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At Your Name

Posted in Faith, GOD, life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #atyourname, #callthenameofjesus, #mosaic, #peacethatpassesunderstanding, #powerinhisname, #tremble, peace on September 9, 2018| 2 Comments »

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“Peace, bring it all to peace
The storm surrounding me
Let it break at your name”

Driving to work this week, the lyrics of a worship song I had thoughtlessly sung along to just days before in church, became clear, personal, intimate.

When we sing praises and worship we can easily just sing words, even thinking that our investment of worship is sincere … and I believe it is. There are times when we worship, though, when we do not just worship God, but we realize the strength, the truth of what we are singing.

“Breath, call these bones to live,
Call these lungs to sing
Once again, I will praise”

It is one thing to be able to simply praise God, another to praise him in the midst of the storm with pressure approaching from all around, but after that storm has past (is passing) …

when you can look back …

when you can see the bigger picture that was hidden from view in the eye of the storm …

when you can see God’s hand of comfort, of protection on your life.

Your name is a light that the shadows can’t deny
Your name can not be overcome
Your name is alive, forever lifted high
Your name cannot be overcome
Jesus, Jesus
You make the darkness tremble
Jesus, Jesus
You silence fear

And the words proved true.

As the song played on the radio, as I drove to work, that first day reminded me of the previous first day, a year ago. I was reminded of the nervousness, the anxiety, the hope that I felt driving to my first, first day at a new job. I was reminded of the many struggles of the past year …

Emotion gripped me as I contemplated how much more nervous, how much more anxious I would have been had I known what was to come in the following months. The emotions did not flow simply for how paralyzing that knowledge would have been a year ago, but how I could see God’s hand of comfort, of protection on my life.

How many drives to and from work I have called out the name of Jesus in the past year … and as I called his name, more peace than I imagined possible, fell on me. I exhaled the name of Jesus, and he gave me breath to inhale.

His name is alive, it has power, for “even the demons are subject to us in your name!” (Luke 10:17). I don’t think that we utilize the power of the name of Jesus, I know that I have not in the past … but …

this year, I understand so clearly how calling on the name of Jesus can silence fear, replacing it with a peace that is beyond all human understanding.

It can truly make the darkness tremble.

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:9-11

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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 »

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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.

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Happy (second) New Year

Posted in life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #afterlaborday, #anewbeginning, #backtoschool, #createapureheart, #freshstart, #genesisweek, #happynewyear, #happysecondnewyear, #seasonschange on September 4, 2018| 2 Comments »

A lifetime of the day following the Labor Day weekend signalling the beginning of a new school year simply reinforces my belief that this is the second new year of the year.

There’s the new paper and pens, the new clothes, routine changes, shorter days and goals-setting. There’s a distinctive chill in the air in the mornings and we all know that pumpkin everything is about to flood the market.

I love that it is a second chance to start fresh in the year (not that we can’t do that any day). I love that, with the end of summer break and beginning of school, there is also a season change, a rhythmic change to our lives.

Daniel (2:21a) tells us, “He (God) changes times and seasons.”

And here we have a new season, a fresh start, a new beginning.

The words from the Psalms have been on my mind as I approach this second new year. They are the words of David, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

I love how this message is communicated in The Message:

“God, make a fresh start in me,
shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.”

A Genesis week … that so communicates a brand new start, an ‘in the beginning’ experience! What an opportunity that is as a new season, a new school year begins.

So lets start this second new year off with a Genesis week mindset, this is the freshest of fresh starts, for this is the beginning … and there is so much hope in that!

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Farewell Good Friend

Posted in life, Nature/Creation, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged #farewellgoodfriend, #keepthedelight, #labotdayweekend, #practisesabbath, #sabbathsummer, #sadtoseesummergo, #theendofsummer, #thelasthurrah, #worshipthecreator on September 2, 2018| 2 Comments »

FullSizeRender This weekend is both delight and dread.

It is a lovely long weekend … yet it marks the effective end of summer.

So we live it up this weekend, soaking in the sunsets, the smores, the sleep-ins and the sweet times with family and friends.

Summer is like that indulgent aunt who loves you, but has no real responsibility for your well being. She dishes out the good stuff in life, spoiling us with the most indulgent things of life and living.

It would be easy to look at summer and say it is not reality, but a daydream in the sun. Summer, though, is so much more.

It is like a refreshing drink when we are parched. A feather soft bed when we are exhausted. A glimmer of light on the water from the full moon up above. It is rest, and refreshment and renewal for our hearts, minds, souls and bodies.

Actually, I think that summer is the ultimate sabbath of the calendar year … giving rest and refreshment to all facets of our lives. It is the time of year when it is totally acceptable to have no plans at all.

One thing that happens so naturally is the opportunity to worship our God and Creator, for his Earthly dwelling shows so well in summer, and it inspires our worship to the Creator.

The sunrises and sunsets, the flowers, plants and trees, the vegetables in our gardens and berries growing along the roadside all speak to a good and wise Creator, worthy of our praise. We whisper thanks as we stand at water’s edge, hike up a mountainside and hear a coyotes call into the night.

As we bid adieu to this fair season, the sabbath experience can continue, if we commit to intentionally including rest and reflection into our new goals for this new season. We know how life-giving this can be from our summer experience, lets take what we have learned into this new season.

The worship does not have to end, either, for God has created variation and change in our seasons. As we continue to allow sabbath into our routines, let us ensure that we give thanks and praise for this life that we have.

Less dread, more delight as we step away from this summer and into the fall.

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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?

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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.

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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

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Keep Looking Up

Posted in GOD, life, Nature/Creation, WONDER, tagged #keeplookingup, #keepyoureyesongod, #mountainclimbing, #psalm121, #songofascent on August 19, 2018| 2 Comments »

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As I sat in a boat, being shown the lake in it’s entirety I was intrigued by how beautiful yet asymmetrical were the mountains surrounding it. As a lover of symmetry, I kept thinking how perfect they were in their imperfection.

Our daughter has been painting mountains this summer (@rangaart) and I love how in each painting it is the colours of the lower ranges that accentuate the grandeur of the mountain’s heights.

The mountain tops are beautiful because of
the lower ranges and the valleys below them.

I know from experiences hiking up mountains, that I need to climb with my eyes focused either on where I am presently (ie. focused on each step) or where I am going. My eyes do not look back down the mountain until I reach the destination, the summit. It is then that I can look down and appreciate from where I have come, the efforts to get where I am and breath in the accomplishment of my efforts.

Psalm 121 is one of the Songs of Ascent in the Bible. It was written to be sung as one were to climb to Jerusalem.

Like my own hiking experience, it begins with the words “I lift my eyes to the mountains.” The Psalmist had obviously climbed to a summit before, for he knew that he needed to focus on where he was going.

The passage continues with “where does my help come from?” Not only did he know where he was heading, but why … his eyes were not on the destination, but on who would help him make it to his destination.

Our lives are made up of hills and valleys, and, like the mountain ranges, no two are the same. As we pursue these times in our lives we need to keep our eyes focused on the one, on God, who will will keep our steps steady, who watches over us, who protects us.

As the phrase says, keep your eyes on the prize … but the prize is not the destination, the prize is the help for the journey.

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.”

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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!”

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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.

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