Christmas Holiday

My schedule is determined by the weather.  Warm temperatures mean peace and quiet with plenty of room for family and friends;  the ideal setting for a Christmas holiday.  Cold temperatures mean long hours, unsynchronized lives, and interrupted plans.  

When I agreed to manage the Cold Night Shelter I understood it came with the possibility of working Christmas weekend.  Understanding the possibility and facing reality are very different.  As Christmas day approached I found myself constantly surveying three different weather forecasts; praying one would provide a warm prediction.  Ten days out, it appeared the cold would arrive Christmas Eve.  Five days out, the trend pushed the cold off until Christmas Day.  One day out, the temperatures appeared marginal for the entire weekend.  Christmas was back on schedule!

I arrived at my office Thursday morning at 9:00.  The conference call to determine the the status of the CNS was scheduled for 10:00.  Based on previous decisions by the committee I fully expected them to choose to remain closed.  I had plans to meet an old friend for lunch, then head home for some serious gift wrapping.  I was an hour away from beginning a well deserved five day Christmas break.  Minutes after the call ended, I was told the committee had decided to open the CNS from December 23 through December December 29. Ugh! 

There are two very distinct parts of me, spirit and flesh.  Through my relationship with God these parts remain in balance on most days.  However, occasionally (like last Thursday for example) God illustrates how different these parts are and requires me to make a choice.  At 10:25am Thursday morning I was given a choice to erupt in a tantrum and cry out, "IT'S NOT FAIR!" or humbly submit to the committee's decision.  This choice caused chaos within me.  I questioned my motives, my heart, and my commitment.  My spirit and my flesh were knotted together in a huge jumbled mess.

Early Christmas Eve morning God asked me to examine myself more deeply; to intentionally sort flesh from spirit.  I began by tracing my feelings of anger, resentment, and frustration back to the source, where I found selfishness and rebellion.  I was shocked to see them again and they tried to make me feel guilty for giving them room, but once identified they were easily separated from my spirit.  I placed my selfishness and rebellion at God's feet and he quickly dispatched them.

I then turned my attention to my spirit.  My spirit lives in the light.  It is one with God; the gift Jesus gave to me with His birth, death, and resurrection.  It rejoices with the heavens and is anxious to serve.  It reminds me of the privilege to serve those God loves, to be part of His mission.  Where better to spend Christmas Holiday than in service of the King?

I am saddened to see how quickly my flesh corrupts my spirit.  I want to live completely in the spirit, one with God.  I am grateful for tough decisions which cause me to examine my heart.  What is your current heart condition?  Has selfishness, pride, lust, rebellion, greed, or sloth taken up residence?  Christians are not immune to these influences.  Do not be afraid to ask God to remove the shackles from your spirit.  The world lies, it's promises are empty.  Nothing remotely compares to what God offers.

God blessed us with a memorable Christmas Holiday.  This years best present came without wrapping paper or bow.  Deniz and the Children joined me Christmas Eve and stayed through until Christmas morning.  I watched as God worked through them, bringing smiles and encouragement to those I serve.  My mission became our mission, my peeps became our peeps.  In the end I was not slighted in the least, God still provided family time around the tree, Christmas dinner, and laughter.  

 ^5-8Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn't pleased at being ignored.
 ^9-11But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won't know what we're talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God's terms. It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's!
 ^12-14So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!
 ^15-17This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him! (Romans 8:5-16, The Message)

 ¹ There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. ⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. ⁸ So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
⁹ But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. ¹⁰ And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.  
¹² Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (Romans 8:1-16, New King James Version)

Time Alone

Our mission is to connect the disconnected and yet God has intentionally unplugged me.  God blessed me with a wife, children, friends, and a church, but while managing the cold night shelter I spend much of my time alone.  Am I being punished?  Idle alone time in the past has lead to temptation and sin; have I lost my way?  A few nights ago I took my questions to the man in charge, this was His reply.

