The Frightening Favor Of God

Well once again time has elapsed since my last blog but this time, I have a great excuse. Well at least I think I do.

A few weeks ago, my wife Renee, called me into our bedroom. She had news. I could see that but had no guess. She had something in her hand. Something I hadn't seen in a long time. It was a home pregnancy test and yep - you guessed it - it was positive. Her hand was shaking. My heart stopped beating. What the? Long story short, we got a baby on board.

For the first week or so I was in a state of shock. To be quite honest, I freaked out. I'm no spring chicken you know and initially all I could think about was worse case scenarios. Until Renee gave me that news, I thought I had the rest of my life all mapped out.

I wonder if that is how Mary felt when the Angel announced to her the plan of God for her life. I wonder if she didn't feel as I did and wrestle at least a little with the "Yeah but I....."

It's funny isn't it, how so many of us desire and seek the favor of God and yet the favor of God can be a frightening thing. When the Angel showed up on Mary's door, the first thing he said to her was that she was "favored" of God. But God's favor was about to take her down a road that she never dreamed she would be on.

Crazy as it sounds, the Christmas story of 2009, which happens to be my 45th Christmas, is helping me understand God's favor in a whole new light.

The favor of God can be a frightening thing. Frightening in the sense that you can't anticipate the future... but when it's all said and done, there is no future like the future that reflects God's favor.

Shades of Grey

I just finished with my Sunday morning message entitled "The Sounds of Silence" and I know that somebody in the service on that day is really going to get something out of it. Only one problem. I'm struggling to believe, receive and practice what I am about to preach.

Does that make me a fake? Am I a hypocrite? Challenging questions with no easy answers because it is not always as black and white as it seems. There are grey areas. At least there are in my life. Those grey areas, as much as I would rather not admit their existence, represent seasons and shades that need to be wrestled with, examined, and investigated.

I wish I could say with all confidence and certainty that I do nothing but practice what I preach and preach what I practice. Truth be told there are shades of grey. For every moment that captures the colors of a perfectly worked out truth, there are as many moments that are reflected in shades of grey. Some things are neither here nor there but rather somewhere in-between. It's in those in-between times and in-between places that you can feel like a fake because you're not there yet.

The deception that so many buy into is that unless they have mastered the truth they have committed themselves to, they must be faking it. Don't buy into that lie today. We are all a work in progress and there will undoubtably be some times and seasons colored in shades of grey.

Time Flies When...

Three weeks. It's been three weeks since my last blog. Three weeks. Where did the time go? Three weeks isn't a long time in the big scheme of things and yet it's long enough for me to once again, admit that time flies.

Ordinarily you follow that up with 'when you're having fun' and for the most part that is true. But the converse of that is true as well. It seems that regardless of the season you find yourself in, time still flies.

Time flies when you're having fun. Time flies when you're stuck in a rut. Oh, it may feel that time is standing still when you are stuck in that rut but you will discover that once you get out, if you get out, that time did anything but stand still. Life passes us by in the twinkling of an eye. One day you're still dreaming of what the future holds, the next day you're looking back on what might have been. Where are you today? Who are you today?

Regret is a silent but deadly killer. If you ask most people about their regrets, so many will speak of not their failed attempts but rather their failure to attempt to challenge the status quo. I wonder what I will say tomorrow about what I did or didn't attempt to do today. I wonder. All I know for sure is that time flies.

A Canadian Thanksgiving

I am a Canadian living and pastoring in the U.S. and I have got to say that I love it. There is something about the American spirit and passion that I gravitate towards and in many ways it feels like home. It is home.

But I have another home. One that is never very far from my thoughts and that is my home in Canada, where I grew up and where I was encouraged to pursue the call of God on my life that eventually led me to my new home in America. While I have adopted almost all things American, on this day I celebrate my Canadian roots for on this day in Canada it is Thanksgiving. On this day each year, the second Monday in October, Canadians are gathered around their tables, carving turkeys and sharing moments and memories with family and friends. It's the same as it is here in November just without Black Friday. I digress.

At any rate, I thought I would write this blog today about Thanksgiving, for I have much to be thankful for. I am married to the girl of my dreams. I've got three of the most incredible kids ever. I've got the best friends anyone could ever have. I have had wonderful mentors and leaders pour into my life. I've had the privilege of serving three incredible congregations (Phoenix First Assembly, Waterloo Pentecostal Assembly, Grandview Assembly). I get to work with a group of people who serve God with passion and purpose. My parents gave me every advantage. Wow, I'm realizing I could go on and on because I've got so much to be grateful for.

