, especially in the May mushroom hunting season. I could walk down a way, check things out, maybe turn left up the hill, or go right, off into some of the meadows down the way - they might be pretty this time of year. But, as i thought of the path, i thought of what i could do and where i could go - it was like the two thoughts jumped off each other - 1st the thought of the path and then right after, the thought of going and doing. The path became an example of my life - go and do, go and do, go and do - this is so much the way i live...
Then, as if drawn, i heard the gurgle of the south fork of the wildcat creek to my right - it is low right now - probably only about a foot where i sit and there is a little roughness to the water there - enough to make an occasional bubbly, gurgly, creek sound - i love it - music to my sometimes worn soul. Then, i remembered the path. But, the creek was not like the path. The creek just moved. It had no direction in particular it was trying to go, no choices to make, no initiatives to pursue - it was simply following along its course. And, before i could think about it, i longed to be more like the creek. I so wanted to not worry and fret about the choices of the paths or to find myself throwing all of my passion into simply going and doing - it seems that i get quite enough of that and it seems to lead me away from the REALLY important things in life. I wanted to be able to follow God in a creek-like way - to be so aware of where He wanted me to be, to be so filled with the noticing of Him and His ways that i could simply live life and follow the course He had plotted out for me - even though sometimes the water is gurgly and sometimes it is smooth - occasionally there is a major boulder in the way - if i could live with the creek banks of His love and guidance all the time, it seems that it would be ok...
Then, there was one more thing. This was today - now a lot of hours since i left the forest - and quite a different thing that struck me. We had our friend Stephanie over for dinner and we were all talking and somehow the packing of freezers came up. This is a longstanding joke at our house, because as wonderful a person as my wife is, she is not a good freezer packer. I was joking, as i often do, that if you pull something out of the freezer when Melissa has packed it, you might want to have steel toed boots on - which poses an issue when you are sitting out some meat for the next day and you have snuck downstairs in your underwear - because it is a little silly to be in steeltoes and undies - but ill leave that one alone for now. You see, Melissa packs the freeer with slope - and all the slope is pointing out of the freezer - to your toes!! So, be careful if you're in the freezer! Anyway, we were all laughing about this and one of the girls said that you have to be careful because sometimes you might pull one small thing out and then the whole freeze might fall on you - as if it was all balanced delicately on that one pack of bacon or something. Well, that set me thinking. Sometimes i feel like that freezer. I feel like i am just so unstable (i know this comes as a surprise to some of you) that if just one thing is moved, i will come tumbling down - all my confidence and self-esteem and everything else, all balanced on a pack-o-bacon!!! It makes me mad - i want so badly to be more stable, more consistent, more like so many people i know that nothing seems to ever ruffle them. I get frustrated with who God made me to be.
So, here's the thing: I know that i do not want to just live the ordinary American life - like the path - always going and doing - always choosing my own way - never noticing, never depending on God. I want to live more like the creek - ready to just rest and follow God wherever He leads me. But, i am sure frustrated by my lack of stability! But, the truth is that my instability may be the very key to my creeklikeness! You see, if i was always stable, always had it all figured out, never got ruffled or upset or hurt, i think i would just always choose my way through life and never get off the path and into the creek. Instead, i find myself reeling with every package of bacon that someone takes from my freezer, and as frustrating as it is, i find myself looking to God and His control and soon find myself drifting down the creek of His guidance, noticing and loving and at peace with life!
So, tonight i am glad that i am unstable - can't believe im saying that - but i pray that you will be too, if that's what it takes to help you find the Truth in this life - and to be able to notice God's way in every day.
Friday, October 7, 2011
An Apology
Hi everyone - there's nothing like the Truth to smack you in the face - a couple of posts ago, i wrote to you about driving across the midwest to see a band we love - i was absolutely inspired by the conversation with one of the members afterward - his willingness to admit to his struggles in his life, especially as it relates to church, was really humble of someone who really had no need to share anything, with this strange family from Lafayette.
