Faith | itsawonderfilledlife

Archive for the ‘Faith’ Category

as you prepare to become a pastor

Posted in Faith, life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #asyoupreparetobecomeapastor, #depressionisreal, #livingasapastor, #occupationalhazardsofpastors, #pastorlife, #pastorsandstress, #pastorsandsuicide on September 6, 2018| 7 Comments »

Screen Shot 2018-09-03 at 12.07.52 PM

To my beautiful friend who is starting to study for work as a pastor,

you have been on my mind for over a week now …

ever since I heard of the suicide of Inland Hills Church, Chino, California Lead Pastor Andrew Stoecklein.

You see, my friend, your intended profession is a stress-filled one, and though I would never argue your giftedness or calling, I do feel the need to say, with great love … tread carefully.

Living a life as a pastor means living your life as a pastor.

It is not nine to five, it is not Monday to Friday. It is six days out of seven (which often becomes seven out of seven), many hours a day. It does not just employ you, but everyone in your household, for it is, effectively, a common path that must be taken.

Living a life as a pastor means bearing unrealistic burdens.

You will be asked to give counsel that is well beyond your studied knowledge of the spiritual. Honestly you will be asked to give counsel far more often on that which is outside of your scope of professional practice and training of the spiritual. Encourage those people to seek counsel from one who is trained to meet those needs.

Living a life as a pastor can be a lonely life.

Though the ideal is that a church is a family, and relationships are transparent, friendships among those who effectively pay your salary and are your employer have a limit. People in other professions … counselling, medicine, law … generally do not befriend those who they assist professionally, making this particular job reality one that is truly unique to the life of a pastor. The struggle is exacerbated by the fact that much of your time is spent with people in your congregation, leaving little time and opportunity to find relationships elsewhere.

Then there is something else that can make life (whether you are a pastor or not) even more challenging. If you struggle with anxiety and depression.

I read an article called 5 reasons pastors get depressed (and why they don’t talk about it), a week ago that you need to read.

After the announcement of the death of Pastor Andrew Stoecklein, Orlando pastor, Paul Valo posted the following on FaceBook:

“Depression is real and pastors are not exempt or defective who experience it … In this generation, pastors are expected to be business savvy, Instagram quotable preaching celebrities, fully accessible, deeply spiritual, not too young, not too old, and if a pastor doesn’t quite measure up to someone’s expectation at any given moment, they are given a two out of five star rating on Google. Wow! We have reduced the ministry to star ratings on Google! Let me recommend that you pray for your pastor and support your church faithfully! You’ll probably never realize what they walk through privately. ”

Being called to pastoral ministry will not make you immune to depression. Actually, I think that it is even more of a struggle for a pastor, when one considers the three realities of living as a pastor, mentioned above.

Even my favourite (okay, second favourite) preacher, Charles Spurgeon is presumed to have struggled with depression.

“I could say with Job (7:15), ‘My soul chooseth strangling rather than life’. I could readily enough have laid violent hands upon myself, to escape from my misery of spirit.” – Spurgeon

Spurgeon frequently preached on how Jesus had compassion for the hurting. He said, “the sympathy of Jesus is the next most precious thing to his sacrifice.” There is comfort to be found in knowing that Christ himself “was a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief” (Isaiah 53:3).

Sweet friend, I hope this is not all dark and dire, for a life in pastoral ministry also has so many sweet spots, so much fulfillment and joy and love. I just want you to know that I get it, when the dark and nasties come your way. That I have your back, that I will lift you up to God. Know that I am only a phone call, a text, a message away … even on the darkest night.

Know that I love you … not for what you do for me, not for your gifts or talents or calling. I love you … that soul that God made you to be.

Read Full Post »

If the Lord is all I Have …

Posted in Faith, GOD, life, WONDER, tagged #abrahamandisaac, #bindingofisaac, #godstest, #ifthelordisallihave, #myhopeisingod on August 28, 2018| 3 Comments »

Screen Shot 2018-08-26 at 9.26.58 PM My most favourite, most challenging story in the Bible, that I come back to again, and again and again, is known as the binding of Isaac. This is the story of when God tells Abraham to take Isaac to Mount Moriah and offer him as a burnt offering.