Most of all, I would like to thank God because every good and perfect gift has come from Him and I tend to take those gifts and the Giver of those gifts for granted and that's not who I want to be.

It shouldn't take a holiday to have a thankful heart.

Real Life

Every week around this time I begin to prepare myself to write this blog. What I didn't see coming when I signed on to do this was and is the pressure I would feel to write something "inspiring". The problem with that? I am not always inspired. If you want to know the truth I am probably more consistently uninspired than I am its opposite. That's real life. At least that's my real life.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, down or discouraged. While the Bible does promise that we can expect to go from strength to strength and glory to glory, I have found that life tends to be rather routine, even mundane in those in-between glories. And that's OK. That's real life.

I think one of the problems we have created in the Kingdom of God is this "lights, camera, action" mentality and we sit around in wardrobe waiting for our photo shoot. But that's not how real life works. That's not how real faith works. Real faith believes that in spite of doing the same thing today as you did yesterday and possibly doing the same thing tomorrow as you did today, that at the end of the day you are still walking with God. And that's REAL LIFE.

Any Given Monday

I got up this morning and went to the gym. That's part of my Monday morning routine. It jump starts my week in more ways than one. Today I went to do cardio. After running 4 miles on the treadmill I was ready to pack it in. I was tired, exhausted, spent. I was done or so I thought but then something surprising happened... I caught my second wind and ran for another 3 miles. I thought I had gone as far and as long as I could go when I hit the wall but I was wrong. That's the power of the second wind.

Have you ever "hit the wall". Have you thought to yourself, OK I'm done. I've got nothing left. I'm not even running on empty, I'm just empty.

Ever been there? Have you ever caught your second wind?

It hit me today as I caught mine that one of the most powerful word pictures used for the Holy Spirit is that of a 'Mighty Rushing Wind.' The thought that caught me off guard is that I know there have been times when instead of waiting to catch the second wind of the Spirit, I have given up, gone home, quit running the race. How about you?

I'm a pastor. I'm a leader of people. For the most part I love what I do. On any given Monday Pastors all over the world contemplate quitting. I know I have. And guess what... it's Monday.

Thank God for His second wind.

Without a doubt there will be times in this life when you and I will hit the wall and it will feel like it's over. There's a second wind for those who wait upon the Lord. Sometimes I believe the Lord will even allow us to continue running on empty just to get us to a place where we can experience the second wind. A place where we come to realize, it's God and God alone that empowers, sustains and supports us in this race. It's not a bad place to be.

Are You Hard Of Hearing?

I just got back from a hospital visit. A couple in our church experienced the birth of their first child. Cute kid. I'm so glad I went to visit them because not only did I get to see their baby but I got to connect with this couple on a whole new level. This visit gave me a glimpse into their lives, their hopes and their dreams, how they met and what really matters to them.

As I left the hospital I was thinking, that was so cool. Here's the thing that I tend to forget as a pastor, leader, whatever... is that everyone has a story to tell. Everyone has something to say about where they've been, what they've done, what they dream and the hopes they have. Everyone has lived some kind of life to this moment. Those lives are meant to be shared, those stories are meant to be told. Is anyone listening?

25 years ago I worked in a nightclub. That experience caused some permanent damage to my hearing but there is another kind of hearing loss that comes from a self-centered obsession. That kind of hearing loss can be corrected but not without showing a genuine interest in others. I know many people, myself included, who want to be great leaders but I'm realizing more and more that leading starts with listening. So, how's your hearing?

First Blog: Remix

Last Saturday I sat down at my desk and wrote my first blog. Overall I thought it was good. But then at 2:00 a.m. that same night (really Sunday morning) a guy in our church passed away. His name was Dave. He was a husband. He was a father. He was involved in our outreach ministry with Pastor Barry. He was so many things. He was only 44.

Two months ago he was doing relatively fine. No one knew then that this day would come. No one really knows anything about their future do they? No, they don't. I don't. You don't. All we really have is this - right now.

Life is short. Some live shorter than others. There's no time to waste.

There's no promise of tomorrow.