Father are you here?  Always Jeffrey.  Am I following the right path?  Yes.  I miss normal, I miss routine, I miss 9-5, home for dinner, video games, TV, and being with Deniz.  I miss laughter and idle time.  I miss the dinner table.  Yet you have squander minutes, hours, days and years, you squandered an entire decade.  What do you have to show for the time you squandered?  Time is precious.  Yes Lord.  You now have a greater appreciation for what you have been given; enjoy your children, enjoy your spouse, enjoy each moment I give you.  Time is short, I will ask you to invest in me completely.  Make time for those I have given you.  Stop wasting my blessings.  Yes Lord.  What else I am to learn from this experience?  Sacrifice, confidence in me, community, relationship, connection, reliance on me, coordination, delegation, team.  So, in this time I am tempted to call wasted you have been at work in me, on me.  Yes Jeffrey, you rely on those I have placed around you, you even believe them all more gifted, more valuable than yourself.  It was time for you to learn to rely on me and the gifts I have given you.  You lacked confidence in me.

From the first time I heard God's voice I knew it was Him; much firmer, more direct than my own, yet more loving and patient than the Devil's.  His words are not necessarily what I want to hear but always what I need to hear.  I have squander time and taken blessings for granted.  My time away from my family and friends reminds me of their importance and my purpose.  When we are given an abundance of time, we waste most of it.  When we are given little time, we cherish every moment.

God also told me there is much to learn during time alone.  During the time I have been whining about being unplugged God has been at work.  If you never experience time alone how do you determine your purpose and gifts?  Growing up I played saxophone in band.  There were times while everyone was playing it became impossible to hear the sound of my own instrument.  However, if one by one the others in the room stopped playing, soon the unique voice of my saxophone could be heard.  We are designed to play in concert but there are times God asks us to play alone to fine tune us.  

Away from what I know, away from the concert where I normally reside, God has allowed me time to connect with Him more confidently and affirmed His work in me.  My enemy tells me I am isolated and alone; being punished, marginalized, forgotten.  God says differently; He says join me, find me, celebrate your blessings, know my voice and learn your own.  

Connections will continue our mission to bring those we serve into relationship with God and each other.  We will guide them through loneliness and the feeling of being unplugged.  God uses all things for good, even isolation.  Growth is found in times when we are alone.  Jesus, Abraham,  Joseph, and Moses all spent time alone before their missions began. 

Satan Tempts Jesus

 ^1-2Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wild. For forty wilderness days and nights he was tested by the Devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when the time was up he was hungry.
 ³The Devil, playing on his hunger, gave the first test: "Since you're God's Son, command this stone to turn into a loaf of bread."
 ⁴Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: "It takes more than bread to really live."
 ^5-7For the second test he led him up and spread out all the kingdoms of the earth on display at once. Then the Devil said, "They're yours in all their splendor to serve your pleasure. I'm in charge of them all and can turn them over to whomever I wish. Worship me and they're yours, the whole works."
 ⁸Jesus refused, again backing his refusal with Deuteronomy: "Worship the Lord your God and only the Lord your God. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness."
 ^9-11For the third test the Devil took him to Jerusalem and put him on top of the Temple. He said, "If you are God's Son, jump. It's written, isn't it, that 'he has placed you in the care of angels to protect you; they will catch you; you won't so much as stub your toe on a stone'?"
 ¹²"Yes," said Jesus, "and it's also written, 'Don't you dare tempt the Lord your God.'"
 ¹³That completed the testing. The Devil retreated temporarily, lying in wait for another opportunity. (Luke 4:1-13, The Message)

Stephen Testifies

 ¹ Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”
² And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, ³ and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ ⁴ Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. ⁵ And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. ⁶ But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. ⁷ ‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ ⁸ Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.  
⁹ “And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him ¹⁰ and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. ¹¹ Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. ¹² But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. ¹³ And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. ¹⁵ So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers. ¹⁶ And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.  
¹⁷ “But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸ till another king arose who did not know Joseph. ¹⁹ This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. ²⁰ At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. ²¹ But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. ²² And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.
²³ “Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. ²⁴ And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. ²⁵ For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. ²⁶ And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ ²⁷ But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹ Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.
³⁰ “And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. (Acts 7:1-30, New King James Version)