There are two important factors in this story:

Isaac was God’s promised heir to Abraham, given, miraculously, when Abraham was a very old man.
Abraham was prepared to do as God asked of him.

This account in Genesis 22:1-19, challenges me greatly, for I do not know that I would pass such a test.

It also reminds me of the great verses in the middle of Lamentations:

“Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing:
The Lord‘s unfailing love and mercy still continue,
Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.
The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.”

It is the final line (above) that speaks to me as fitting with the binding of Isaac account …

The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope

That line is the It is well with my Soul parallel. It is the affirmation that if God is all I have, I can be satisfied, I can even have hope.

Sounds good, yes?

Okay, but what if, we were to define things that we might not have, yet still proclaim that if the Lord is all I have, in him I put my hope?

So, how about not getting accepted into the trade or school program you have always dreamed? Or having a medical diagnosis that will change your future planning? Or your child dying? Or finding out you cannot have children? Or someone else getting the promotion you so wanted? Or losing your job? Or your spouse having an affair? Or your spouse dying? Or, or, or?

Can we still say if the Lord is all I have, in him I put my hope?

This is not just an Old Testament teaching either, as Jesus reiterated where God should rate in our lives, when he was being tempted by the devil (Luke 4:8):

Jesus answered,
“It is written:
‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

I admit it is uncomfortable, yet, could you (could I) bind up that which we value most in this life, and lay it on an alter in obedience and willingness to pass the test, to show that we fear God more than we love that thing, that dream, that person?

Could we pass such a test?

Read Full Post »

Got Hope?

Posted in Faith, life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #cometome, #gothope, #trustinhim, Anxiety, discouragement, Fear., Hope on August 23, 2018| 1 Comment »

How are you, really?

This is not a question that can be answered with that four-letter F-word (fine).

Really, how are you?

Got some worries? Got fears? How about disappointments? discouragements? … heartbreaks?

Is your mind cluttered with a never-ending to do list? To pay list? People whose needs need to be met list?

Is your prayer list filled with ill health? more bills than money? loneliness? job searches? broken relationships? home searches? sadness?

Jesus understands the tough stuff of life, and much of his message, when he was on this earth, was instruction on how to give our anxieties, our sorrows, our frustrations to him.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28)

“Come to me,” he says, “cast your anxieties on me for I care for you” (1 Peter 5:7)

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)

I do not have answers for life’s difficult days, but I know who does.

More than that, I know that even though I do not have the answers, even though I do not see the big picture, even though I do not understand human suffering, “I have the God of hope that fills me with unexpected joy and peace, as I trust in him” (Romans 15:13). That hope is available to all who trust in him, who had the keys of our lives over to him.

Read Full Post »

Who Do You Think You Are?

Posted in Faith, GOD, life, WONDER, tagged #identitiy, #identityinchrist, #imachildofgod, #john8, #whodoyouthinkyouare, #whothesonsetsfree, #whoyousayiam, Freedom on August 21, 2018| 6 Comments »

Screen Shot 2018-08-21 at 8.39.50 AM Who do you think you are?

A question I remember being asked as a child and teen. I bet I am not the only one who, after making a stupid decision, speaking arrogantly, or treating someone in a hurtful manner.

This question doesn’t have to be one that comes from arrogance, stupidity or failure. I can also be a question that brings us to remember who we are … in spite of our arrogance, stupidity or failure.

So, who do you and I think we are?

I think that in the darkest moments, when we are are along with our thoughts, we focus on our failures, we hang our heads in shame.

Though I think we can most certainly learn by reflecting on our mistakes and failures, to perseverate on them does no one any good, ourselves included.