But, as i glanced at his email that apprently my wife had printed, tonight on the desk, i realized that i had misstated his words and i must correct what i have said:
1) He does go to church and has for multiple years.
and
2) He prayed through his music all night long - not needing to make it somehow more formal than that.
And so, my apologies go out to him and to you, for misstating and for confining prayer to something that happens only when someone formally talks outloud to God - it was lame of me - and i am sorry. Talking to God can be in song, can be in our heads, can be in appreciation of nature or life or a million things - you would think that after 3+ years of leading More than more i would be the first to realize this!
The beauty of the disillusioned and their search for God is still the same, as is the truth that all people who try to follow after God's way have trouble and difficulties along the way - you are not alone in your struggle - but together we can find support in the difficult times - i hope all who come find it at More than more.
Thanks
Jason
But, as i glanced at his email that apprently my wife had printed, tonight on the desk, i realized that i had misstated his words and i must correct what i have said:
1) He does go to church and has for multiple years.
and
2) He prayed through his music all night long - not needing to make it somehow more formal than that.
And so, my apologies go out to him and to you, for misstating and for confining prayer to something that happens only when someone formally talks outloud to God - it was lame of me - and i am sorry. Talking to God can be in song, can be in our heads, can be in appreciation of nature or life or a million things - you would think that after 3+ years of leading More than more i would be the first to realize this!
The beauty of the disillusioned and their search for God is still the same, as is the truth that all people who try to follow after God's way have trouble and difficulties along the way - you are not alone in your struggle - but together we can find support in the difficult times - i hope all who come find it at More than more.
Thanks
Jason
Thursday, October 6, 2011
the back door
I have company coming for lunch - it's one of my favorite things to do...to have people come over and talk over life - what's going on - learning and supporting each other - becoming all we can together. the conversations vary a lot, from specific issues one of us is dealing with, to general "what's up with the world" discussions. We talk to God and try to notice and then go on with the rest of our day.
So, the person coming today has not been before and so i just texted to him that he could come in the back door - and it got me thinking.
I love the back door.
I know, you are probably thinking i'm finally losing it that im enjoying the back door this much, but let me get it all out before you make up your mind.
Truth is, if you come in the front door - it is formal and although inviting, kinda for people we don't know very well, but if you come in the back door you are like family...more than welcome, you are welcome to see the laundry on the floor, the dog toys laying around (not at the office, but at home, maybe), dust bunnies we have not been able to get cleaned up etc. I also like the people who come in my back door - many times they make me feel welcome in my own home/office - they love me too and we cherish living life together.
The back door is wonderful!
At More than more, we get together at a place called McAllister Recreation center - it is this really cool former school building in Lafayette, that has been converted by the City Parks and Recreation into an all purpose building for the citizens of our town. You might say it is More than more's home.
And here's something cool - at McAllister, everyone comes in the back door!!!! I don't know that we have ever had anyone come in the front door - all the parking and the playground and everything is all around the back door!
And, i think that is very typical of More than more. We welcome anyone who would like to join us to come in the back door. Be welcome, take your shoes off if you want. Chill out. Be at peace. You have nothing to prove. We will do our best to care about you right where you are and we will look forward to you caring about us right where we are. If you are grumpy, come anyway, back doors are not just for those in a good mood - if you are goofy and playful, come on in, let's laugh together, if your heart is broken, what better place to be supported and heard than inside the back door?
The point, if i am losing you, is that in a wolrd that is filled with people who never even notice each other, More than more is a place where people of all different parts of our world, all different ages, all different situations, come together and welcome each other - care about each other. It is a good place to be. We notice each other, we pay attention. We notice the amazingness of life and the God who made it and we will not let it slide by!
If you are sick and tired of the usual of American life, and this sounds like something you might like to give a try, we would love to have you join us - our back door will be open tonight from 6:45-8:00PM, October 6th (and again on the 20th) - would love to have you join us!!
So, the person coming today has not been before and so i just texted to him that he could come in the back door - and it got me thinking.
I love the back door.