I’ve Got This

Deniz and I love the movie “Knight and Day”, starring Tom Cruz and Cameron  Diaz.  I understand you may not share this opinion.  Deniz and I have grown accustom to liking movies others hate.  Years ago, we loved  the movie “Joe vs. the Volcano”.  We were singing its praises as we left the theater while those around us were tearing it to shreds.   I was reluctant to see “Knight and Day” when it was released because I thought it was just another fast cars faster women exploitative movie.  I do not endorse Tom’s lifestyle or reckless choices and the movie certainly contained too many senseless deaths.  However, to my surprise there was very little bad language, no illicit sex scenes, and the paring of a middle- aged Tom with an appropriately aged costar was refreshing; two thumbs up.

Ok, so are you worried our blog has become a movie review site?   Don’t be, it is 2am and a short while ago I was writing in my prayer journal when I discovered something about “Knight and Day” which endeared it to  me even more.  Throughout the entire movie Roy, the Tom Cruise Character, is rushing in to save June, Cameron’s character.  They face many dangers together including; a plane crash, a car chase, an inescapable gun battle surrounded by enemies on every side, a fiery missile attack, and a cold hearted assassin.  In every situation Roy is unflappable while June screams hysterically.  In the middle of every chaotic situation Roy reassures June saying, “I’ve got this”, while offering oddly timed compliments like, “that’s a beautiful dress June” or “you really drove well back there June”.  Meanwhile, June is confused and thinks Roy is insane.  She spends much of the movie trying to get away from Roy and the pursuing danger.  Two thirds into the movie, after Roy sacrifices himself by arranging for his own capture, June finally understands how much Roy cares for her safety and protection.  June, free from their relationship, voluntarily embroils herself in Roy’s mission.  A new June emerges.  She is fearless, confident and bold.  She shines with love for Roy and trusts him completely. 

While journaling this morning, God revealed the similarities between my relationship with Jesus and June’s relationship with Roy.  I have spent too many days running from Him, blaming Him for the dangers surrounding me; blind to His efforts to protect me and build me up.  Two thirds into my life I am no longer deaf to His words.  My eyes are open; I see the sacrifice He made to ensure my safety.  I voluntarily seek to embroil myself in His mission to save the lives around me.   I am striving to become fearless, confident and bold.  I want my love for him to shine.  I trust Him completely.  With every challenge, with every unexpected danger I hear His voice saying, “I’ve got this”.   

 ^1-2God, listen to me shout, bend an ear to my prayer.
   When I'm far from anywhere,
      down to my last gasp,
   I call out, "Guide me
      up High Rock Mountain!"

 ^3-5 You've always given me breathing room,
      a place to get away from it all,
   A lifetime pass to your safe-house,
      an open invitation as your guest.
   You've always taken me seriously, God,
      made me welcome among those who know and love you.

 ^6-8 Let the days of the king add up
      to years and years of good rule.
   Set his throne in the full light of God;
      post Steady Love and Good Faith as lookouts,
   And I'll be the poet who sings your glory—
      and live what I sing every day. (Psalm 61, The Message)

 ¹ Hear my cry, O God;
         Attend to my prayer.
 ² From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
         When my heart is overwhelmed;
         Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
       
 ³ For You have been a shelter for me,
         A strong tower from the enemy.
 ⁴ I will abide in Your tabernacle forever;
         I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.  Selah
       
 ⁵ For You, O God, have heard my vows;
         You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.
 ⁶ You will prolong the king’s life,
         His years as many generations.
 ⁷ He shall abide before God forever.
         Oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him!
       