Here’s the thing, in John 8:36, Jesus is talking to Jewish leaders who were beginning to believe that he was, indeed, the Messiah (v. 31). He is explains to them that if they follow him and what he is is teaching, they will be free. But if they do not, they will be living lives of slavery.

“The Son has an established position,
the run of the house.
So if the Son sets you free,
you are free through and through.”

Though you and I may not think of ourselves as slaves, we are indeed slaves to our sin when we turn our backs on the truth that is Jesus. He our emancipator, leading us to the most valuable experience … freedom.

While singing a song in church last Sunday, I was struck by the question, “who do you think you are?” So many negative traits and behaviours ran through my head, as I sang “Who am I that the highest King would welcome me?”

Then came these lines:

“I am chosen
Not forsaken
I am who You say I am
You are for me
Not against me
I am who You say I am”

Who do I think I am?

I am who You say I am …

“The theme of the song is from John 8 which is you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Jesus says, ‘who the son sets free, is free indeed.’ It’s a real declaration of identity. When I introduced this song into our church I read John 8, the scripture this song is based on. It talks about how a slave has no place in the family, but once we’ve been brought into the family then we have this identity as part of God’s family and that identity is an identity of freedom.” – Hillsong Worship

Who You Say I Am
Who am I that the highest King
Would welcome me?
I was lost but He brought me in
Oh His love for me
Oh His love for me

Who the Son sets free
Oh is free indeed
I’m a child of God
Yes I am

Free at last, He has ransomed me
His grace runs deep
While I was a slave to sin
Jesus died for me
Yes He died for me

Who the Son sets free
Oh is free indeed
I’m a child of God
Yes I am
In my Father’s house
There’s a place for me
I’m a child of God
Yes I am

I am chosen
Not forsaken
I am who You say I am
You are for me
Not against me
I am who You say I am

Read Full Post »

Summer Camp … Misfits at the Meal

Posted in Faith, GOD, life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #givegenerously, #misfits, #misfitsatthemeal, #summercamp, #supportsummercamp on August 16, 2018| Leave a Comment »

As I write this post it is Tuesday evening.

I am sitting at a long ‘staff’ meal table, looking down on the lake, watching someone doing periodic flips in the air from the back of a boat, the sun setting in the smokey (forest fire) skies, and I am listening to nearly one hundred teens play a bonding game for the prize of a table of candy (see pic, below, of the eight foot long table).

I am back at the camp that has been the soul home of our son for eleven summers. Today I got to meet another ‘camp’ mom, whose son is completing his tenth season (and they just ‘happen’ to be co-counselling a cabin of teen boys).

She and I shared similar memories, similar stories told to each of us by our sons, similar responses and feelings about the impact this place and it’s people have had on our sons.

But we shared more than just mutual blessings that our sons reaped.

We shared the pride of being asked by a fifteen year old guy if there was any way he could help out … while on his break from work crew.

We observed an insecure teen grow in stature as another teen reached out and befriended him.

We heard the most sincere prayer for a meal by a male teen, whose confidence comes, not from his outward appearance, but from a knowledge that he is unconditionally accepted by this community.

We heard a volunteer who drives the boat for tubing and other water sports, tell of his long-term involvement at this camp with no end in sight.

We spent a day with a well-retired, still hand-holding couple volunteering in the August-hot kitchen, because they just love teens and want to give.

We spent the day with each other … working, observing, listening, absorbing the blessing that is summer camp.

As I reflected on the joys of being a mom who got to be in this place, and saw teens being encouraged, supported, taught and loved in a way that moms dream their children might receive in this life …

As I looked at that table covered with sugary candy …

I was reminded of a story that Jesus told. He was around a Sabbath table with religious scholars and one of the top leaders of the Pharisees (whose eyes were closely on him, waiting for Jesus to slip up and break a law). These were the crème de la crème of Jewish society.

The story comes part way through Luke 14, and I love how it is told in the Message (the title starts it well):

Invite the Misfits

“He went on to tell a story to the guests around the table … if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”

Then he turned to the host. “The next time you put on a dinner, don’t just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You’ll be—and experience—a blessing. They won’t be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned—oh, how it will be returned!”