I know, you are probably thinking i'm finally losing it that im enjoying the back door this much, but let me get it all out before you make up your mind.
Truth is, if you come in the front door - it is formal and although inviting, kinda for people we don't know very well, but if you come in the back door you are like family...more than welcome, you are welcome to see the laundry on the floor, the dog toys laying around (not at the office, but at home, maybe), dust bunnies we have not been able to get cleaned up etc. I also like the people who come in my back door - many times they make me feel welcome in my own home/office - they love me too and we cherish living life together.
The back door is wonderful!
At More than more, we get together at a place called McAllister Recreation center - it is this really cool former school building in Lafayette, that has been converted by the City Parks and Recreation into an all purpose building for the citizens of our town. You might say it is More than more's home.
And here's something cool - at McAllister, everyone comes in the back door!!!! I don't know that we have ever had anyone come in the front door - all the parking and the playground and everything is all around the back door!
And, i think that is very typical of More than more. We welcome anyone who would like to join us to come in the back door. Be welcome, take your shoes off if you want. Chill out. Be at peace. You have nothing to prove. We will do our best to care about you right where you are and we will look forward to you caring about us right where we are. If you are grumpy, come anyway, back doors are not just for those in a good mood - if you are goofy and playful, come on in, let's laugh together, if your heart is broken, what better place to be supported and heard than inside the back door?
The point, if i am losing you, is that in a wolrd that is filled with people who never even notice each other, More than more is a place where people of all different parts of our world, all different ages, all different situations, come together and welcome each other - care about each other. It is a good place to be. We notice each other, we pay attention. We notice the amazingness of life and the God who made it and we will not let it slide by!
If you are sick and tired of the usual of American life, and this sounds like something you might like to give a try, we would love to have you join us - our back door will be open tonight from 6:45-8:00PM, October 6th (and again on the 20th) - would love to have you join us!!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
What next for the (dis)illusioned?
So, what is next then for those who are disillusioned - those of us who see the brokenness of the world and particularly in those we thought we would not see it in - and then move on into life, trying to make sense of it all?
Well, as i stated in the last post, we need to begin with involving God in the moments of our lives - this is what More than more is all about - we are looking for something More than the usual in everyday American life. We need to see the wonder of God and have connection with Him in our everyday lives.
But, what does that really look like? What advice to those who struggle with the past and betrayal and know that God exists, but have trouble with connecting/finding Him except in their heartbreak?
Well, consider something amazing, like a life resurrected from the ashes - like we talked about last time we got together for More than more - when we had a conversation with Reuben Bible.
Reuben is a fantastic young man currently in his first year of studies at a Bible College in Indianapolis. But, his life was not always like this...
As Reuben shared, he was raised learning about God and over the years, he began to think that he had a better way - he would work hard and support his family (he never really wanted anything fancy, just to be able to take good care of them) and he would do it his way. Reuben was first a tree climbing lumberjack of some sort - not sure the name, but when offered a chance to move back to the midwest from Florida, they did. Then, he began to work with horses - he broke them, rodeoed them, then trained them, and borded them - about anything to do with horses and all in an attempt to stabilize his family and provide for them - he wanted to just be a good man - all he could be. The thing is, this pursuit became Reuben's "more" - he spent everything he had and all his energy on this and he has suffered multiple fractures from serious incidents with horses over the years - in the last one, he was really no longer able to deal with horses and so he formed his own business and was doing really well - making the most he had made in his whole life until one day he was mowing and he hit a downed tree with the bushhog and it came up and severed all but a small piece of his lower leg.
This has placed this hard-working, stubborn but unbelievably active man, flat on his back for months and months at a time - for most of that time he has been angry at God, frustrated at what he has had to go through - feeling as if he was finally about to make his dreams and now this has to happen. Not to mention that fact the Reuben was told he may never walk again, much less be able to do the heavy type of work he has always done.
But, what Reuben discovered was that at the end of his dreams, was something bigger and better than he had ever realized. He began to talk to God more and more and release his future to God and what he found was that God had something amazing for him. He was finding that people were coming to him and wanting him to help them find God. He felt inadequate for this, but found that God used him anyway and then he began to feel that he was to be going to study and learn - and that's how he ended up at the Bible College he is at now.