 ⁸ So I will sing praise to Your name forever,
         That I may daily perform my vows. (Psalm 61, New King James Version)


   You who sit down in the High God's presence, spend the night in Shaddai's shadow,
   Say this: "God, you're my refuge.
      I trust in you and I'm safe!"
   That's right—he rescues you from hidden traps,
      shields you from deadly hazards.
   His huge outstretched arms protect you—
      under them you're perfectly safe;
      his arms fend off all harm.
   Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night,
      not flying arrows in the day,
   Not disease that prowls through the darkness,
      not disaster that erupts at high noon.
   Even though others succumb all around,
      drop like flies right and left,
      no harm will even graze you.
   You'll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance,
      watch the wicked turn into corpses.
   Yes, because God's your refuge,
      the High God your very own home,
   Evil can't get close to you,
      harm can't get through the door.
   He ordered his angels
      to guard you wherever you go.
   If you stumble, they'll catch you;
      their job is to keep you from falling.
   You'll walk unharmed among lions and snakes,
      and kick young lions and serpents from the path.

 ^14-16 "If you'll hold on to me for dear life," says God,
      "I'll get you out of any trouble.
   I'll give you the best of care
      if you'll only get to know and trust me.
   Call me and I'll answer, be at your side in bad times;
      I'll rescue you, then throw you a party.
   I'll give you a long life,
      give you a long drink of salvation!" (Psalm 91, The Message)

 ¹ There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
³ Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
⁴ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
⁵ Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
⁹ Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? ¹¹ Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. ¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
¹⁸ “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. ²¹ But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:1-21, New King James Version)

Cold Night Shelter

I am proud of my community. Last year, when the people of Tallahassee discovered their neighbors were sleeping outdoors in freezing temperatures they responded by demanding a cold night shelter.  The issue quickly became a political hot potato and by the end of January 2010 a cold night shelter was opened.

I participated in the earliest version of our community's response by helping with transportation.  I continued my outreach schedule during the day and gave a few extra hours to driving people from downtown.  I left the coordination and implementation to our executive director and local politicians.  The shelter functioned, but everyone agreed a better plan was needed for the winter of 2011.  The Homeless Coalition was tasked with coming up with the answer.  After several proposals a plan was approved.  The only thing the new cold night shelter was missing was a manager.

In July, as we began developing Connections, the Cold Night Shelter (CNS) was listed as a potential need to be filled.  We thought we would be established by the time the coldest days hit and we could save the day.  God's plan was different.  The first cold days arrived earlier than expected and with them enough political pressure to crush a small emerging church with grand ideas.

God's plan called for sacrifice and humbleness not grand gestures and fame.  God asked me to step forward to manage the CNS.  We operated two nights last week and expect to operate several nights next week.  My name does not appear in headlines.  I do not get asked for interviews.  I do not control when the shelter is open.  I am simply there to serve humble and grateful people from 7 to 7.  I am confident mountains will move.

I am familiar with this plan.  It is how God has shaped me over the last five years.  When I was sent into the community as a "Missionary to Tallahassee" it wasn't a glamorous assignment, it was a call to become a servant.  Step by step I was asked to lay down my pride and selfish ambitions and learn to serve and obey.  Through this process God's influence has grown and Connections was birthed.  It seems fitting Connections early days of ministry are similar to my own.  It is counter intuitive, counter to the way our world thinks, but servanthood is how God makes the greatest impact.  Jesus came not wrapped in glory and splendor but in swaddling cloths. 

My job is simple.  Greet those I serve with compassion, answer their needs the best I can, and watchover them while they rest.  It sounds like shepherd training.  It sounds like God's version of leadership training.  I am blessed. 