This is what summer camp is, or can be … a dinner of misfits.

Sure there are those who come every year, know everything there is to know about the camp and it’s people. There are those who come with their people, their besties. There are those who come with confidence in any situation. But there are also the … misfits. The ones who come alone. The ones who didn’t want to come. The ones that come because an individual or fundraiser supported their attendance.

They arrive, maybe excited, maybe scared, maybe angry. They may arrive and look around at others with their familiarity with the camp, with their people, their confidence. They may look around and feel dressed wrong, feel financially inferior, feel like … a misfit.

What I have observed is that if someone works or volunteers at a summer camp, they are the ones who have learned that “if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself”. You’ll become a blessing to others … to the misfits.

And they do.

Not every child or teen comes from a home with the means to attend a summer camp.

As a matter of fact, I was one of those misfits. Thanks to a Grandmother who had the means, and the generosity to go with it, I got to go to summer camp and be blessed by the experience of being encouraged, supported, taught and loved.

Today I am reminded that if I have the means, I need to provide the means for others to attend summer camp. Maybe I even need to make this a monthly plan … maybe you do too?

“They won’t be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned—oh, how it will be returned!”

Read Full Post »

Only Love

Posted in Faith, life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #apostlepaul, #chooselove, #hatedestroys, #onlylove, #philipriteman, #walkinthelight on August 12, 2018| 1 Comment »

While watching the news, a few days ago, I learned of a man who died. It was not his age of ninety-six that caught my attention, or that he was a speaker to organizations and to youth for thirty years, or that he came to find home in Newfoundland in 1946.

What caught my attention was something he had said,

“Don’t you ever hate anybody.
By love, you conquer the world.
By hate, you’ll only destroy the world
and you destroy yourself,”

More than platitudes, these were the real-life, words of Philip Riteman … a Jew born in Poland, captured by the Nazis, imprisoned in Auschwitz, Birkenau and Dachau. In 1945 he was liberated, freed by American forces, weighing only seventy-five pounds. In 1946 he found “humanity” in Newfoundland, and in 1979 made his home in Halifax, after expanding his import business there.

One would think that, if anyone does, he had good reason to hate (having lost all of his immediate and over eighteen of his extended family to the Nazis). But, this man who was so dramatically affected, in every conceivable way, by hatred, spent (at least) his final thirty years teaching people to conquer the world with love.

Love is a powerful force, but to have the ability, as a victim of brutality, to choose love?

Mr. Riteman knew that his survival, after his liberation, was because he chose to focus on something stronger, something more beneficial to himself, something that could indeed conquer a world of hatred.

He, of course, is not the only one in history to know about the power of love over hatred.

The Apostle Paul, in 1 John 2:9-12, also speaks of love and hate, in terms of light and darkness:

“Anyone who claims to live in God’s light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. It’s the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God’s light and doesn’t block the light from others. But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn’t know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.

I remind you, my dear children: Your sins are forgiven in Jesus’ name.”

He gives us the comparison of hatred to the dark, love to light. And, like Mr. Riteman, Paul understood the force of hatred, for, in his previous life, he had lived in the darkness of hatred, killing the followers of Christ with the hope of eradicating the Earth of them … like the Nazi’s who did the same to the Jews. But, like Riteman, he learned that it is not hatred, but love that can conquer the world.

In his commentary, Matthew Henry said of Paul’s experiential learning, “it is the Lord Jesus that is the great Master of love: it is his school (his own church) that is the school of love. His disciples are the disciples of love, and his family must be the family of love.”