But, there was another problem, they did not have the money. Well, through some scholarships that seemed to come out of thin air, Reuben has his entire first year paid for!
At the end of the line, he found More.
So, what do we say to those of us who are disillusioned? Pay attention. Notice. Sometimes God is expressing himself in amazing ways right under our noses. When you notice, ask Him to help with your perspective - to help you see life differently and to be a part of your every day, every moment. I believe you will begin to find relief as soon as you begin noticing...
If you are sick of usual American life of get more, become more, achieve more, etc, we would love to have you join us this Thursday night, October 6th, at McAllister Recreation Center - just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette, Indiana, from 6:45-8:00PM - maybe there is something More.
Well, as i stated in the last post, we need to begin with involving God in the moments of our lives - this is what More than more is all about - we are looking for something More than the usual in everyday American life. We need to see the wonder of God and have connection with Him in our everyday lives.
But, what does that really look like? What advice to those who struggle with the past and betrayal and know that God exists, but have trouble with connecting/finding Him except in their heartbreak?
Well, consider something amazing, like a life resurrected from the ashes - like we talked about last time we got together for More than more - when we had a conversation with Reuben Bible.
Reuben is a fantastic young man currently in his first year of studies at a Bible College in Indianapolis. But, his life was not always like this...
As Reuben shared, he was raised learning about God and over the years, he began to think that he had a better way - he would work hard and support his family (he never really wanted anything fancy, just to be able to take good care of them) and he would do it his way. Reuben was first a tree climbing lumberjack of some sort - not sure the name, but when offered a chance to move back to the midwest from Florida, they did. Then, he began to work with horses - he broke them, rodeoed them, then trained them, and borded them - about anything to do with horses and all in an attempt to stabilize his family and provide for them - he wanted to just be a good man - all he could be. The thing is, this pursuit became Reuben's "more" - he spent everything he had and all his energy on this and he has suffered multiple fractures from serious incidents with horses over the years - in the last one, he was really no longer able to deal with horses and so he formed his own business and was doing really well - making the most he had made in his whole life until one day he was mowing and he hit a downed tree with the bushhog and it came up and severed all but a small piece of his lower leg.
This has placed this hard-working, stubborn but unbelievably active man, flat on his back for months and months at a time - for most of that time he has been angry at God, frustrated at what he has had to go through - feeling as if he was finally about to make his dreams and now this has to happen. Not to mention that fact the Reuben was told he may never walk again, much less be able to do the heavy type of work he has always done.
But, what Reuben discovered was that at the end of his dreams, was something bigger and better than he had ever realized. He began to talk to God more and more and release his future to God and what he found was that God had something amazing for him. He was finding that people were coming to him and wanting him to help them find God. He felt inadequate for this, but found that God used him anyway and then he began to feel that he was to be going to study and learn - and that's how he ended up at the Bible College he is at now.
But, there was another problem, they did not have the money. Well, through some scholarships that seemed to come out of thin air, Reuben has his entire first year paid for!
At the end of the line, he found More.
So, what do we say to those of us who are disillusioned? Pay attention. Notice. Sometimes God is expressing himself in amazing ways right under our noses. When you notice, ask Him to help with your perspective - to help you see life differently and to be a part of your every day, every moment. I believe you will begin to find relief as soon as you begin noticing...
If you are sick of usual American life of get more, become more, achieve more, etc, we would love to have you join us this Thursday night, October 6th, at McAllister Recreation Center - just off 20th and Schuyler Ave, Lafayette, Indiana, from 6:45-8:00PM - maybe there is something More.
Of (dis)illusions
I just returned from a crazy 4 hour drive each way that has returned me to questions I often wrestle with - this time I would like to share them with you...