 ¹ And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. ² This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. ³ So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
⁴ Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. ⁶ So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. ⁷ And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
⁸ Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. ¹⁰ Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
(Luke 2:1-12, New King James Version)

 ¹ Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
² And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, ³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, ⁴ rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. ⁵ After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. ⁶ Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”
⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”
⁸ Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”
Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
⁹ Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”
¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” ¹¹ For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.”
¹² So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³ You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. ¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. ¹⁶ Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (John 13:1-17, New King James Version)

 ⁶ When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, "Here he is! God's anointed!"
 ⁷ But God told Samuel, "Looks aren't everything. Don't be impressed with his looks and stature. I've already eliminated him. God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart."
 ⁸ Jesse then called up Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. Samuel said, "This man isn't God's choice either."
 ⁹ Next Jesse presented Shammah. Samuel said, "No, this man isn't either."
 ¹⁰ Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel. Samuel was blunt with Jesse, "God hasn't chosen any of these."
 ¹¹ Then he asked Jesse, "Is this it? Are there no more sons?"
    "Well, yes, there's the runt. But he's out tending the sheep."
    Samuel ordered Jesse, "Go get him. We're not moving from this spot until he's here."
 ¹² Jesse sent for him. He was brought in, the very picture of health— bright-eyed, good-looking.
    God said, "Up on your feet! Anoint him! This is the one." (1 Samuel 16:6-12, The Message)

Thanksgiving

Good morning Father, I love you.  Thank you for loving me even when I was far away from you. Thank you for Deniz; my bride, my love, my best friend.  Thank you for Jasmine; my better self, my second chance at making better choices.  Thank you for Jenna; my smile, my tenderness. Thank you for Dylan; my innocents, my thoughtfulness. If it were not for these, I would be lost and alone, stranded on an island of despair. Thank you Father for leading me home.

My mind can not comprehend the vastness or intricacies of your creation; what hope can there be of understanding you? I am just a grain of sand on the shore of eternity.  You are infinitely more and yet you call me your child, your friend. What did it cost to bring me near? How much did you sacrifice? How can I ever repay you? Thank you Lord for blessing me and allowing me to know you intimately. Thank you for revealing yourself through Jesus, your word, and your Spirit. Thank you for your promise that one day I will know all of you. 

Thank you Father for your faithfulness. There are times when I lose faith in myself, yet your faith in me is constant. You are omnipotent and never fail, I am fragile and ever failing, yet it is my faith in you which waivers. Thank you for believing in me, for raising me up, for trusting me to care for your loved ones.  I hope you are proud of me and my life reflects your love.   

Marriage

I know the subject of marriage may seem off topic. Most of the people in the homeless community are single. Many were once married and are divorced or widowed. Others, a majority single moms, have never been married. So why talk about marriage? The short answer, God drew my attention to it through conversation, a recent news report, and while reading the Bible.


I am friends with a great couple I will name Aquila and Priscilla. During a conversation this week with Priscilla about marriage I nagged more than I offered wisdom. Aquila and Priscilla are very different from one another, yet compliment each other. They have stood beside each other through several trials and demonstrated deep love in good times and bad. I met Aquila and Priscilla five years ago while they were in their mid-twenties. I knew them before they were together and have witnessed them grow and mature as individuals and as a couple. For the past few years they have lived together; first out of necessity, then out of love. It appears they are in no hurry to be married.  


Aquila and Priscilla are not alone. According to the results of a Pew Report released this week marriage is in decline. In 1960, 68% of all twenty-somethings were married compared to only 26% in 2008. Today, twenty-somethings prefer cohabitation over marriage. 39% of all polled believe marriage is obsolete.


So, what's the deal? Why is the concept of marriage fading? Deniz and I were married our senior year of college. Just like Aquila and Priscilla we loved each other deeply. A chapter in our lives was closing and a new one about to begin. A choice had to be made, travel together or go our separate ways. Marriage was the natural expression of our commitment and willingness to sacrifice for each other. Deniz gave up higher paying more prestigious job opportunities to move to Florida near my parents. I gave up dreams of working for an ad agency in Chicago. We never considered continuing into the next chapter without being married; it was the natural next step. Has the definition of marriage changed over the passed twenty years?  What did God intend marriage to be? Why is it important? Read the scripture below and see how corrupted our culture's current definition of marriage has become.

Ephesians 5:21-33 (New International Version)

Instructions for Christian Households

 ²¹ Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. ²² Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
 ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰ for we are members of his body. ³¹“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” ³² This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.


When I read this scripture this week I gained a new appreciation and understanding of its meaning. I admit while reading this passage in the past with my own cultural bias, I stumbled over the word "submission". Deniz has always been my equal; stronger in areas where I am weak and weaker in areas I am strong. Is God suggesting wives are less than their husbands? No, our understanding of submission and His meaning are much different.


God desires a deep intimate relationship with us. So much so he sacrificed more than we can imagine to close the gap. Jesus submitted to God's will and laid down His life for us, the church. Marriage requires similar acts, calling us to submit to one another and sacrifice our selfish desires. It is an invitation to experience oneness with each other and with God. To lead, a man must be willing to sacrifice his own will for a greater purpose. To submit a woman must sacrifice her will and follow. The deepest human relationship pales in comparison to God's gift of marriage.


What about the singles? Are they less than those who marry? No, Paul says the best choice is to remain single and focus on developing a deeper relationship with God. However, he acknowledges how difficult it is to remain celibate. When our pursuit of love endangers our relationship with God, marriage is the solution. Celibate singles without the desire to marry develop an intimacy with God in a equal but different way.


Words and ideas God gave to us as a pathway to greater understanding of Him and His love have been corrupted by our culture. Marriage, commitment, submission, and sacrifice have become synonymous with enslavement, oppression, weakness and death. We must fight to restore their true meanings. If we fail, marriage will become obsolete, a way to know God will be lost, and many will suffer. 


For Aquila and Priscilla I pray, may they develop a deeper relationship with each other and with God through marriage; through their oneness God would reveal himself to future generations; that love, commitment, submission, and sacrifice would be given new meaning by their example.

While I was writing this morning my bride came to me. She was singing this song. It expresses how powerful the gifts of marriage and family can be and how through these gifts our intimacy with God grows, enjoy.

   ______________

²⁰ “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²² And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: ²³ I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
²⁴ “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵ O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. (John 17:20-25, New King James Version)

¹ Now, getting down to the questions you asked in your letter to me. First, Is it a good thing to have sexual relations? ^2-6Certainly—but only within a certain context. It's good for a man to have a wife, and for a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them and provide for a balanced and fulfilling sexual life in a world of sexual disorder. The marriage bed must be a place of mutuality—the husband seeking to satisfy his wife, the wife seeking to satisfy her husband. Marriage is not a place to "stand up for your rights." Marriage is a decision to serve the other, whether in bed or out. Abstaining from sex is permissible for a period of time if you both agree to it, and if it's for the purposes of prayer and fasting—but only for such times. Then come back together again. Satan has an ingenious way of tempting us when we least expect it. I'm not, understand, commanding these periods of abstinence—only providing my best counsel if you should choose them. ⁷Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me—a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others.
 ^8-9I do, though, tell the unmarried and widows that singleness might well be the best thing for them, as it has been for me. But if they can't manage their desires and emotions, they should by all means go ahead and get married. The difficulties of marriage are preferable by far to a sexually tortured life as a single. (1 Corinthians 7:1-9, The Message)

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1802/decline-marriage-rise-new-families

Love

Everybody can be great.  Because anybody can serve.  You don't have to have a college degree to serve.  You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve.... You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve.  You only need a heart full of grace.  A soul generated by love.  ~Martin Luther King, Jr.


Deniz sent me this quote from Martin Luther King Jr. a few weeks ago. It captures the heart of Connections. As I began talking to God about our leadership team my mind kept returning to it. What makes a leader in God's eyes?


The world says a leader is powerful, clever, well spoken, attractive, popular, charismatic, shrewd, wealthy and influential. These are not necessarily negative attributes, but are they how God measures a leader? Jesus provides a different standard. He was not physically attractive or influential. He was common without worldly wealth, not the leader the people of his time were expecting. However, he was and is the greatest leader the world will ever know. Jesus' leadership was born through His love for the Father and for us. All other attributes flowed from that single point.


The same week I received the quote from Deniz, I was studying John's letters to the churches of Asia Minor. Through these letters it is clear the early church was grappling with the same question, "who is qualified to lead? There are many who want to lead, and many differing ideas, how do we judge authenticity?"  John directs them to the standard set by Jesus:


¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be that person? ¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.  1 John 3:16


Jesus led through his willingness to serve and he directs us to do the same. God can provide the gifts and talents needed to succeed, but we must choose to love. Without love all our efforts are fruitless. Through love nothing is impossible.


This week I sat at the table of our first leadership meeting. As I surveyed the room I was pleased. We are diverse; our skin color as broad a spectrum as our ages.  Men serving alongside women.  Each growing in our relationship with God; each still a work in progress.  Our talents and gifts are different but we share one attribute, love. I could not help but smile as I thought, "this is what leadership looks like from God's eyes."


 ^2-6The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
   a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
   nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
   a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
   We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
   our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
   that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
   that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
   Through his bruises we get healed.
We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost.
   We've all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong,
   on him, on him. (Isaiah 53:2-3, The Message)


³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
³⁷ Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40, New King James Version)

 ¹ If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. ²If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. ^3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

   Love never gives up.
   Love cares more for others than for self.
   Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
   Love doesn't strut,
   Doesn't have a swelled head,
   Doesn't force itself on others,
   Isn't always "me first,"
   Doesn't fly off the handle,
   Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
   Doesn't revel when others grovel,
   Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
   Puts up with anything,
   Trusts God always,
   Always looks for the best,
   Never looks back,
   But keeps going to the end.
 ^8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
 ¹¹When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
 ¹²We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
 ¹³But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. (1 Corinthians 13, The Message)

Priorities

I have sat down to write about the importance of setting and keeping priorities several times but have been unable to complete my thoughts. It is because it is an area where I still struggle. Our oldest daughter began college this year. It was easy for me to see she was putting way too many activities on her plate. My best friend does not know how to say "no". His calendar makes you want to laugh, then cry. A young woman I work with strains to hear her calling through the cries of needs surrounding her.

It is easy for me to identify the mistakes of others, much more difficult to recognize my own. I was talking to my mom last weekend (one of my priorities, one I have neglected), she offered the same advice to me I offered my daughter, "stop trying to do so much". I was shocked, part of me who believes I am doing too little. It wars with the need to set and maintain priorities. It reacted to my mother's words with a dismissive, "she doesn't know what she is talking about, you can handle it." I imagine my words to my daughter and friends fall prey to a similar dismissive spirit. What harm is there in having a full plate? Shouldn't we seek a full life? If we are aware of a need and do nothing to fix it, are we shaming God? 

I offer my plate to answer these questions. I work full time for the Homeless Coalition as their outreach worker. I am planting Connections. I am a husband, father of three, and son to parents who just relocated 300 miles to be nearer. I have friends who I enjoy, count on and want to be apart of their lives. I am undecided on selling our home or refinancing. I am responsible for managing the finances of two businesses and our household budget. I am a member of Freedom Church. 

There are plates more full than mine. My first reaction to my list is,"I should be able to manage that load", but I confess, I can not. My priorities are out of balance and it is hindering my efforts and causing damage. It shows in every area of my life. God has given me a great capacity for compassion and it serves me well. As I share His love I witness hope restored and purpose discovered. However, when I become unbalanced sincerity is lost. 

Yesterday I visited inmates in jail. I am allowed to meet with them one on one in a comfortable office setting. I receive and compile a list of fifteen to twenty names each week. As I reviewed the list yesterday I recognized two or three names. When we met I discovered I had visited most of them before. I did not recognize their faces and struggled to remember our previous conversations. They deserve better. Giving the impression of caring without doing the work of caring is wrong. Poor care is a clear sign unbalanced priorities. A crowded plate creates false expectations and inhibits our ability to serve.

The solution is simple but not easy; define your priorities and purpose. What has God called you to do? Does your current schedule reflect your priorities? If not, shape it until it does. Remember, you are part of the whole. God's gift to the world is not you; God's gift to the world is His Church, the Body of Christ. You do not shame God by not answering each need personally. You shame God by attempting to operate outside your purpose, independent from the whole. 

Connections will provide sincere compassionate care, not by the efforts of one, but many. Each member of our launch team will be encouraged to define priorities and purpose. Connections will clearly define our scope. Emerging needs will be brought before the body and new hands will be added when warranted.


 ^14-17Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

 ¹⁸I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department."
   Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.  (James 2:14-18, The Message)


¹¹ And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; (Ephesians 4:11-13, New King James Version)

Immeasureable Love

I love my children, they are the best part of me. If not for my children I would have self destructed long ago. Each is unique yet each shares my best characteristics. They are my underserved blessing and my joy. I would gladly give my life to protect them. Nothing is more precious to me than their lives. I would not sacrifice them to save the best person imaginable or millions innocent children. 

Now I consider the sacrifice God has made for me. His sacrifice was greater than I am willing to commit therefore his love for me must be greater; deeper than I can comprehend. The greater the love the greater the sacrifice, leading to a place of unimaginable pain and sorrow. Yet, God was willing to give his only child for my me. 

Who am I? I am far from righteous; I have spent most of my life pursuing pleasure and self gratification. Yet God sacrificed His son for me. Jesus willingly gave his life for the sinner, the scoundrel, the self involved fool. God endured tremendous pain and sorrow for his enemy, those who hate him, see no purpose for him, and deny his existence. He sacrificed His son for you. His love for you is immeasureable. Allow yourself to be loved.

 ^7-10My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.

 ^11-12My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love! (1 John 4:10-12, The Message)

¹⁶ And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”
¹⁷ When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Mark 2:16-17, New King James Version)





 

Misfit

I am a misfit. I have always been a misfit. I never understood why, and often blamed circumstance. If only_______ , I would be like everyone else, I would fit in. We moved often when I was growing up.  I was always the outsider. The kid from private school in public school, the kid from the South living in the Northeast, the kid from the burbs living in the country, the kid from the country living in the city. The pattern continued into my adult life. The sheltered kid away from home, the married twenty something, the stay-at-home dad, the awkward social networker, the wannabe redneck. With each new circumstance the same feeling, "I don't fit".

I hated being a misfit. I would have given most anything to conform and it wasn't from my lack of trying I failed. Was I cursed? Quite the opposite, I am blessed to be a misfit; once frustrated, now grateful. It was not circumstance which kept me from fitting, it was God. He loved me so much he never let go. Had I ever managed to fit into the world I may have been lost forever. We can not fit into the world and have a relationship with God, we must choose.

You and I were born misfits and marred by sin into a broken world. There is a vulnerable state between life and death, where we are unable to be one with God but desire to live. Our enemy offers many attractive diversions; promises of fullness, satisfaction, and pleasure. They mask the emptiness for a time, but there is a nagging uneasiness which is hard to ignore, something is missing. Jesus is God's answer to the uneasiness. Through Jesus' death and resurrection God created a way for us to fit with Him. Jesus paid the cost of our brokenness and restored us so we can be one with God. We don't fit this world because we are designed to fit God.

I am a misfit, I do not fit into this world even though sometimes I am tempted. The ways of the world are attractive and full of promise, but I will not allow myself to be fooled. I celebrate my misfittedness and place my trust in God. He will faithfully continue to bring other misfits into my life and we will discover we fit extraordinarily well together. I am blessed to have a misfit wife, misfit children, misfit friends, a misfit pastor, and a misfit ministry. Praise God for misfits.

Be proud to be a misfit. Find a relationship with God through the biggest misfit of all, Jesus Christ, your savior and God's answer. Connections will be a lover of misfits because God is a lover of misfits, come find where you fit in.

 ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2, New King James Version)

  
¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17, New King James Version)

 ¹⁷ These things I command you, that you love one another.  
¹⁸ “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15:17-19, New King James Version)

 ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  
¹⁸ “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:16-19, New King James Version)