May we walk in the light of love, and enlighten our world to how it can keep us from destroying ourselves with hatred.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Read Full Post »

Peace … Storm … Peace … Storm

Posted in Faith, life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #godspeace, #mypeace, #peaceafterthestorm, #peaceinthestorm, #peacestormpeacestorm, overcomer on August 7, 2018| 4 Comments »

Snapseed As I climbed into bed, with only the sweet sounds of hubby’s breath, and the waves breaking on the beach outside our window, I whispered a prayer …

“Thank-you God, for this peace after the storm
(pause)
or is this the peace before the storm?”

As I lay there, my thoughts drowning out the sweet sounds of moments ago, I became keenly aware that,

on either side of peace is always a storm
on either side of a storm is always peace

These are realities in life. Like peanut butter and jam, like waves coming in and going out, times of peace and times of storms are realities in our lives, flowing from one to the other unexpected and predictable at the same time.

The one (storms) for all people.

The other (peace) for those who accept it, from the hand of God … always held out to us, never taken away. It can either be accepted or rejected, but it is always offered.

Jesus came to provide that peace in the midst of the storms, the troubles of this world and life. He came to die, so that the hand of God can offer this peace that surpasses our human understanding.

The storms of life come, sometimes like an unexpected flood, sometimes like a dripping faucet. Both bring us to our knees in forfeit, begging for mercy, for saving … for peace.

God offers that peace. Hand stretched out, always in our direction, always within reach. Sometimes even right in the midst of the storm, when the water is creeping to our chins, when it seems that it might just take up down.

“I have told you these things,
so that in me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble (storms).
But take heart!
I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33

Or, (Carole version):

“Take the peace I am holding out to you.
There will be storms in your life,
but I offer the peace that passes understanding,
so that you do not drown in the storms.”

Read Full Post »

Come Away with Me

Posted in Faith, life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #away, #comeawaywithme, #goaway, #renewal, #timeaway, Refreshment on August 5, 2018| Leave a Comment »

FullSizeRender As I sat writing (when I should have been preparing for our road trip to our favourite place) the words, “come away with me” kept wafting through my mind.

When they finally took root, I pondered their origin, and remembered they were spoken in the Song of Solomon :

“My beloved calls to me, “Arise, my darling. Come away with me, my beautiful one.” SOS 2:10

It is a most intimate invitation, a seduction of the Beloved to the Lover, it is intended to draw another away to a secluded place, away from the rest of the world, away from the everyday demands on life. It was an invitation to renewal.

But, it is more.

In Mark 6:31, Jesus says to his disciples :

“Come away with me. Let us go alone to a quiet place and rest for a while.”

This too was an intimate invitation, in that it was personal, yet spoken to a group of individuals. It was intended to draw them to a secluded place, where they could enjoy rest, refreshment and renewal.

Though it is good to be busy, doing the work that we have been gifted to do, it is also imperative that we go away. Go away to a vacation spot, a retreat, a secluded field, to your door-locked bathroom in a tub full of bubbles. And go with those, with one, closest to you, who you need to reconnect with, rest, refresh, renew and recreate together.

It is in the times when we answer the call to come away with me that we can remember the beauty of together, shared with the God who first called you to come away, with him.

This is his gift of refreshment to us, if only we would hear and answer his call.

Read Full Post »

Keep It Simple, Stupid

Posted in Faith, Guest Post, life, WONDER, tagged #believeandbebaptised, #convictioncomesfromtruth, #easiepeasie, #k.i.s.s., #keepitsimple, #keepitsimplestupid, #repentandbebaptised, #simpleisbest on July 29, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Screen Shot 2018-07-28 at 9.38.04 PM I cannot remember when or where I heard it, but I doubt I will ever forget the acronym K.I.S.S. for Keep It Simple Stupid.

Life can get easier when we replace the confusing with the clear, the complicated with the simple.

When the Christian church first began, in a most unexpected way, there was a K.I.S.S principle that was loud and clear (though maybe a bit smokey).

It began at Pentecost, when all who were gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks were (literally) lit by the Holy Spirit.

This is what Christian community was birthed from, and it wasn’t without it’s doubters, as some thought that those speaking in the tongues of other nations were simply a little too full of the liquid spirits.