We went on this adventure for 2 reasons - one was to see some very good friends and to share some time together - they have a fabulous family and we see them rarely and so it was good to catch up, laugh and say things like, "I remember when..." The second was to celebrate my wife's birthday - her birthday is September 11th and I know this is a really late gift, but I had given her tickets to see one of her favorite music groups on Friday night.
The time with friends was encouraging and fun, relaxing and crazy, but the concert was just amazingly unexpected. We arrived just as it was starting, to see a local youth group praise band play, which we enjoyed from a praise standpoint much more than from a band standpoint. Then, within a few minutes the group we had driven all that way to see came up on stage. It was a far more theatrical performance than we had expected, but the music was good and the ringing of their songs deep in our hearts was really powerful in some spots. There was one thing that I noticed was remarkably absent for a Christian music group, playing in a Church - there was no prayer - none. I had grown used to listening to their music and kneading those words like yeast into the lives of the people I lead and watching those peoples' lives be changed by God working through those words in the middle of their life situations - so to have no communication with God surprised me. It certainly did not keep me from jamming out with my family - praising God and enjoying the talents of the four gifted artists.
Now, we had been expecting to walk into a packed house - but there apparently are not very many people in that area who follow this group - there were only about 50. We were surprised but fine with it. The cool thing is that after the concert, because there were so few of us, the band stayed around and talked and had pictures taken, signed autographs and all - it was cool. Since it was my wife's birthday present, we decided to do the "groupie" thing and get pictures with the band. But, we couldn't just have a picture, we felt compelled to tell them the impact that their music was having on what we do. The lead guitarist was really touched - it was cool to see him light up when he heard of how the tunes he was playing were making a difference in the lives of real people. But the conversation with the lead singer really was a bit mind bending...
We had our picture, then told him how we invest our lives in helping people see the amazingness of God in everyday life and also in helping the people of our world see that there is More to life then the usual American way that so often leaves us feeling empty & 00unfulfilled. Then he asked a question. "So, you work with the disillusioned. Are you, as well, disillusioned?" He proceeded to tell us the story of his hurt and painful betrayal in his Church and how he had not even been back to church since - and it sounded like a long time.
So, here's a question: What makes a writer of fantastic songs about the strength and protection of God disillusioned by what he has seen in the American Church? Well, he has seen what we all see if we are around very long and if we look very close - in fact what we can't miss unless we bury our heads in the sand and deny/refuse to look at all. He has seen that people suck. He has witnessed the ickiness and pain and poor choices and other people harming actions and emotions and relationships of people. Now, it takes only 2 seconds to confirm that this should not have surprised him and it should not surprise us - people suck - all i have to do is look into my heart and my motives and my attitudes and i quickly find that suckiness is the norm - and i see it in everyone i know - including my wonderful wife, who many of you i'm sure are convinced is perfect - sorry honey! We do stupid things every day - sometimes it seems like every second. Yet, somehow, sometimes we are still shocked, amazed, hurt, even horrified at the fact that people have done bad things, cruel things, hurtful things, even illegal and evil things. Why? We don't seem to be too bothered when prison inmates act in evil ways. But, we speak so freely of our disillusionment with the church - we find ourselves reeling inside, when we hear of church people who have been behaving in sucky ways. Yet, we see it in ourselves if we will just look with enough humility to peer honestly and truthfully at our hearts - and most of us, in our honest moments, would admit this.
What was my answer to him? Yes, we have been and are, to some degree, disillusioned. But, we find that wherever we look, people suck. They are all messed up. They are selfish and pitiful and broken and it is not any different in the church, it just is a different look of the people and a different look of the suckiness and a different list of the issues.
So, if people are all so screwed up, why is he and why are we so many times so horrified by the church people who are sucky? Well, i am convinced that it is because we have this expectation that in their positions with their "connection" with God and their worship times and all that they will no longer be so pitifully sucky - but we are wrong!!! And we are judgmental and unfair to turn around the suck meter on them and turn it up to freaking ultra sensitive detector mode for them and if they come up with any suckiness then we hand our heads in defeat and become "disillusioned." Think about the word disillusioned for a second. What does it mean? "Dis" means the negative of something - like "dis"respect means not respecting. But what does illusion mean?
il•lu•sion ( -l zh n)
n.
1.
a. An erroneous perception of reality.
b. An erroneous concept or belief.
2. The condition of being deceived by a false perception or belief.
3. Something, such as a fantastic plan or desire, that causes an erroneous belief or perception.
So, to be disillusioned might mean the opposite of that definition - which really might mean that our original erroneous perception of reality or concept or belief (that church people don't suck just like everybody else) is now gone - we now see reality, we have a true concept or belief.
The thing is, the truth is not always fun and it is not always what we want to hear. We wanted church people to not suck - but the do. So, why do we find ourselves so lost and frustrated and screwed up after learning all these sucky things about the people of the church?
Well, that leads to the next thing i told him (honestly at this point not believing i am having this conversation with this guy who wrote these songs that have so touched my life, but plunging on anyway) was, "The thing is dude, people all over suck, in the church and out of the church, but God does not suck - He is amazing and if you keep coming back to Him - over and over and over again - your life will be the best life it can be!!! He, you see, is wonderful!"
And i think that's why it bothered me that they didn't pray.
So, what do you do with all this? if you are angry or frustrated at people who you thought woudl not be sucky and it proved out that they were over time - let it go - talk to God about it and realize that they are living up to their potential - they are going to screw up and the sooner you realize it, the better - if you are wallowing away in self-pity over the fact that the institutions that are supposed to be showing the amazingness of God are not, and maybe they have even hurt you - get over it - start looking to the God who will show you himself, if you will simply notice (check out www.morethamoremtm.blogspot.com) - talk to Him about it - get together with other people who are also noticing Him and share stories - pursue Him and invite Him into the moments of your life - it will make all the difference.
After all, this is the same God who carts families 4 hours across the midwest to see a music group in order to arrange a meeting of the disillusioned - what wouldn't He do to help his sucky, messed up creation to get back on track?
We went on this adventure for 2 reasons - one was to see some very good friends and to share some time together - they have a fabulous family and we see them rarely and so it was good to catch up, laugh and say things like, "I remember when..." The second was to celebrate my wife's birthday - her birthday is September 11th and I know this is a really late gift, but I had given her tickets to see one of her favorite music groups on Friday night.
The time with friends was encouraging and fun, relaxing and crazy, but the concert was just amazingly unexpected. We arrived just as it was starting, to see a local youth group praise band play, which we enjoyed from a praise standpoint much more than from a band standpoint. Then, within a few minutes the group we had driven all that way to see came up on stage. It was a far more theatrical performance than we had expected, but the music was good and the ringing of their songs deep in our hearts was really powerful in some spots. There was one thing that I noticed was remarkably absent for a Christian music group, playing in a Church - there was no prayer - none. I had grown used to listening to their music and kneading those words like yeast into the lives of the people I lead and watching those peoples' lives be changed by God working through those words in the middle of their life situations - so to have no communication with God surprised me. It certainly did not keep me from jamming out with my family - praising God and enjoying the talents of the four gifted artists.
Now, we had been expecting to walk into a packed house - but there apparently are not very many people in that area who follow this group - there were only about 50. We were surprised but fine with it. The cool thing is that after the concert, because there were so few of us, the band stayed around and talked and had pictures taken, signed autographs and all - it was cool. Since it was my wife's birthday present, we decided to do the "groupie" thing and get pictures with the band. But, we couldn't just have a picture, we felt compelled to tell them the impact that their music was having on what we do. The lead guitarist was really touched - it was cool to see him light up when he heard of how the tunes he was playing were making a difference in the lives of real people. But the conversation with the lead singer really was a bit mind bending...
We had our picture, then told him how we invest our lives in helping people see the amazingness of God in everyday life and also in helping the people of our world see that there is More to life then the usual American way that so often leaves us feeling empty & 00unfulfilled. Then he asked a question. "So, you work with the disillusioned. Are you, as well, disillusioned?" He proceeded to tell us the story of his hurt and painful betrayal in his Church and how he had not even been back to church since - and it sounded like a long time.
So, here's a question: What makes a writer of fantastic songs about the strength and protection of God disillusioned by what he has seen in the American Church? Well, he has seen what we all see if we are around very long and if we look very close - in fact what we can't miss unless we bury our heads in the sand and deny/refuse to look at all. He has seen that people suck. He has witnessed the ickiness and pain and poor choices and other people harming actions and emotions and relationships of people. Now, it takes only 2 seconds to confirm that this should not have surprised him and it should not surprise us - people suck - all i have to do is look into my heart and my motives and my attitudes and i quickly find that suckiness is the norm - and i see it in everyone i know - including my wonderful wife, who many of you i'm sure are convinced is perfect - sorry honey! We do stupid things every day - sometimes it seems like every second. Yet, somehow, sometimes we are still shocked, amazed, hurt, even horrified at the fact that people have done bad things, cruel things, hurtful things, even illegal and evil things. Why? We don't seem to be too bothered when prison inmates act in evil ways. But, we speak so freely of our disillusionment with the church - we find ourselves reeling inside, when we hear of church people who have been behaving in sucky ways. Yet, we see it in ourselves if we will just look with enough humility to peer honestly and truthfully at our hearts - and most of us, in our honest moments, would admit this.
What was my answer to him? Yes, we have been and are, to some degree, disillusioned. But, we find that wherever we look, people suck. They are all messed up. They are selfish and pitiful and broken and it is not any different in the church, it just is a different look of the people and a different look of the suckiness and a different list of the issues.
So, if people are all so screwed up, why is he and why are we so many times so horrified by the church people who are sucky? Well, i am convinced that it is because we have this expectation that in their positions with their "connection" with God and their worship times and all that they will no longer be so pitifully sucky - but we are wrong!!! And we are judgmental and unfair to turn around the suck meter on them and turn it up to freaking ultra sensitive detector mode for them and if they come up with any suckiness then we hand our heads in defeat and become "disillusioned." Think about the word disillusioned for a second. What does it mean? "Dis" means the negative of something - like "dis"respect means not respecting. But what does illusion mean?
il•lu•sion ( -l zh n)
n.
1.
a. An erroneous perception of reality.
b. An erroneous concept or belief.
2. The condition of being deceived by a false perception or belief.
3. Something, such as a fantastic plan or desire, that causes an erroneous belief or perception.
So, to be disillusioned might mean the opposite of that definition - which really might mean that our original erroneous perception of reality or concept or belief (that church people don't suck just like everybody else) is now gone - we now see reality, we have a true concept or belief.
The thing is, the truth is not always fun and it is not always what we want to hear. We wanted church people to not suck - but the do. So, why do we find ourselves so lost and frustrated and screwed up after learning all these sucky things about the people of the church?
Well, that leads to the next thing i told him (honestly at this point not believing i am having this conversation with this guy who wrote these songs that have so touched my life, but plunging on anyway) was, "The thing is dude, people all over suck, in the church and out of the church, but God does not suck - He is amazing and if you keep coming back to Him - over and over and over again - your life will be the best life it can be!!! He, you see, is wonderful!"
And i think that's why it bothered me that they didn't pray.
So, what do you do with all this? if you are angry or frustrated at people who you thought woudl not be sucky and it proved out that they were over time - let it go - talk to God about it and realize that they are living up to their potential - they are going to screw up and the sooner you realize it, the better - if you are wallowing away in self-pity over the fact that the institutions that are supposed to be showing the amazingness of God are not, and maybe they have even hurt you - get over it - start looking to the God who will show you himself, if you will simply notice (check out www.morethamoremtm.blogspot.com) - talk to Him about it - get together with other people who are also noticing Him and share stories - pursue Him and invite Him into the moments of your life - it will make all the difference.
After all, this is the same God who carts families 4 hours across the midwest to see a music group in order to arrange a meeting of the disillusioned - what wouldn't He do to help his sucky, messed up creation to get back on track?
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