There are always cynics, always doubters.

The apostle Peter addressed the crowd, explaining the legitimacy of what was happening in terms of the prophesies of Joel, and the prophecies of their very own David, who shared the bloodline of their very own Messiah and Savior.

When the people heard the reference to their David, “they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37)

This is conviction, and …

conviction of truth always makes us willing to do something.

Now, here’s a bit of bad news for those who teach and preach …

conviction does not come from the messenger,
but from the source of truth

Awhile back I watched an interview between Woody Allen and Billy Graham. As one might imagine it was a conversation of opposites in so many ways. It was also a conversation of light-hearted laughter … from both individuals. What I was reminded of was that Billy Graham understood and utilized the ultimate source of truth. When a question was asked of him, he did not respond with “I think …” but with “the Bible says …” He understood that it was not his words or thoughts that would convict, but the only source of truth we have at our disposal … the word of God.

And how did Peter respond to the conviction of the people gathered at Pentecost?

“Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:38-39)

Peter didn’t pull that message out of his … hat. This was not his instruction for the people gathered, who were to become the early Christian church. This was the message that he received at the feet of Jesus himself … Jesus who is the truth incarnate.

For it was when the raised-from-the-dead Jesus commissioned his disciples that the truth of the instruction for conviction was given:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

There were no baptismal or membership classes to take, for this challenge was between truth that convicts, and the individual who is hearing the truth … with clarity that no other teacher or preacher can deliver.

Conviction is the igniting of the spark of the Holy Spirit

The passage, in Acts, ends with an alter call to be baptized, “and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” (Acts 2:41)

They believed, and were baptized

It was that simple … it is that simple.

If we are convicted by truth, our conviction must cause us to do something. The next step is not dependent on first getting the whole of our lives in order. It does not require us to first cleanse our lives of every sin, or attend a class.

The Bible tells us what that when we experience such a conviction we simply must repent, and be baptized. Easie peasie. No perfection required, just obedience.

This is keeping things simple … K.I.S.S. principle, simple.

Read Full Post »

The Household of God

Posted in Faith, GOD, life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #fromthesoulout, #godlovesthechurch, #goodtoworship, #itisgoodtogotothehouseofgod, #thehouseholdofgod on July 24, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Screen Shot 2018-07-23 at 9.04.07 AM

For nearly nine months, I had experienced circumstances-redundant, joy. I had known that peace that passes all human understanding. I had been filled with contentment in the midst of want.

So, what was missing during those months of living in the grace-filled waste lands … in the valley of dry bones, in the valley of the shadows?

On a warm Sunday in July, with chaos all around, with unfamiliar worship songs being sung and less than comfortable seating underneath, I knew in my heart that it was good to be in the house of God.

This was not a good feeling, due to a choice to see things as good, but one that felt good from the soul out.

Though this experience may not indicate that we have found our church home, it did remind me that we need one, and that it can truly be good to go to church. It was the truth that David spoke (Psalm 122:1):

“I was glad when they said unto me,
Let us go into the house of the LORD.”

Recently I came across words of Spurgeon:

“The church is not perfect, but woe to the man who finds pleasure in pointing out her imperfections. Christ loved his church, and let us do the same. I have no doubt that the Lord can see more fault in his church than I can; and I have equal confidence that he sees no fault at all. Because he covers her faults with his own love—that love which covers a multitude of sins; and he removes all her defilement with that precious blood which washes away all the transgressions of his people.”

Can I hear an amen, to Spurgeon’s statement, “the church is not perfect”? But, I also must say amen to the rest of that sentence, “but woe to the man who finds pleasure in pointing out her imperfections.”

Ephesians 5:25 reminds us of how very much Christ loves the church, in his sacrifice for her:

“Husbands, love your wives,
as Christ loved the church
and gave himself up for her”

It is his act of love for the church which makes our commitment to church mandatory … not because it or they are good, but because we are his, and he gave up his son for us, not only as individuals, but as the household of god.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »