Beautiful Chaos

Conventional wisdom and popular thought over the short twenty-three years of my life have lead me to believe that at moments of catastrophe, when the world is its most chaotic, people stop caring about one another, lose all of their civilization, and revert to not much more than animals who see life as “every man for himself”, “dog-eat-dog”, and “kill-or-be-killed!”  However, as I grow older I have begun to find this “assumed truth” to be less and less true.  When life throws humanity into the very heart of chaos and disorder a unique opportunity arises for us; the opportunity to move beyond ourselves and become truly selfless.  Fear in these situations often motivates us to aid our neighbor and make them “safe”; even if we ourselves are not “safe”.  This posture of self-sacrifice is nothing more than a beautiful picture of “God on Earth”.  Even in the Screwtape Letters we see the character of Screwtape upset about the level of service and selflessness that danger and chaos can have on a local community (Chapter 28). 

In fact, chaos almost seems to be a positive aspect of human existence.  Chaos, danger, and “the unknown” seem to keep humans on our toes.  In times filled with more rest than unrest I have often found myself drifting from the attributes of my God: loving others, disciplined seeking of Him, and intentionally attempting to make my world a better place.  When I get too comfortable “I” become the main focus of almost every one of my actions, but chaos causes me to focus outward.  

“This, indeed, is probably one of the Enemy’s motives for creating  dangerous world—a world in which moral issues really come to the point.” ~~ Screwtape Letters (ch.29)

When chaos hits home, people tend to love each other the way God loves…

Precision Virtue

"To be greatly and effectively wicked a man needs some virtue. What would Attila have been without  his courage, or Shylock without self-denial as regards the flesh?  But as we cannot supply these qualities ourselves, we can only use them as supplied by the Enemy."

Screwtape (Senior Demon)

This hit me like a ton of bricks.  Perhaps the greatest weapon in the enemy's arsenal is the twisting of the gifts and virtues that God has given. I despair to think how true this may be in my own life. I say that because it can be so hard to know or see since virtue in the person always seems a good thing.   And virtue is a good thing; its a God thing.  My enthusiasm, acceptance, and drive all seem to me like honorable things. But if I were honest it is in those places I most often find myself missing the mark (sinning).

Our virtues need aimed.  If their aim is off they take out innocent bystanders. The aim of my virtue only need to be off a hair and the wake of the hurt I can cause is vast.  In other words, my enthusiasm and drive aimed at the wrong things can have no regard for family, friends, relationships, or God. My acceptance can wrongly include sin in others that would not have me stand for justice in times justice is the focus.

Our virtues are gifts, and so is Christ. The gift of Christ is the gift of good aim at the right targets that deliver hope, love, justice, and feed faith.  That encourages me!!!  We have a God who gave us such good gifts and does not leave us alone to figure them out but offers his presence as a guiding force of love that make us sharpshooters of love and grace.

Death...Evil or Good?

"They, of course, do tend to regard death as the prime evil and survival as the greatest good.  But that is because we have taught them to do so.  Do not let us be infected by our own propaganda."
Screwtape - Senior Demon

I read this line and I realize I live that same bad theology.  Is this the natural trap of being a finite being. I guess so.

I saw a friend of mine recently give way to the disease of cancer.  He was young.  He left three young kids and a wife behind.  That to me when looking at it holds little hope.  It only looks like pain to me,  And is pain not of the evil one?  So how can death not be a prime evil?  Because death is the entrance into eternal life.

Why is this such a hard thing to live?  For my own life I can only answer this way.  When it is the hardest to live is when I have little connection to the presence of God in my life.  Without God's presence we only have what is this side of heaven.  My ability to live death as entrance to eternal life is if I am experiencing life itself.  Not the illusion of life but the life that is delivered by the presence of Christ.

This does not remove pain but does give it perspective.  Now sorrow is for my gain in that it leads my heart to the next chapter, and that is heaven.  The best part is that I can begin living it now.  For me that is worship.  When I get in that place where all that is left is God.  That presence lifts me and fills me and let's me walk back out into another day now with purpose.  That purpose is for others to experience that same thing.

So what are those moments of worship?

• Scripture that invites me into another world.
• Community worship experiences where the bigness of God engulfs me.
• Moments of perspective when God rectories something for me that reminds me of his presence. 
• Moments of community when the connectivity of the relationships around me have me experiencing the things of Christ like acceptance, grace, unconditional love.   

What about you?  What are the moments that make death a less evil concept and more a hopeful moment?

Home Really Is Where the Heart Is!!

Yep, this one hits home, where the heart is!  Screwtape Letters unveils what we know but would rather not know... that prosperity, having enough (though we all think we could use a little more) to do some things, buy some things, eat places, etc., "knits a man's heart to the World.  He feels that he is finding his place in it while really it is finding its place in him." (page 155)

Home is where my heart is, what I think about, dream about, long for.  So the question that cuts through is, "Where is my heart?"  Is my heart wrapped around the Kingdom of God?  Where does my joy lie?  In worship and serving, in experiencing the Lord through His word or in places I can go, things I can do?  What gets the most of my thinking?

Years ago I was wanting to buy something special, something I had been saving for, something I wanted.  I suppose most of us live that way, at least I do, anticipating a fun trip, a purchase, a cool place to eat.  As I was thinking about it one day the Lord clearly convicted me, "You may not buy that!"  The word was clear and strong.

Why?  It was just a gun truth be told.  I could see no reason to be forbidden but I was nevertheless.  "You may not..."  Really?

The item itself had no moral value.  But... my heart was being knit to the world.  This was a call to the Lord to make sure my heart was after Him, not anyplace else.  Years later it seems almost hysterical.  Yet, deep inside I know this was a clear word from the Lord.  Statistics say the more we make the less we give!  I hate that.  I don't want to be a part of that stat.  Whatever prosperity I have I want to make sure my home and my heart are with the Lord.

What does the evidence point to in my life?  How about yours?  Home really is where the heart is!!

Vision Rich!

I was amazed at the response to "Next" (the vision gathering for the Fall).  GraceRiver is full of people with big vision, people who are committed to the Lord and to each other, people who are anticipating the Fall as a time of "Prayer and Planting".  This is such a special move of God!  I am so thankful for this church and for the hearts of so many who are investing their lives to lead others to real life in Jesus!

The trap of "Cause"

The purpose of Christ is not social Justice, a moral society, or a means for the advancement of any other cause we may have bought into. I know that sounds rough but listen longer.  This is an easy trap; to worship the religion (Christianity) rather than Jesus himself. It happens every time we put the focus on what a relationship with Jesus produces rather than relationship with Jesus itself. The power of the Gospel is not in what it produces but who is producing it.

Here is the other trap; when we begin to chase after the outcomes of a relationship with Christ rather than the relationship itself we cease to hear from Christ which was the power of the relationship in the first place. Instead now we hear some set of moral values or code and somehow build a system that we feel is maintainable and make it the standard of which we live by. We call it being a good person.  A moral code was never the standard.  The standard was Jesus and his spirit that reveals all.  Revelation is the power of Christ. His ability to reveal truth not our ability to discover it.  The standard of God is Jesus. It always has been and always will be.

Why this is a big deal to me is because at GraceRiver Church our mission is to "lead people to real life in Jesus."  I don't think I have ever been a part of a church who has gotten this so right before.  What I mean is that for GR real life isn't an invitation to being a better person or adopting some code of conduct.  The invitation really is to life in Jesus.  Everything is built around the presence of Christ in our lives and not our ability to just be better people.  I love that about our church.  This is why I know GR is on the cusp of something great.  Because we are a body of people who deeply desire to know Christ and have him alive in us.  So when we invite people to GR we are inviting them to that life; real life.

-From chapter 24 of The Screwtape Letters.

No More Partial and Piecemeal Lives!

Loneliness eats at the human heart like a cancer.  Odd that the more social media available the more alone we seem to be.  We live full out fast lives with little time to really sit and listen to another and have them ask about us... and listen as well.

Just wondering if one of the reasons we are alone is our "small lives".  I and II Corinthians calls us to live large, not small (this is literally said in The Message Translation).  A small life centers on me, how am I doing, what's good for me.  I control the conversation and talk rather than listen.  That's the mantra of the culture but the odd thing is that it seems that the the culture hasn't figured out yet that "me" centeredness is smallness.

Living large is living in the full experience of God's way.  That is more than just doing right.  It is living in community with others.  Asking about them.  Caring about their hurts, joys, challenges.  One key measure for me is when I am in conversations will I focus on the other or do I have to get to my story, my life, "me"?

I Corinthians 14 is a chapter about gifts.  I am jazzed that we are headed into a study of spiritual gifts at GraceRiver coming this Fall.  It's going to be a really special season.  What is even more special is we are going to do this in our growth groups.  Discovering my spiritual gifts is not about discovering how special I am, what God is doing in me!  The Message speaks of this as living a partial and piecemeal life!  Spiritual gifts study is discovering how special we are, how the Lord has made us together, placed us together to live large and have a significant difference in the world.

Significant difference is not about me... it is about us!  It is how God moves in me in cooperation and coordination with how the Lord moves in you (plural)!  GraceRiver is a community, people placed together for a larger purpose.

If we are not careful, the discovery of spiritual giftedness can drive deeper our aloneness as we focus on ourselves.  However, when I discover I am gifted for you, for your benefit, for the benefit of others and even those beyond the church I begin to enter a larger life!

Ironic that in the Kingdom of God one of the ways out of loneliness is finding our fit in the body and moving toward others (not away) to serve (not to receive).

GraceRiver is becoming this body!  We are moving beyond small lives gathered on Sunday to go to church.  We are becoming people who care for one another, who invest in one another, who love others as we love ourselves.  You see, Jesus not only tells us to love others as we would love ourselves he gives us a specialness (spiritual gift) to make that contribution and connection.

I am jazzed at the move of God here at GraceRiver.  This Fall will be so incredible as we learn about how the Lord has placed us together uniquely by giving us spiritual gifts, unique ways God expresses Himself through each of us.  I hope you will be a part!

Super Spouse!

I read 1 Corinthians 7 and it is a reminder to me.  It is a reminder to me that my wife, Janann, isn't my salvation.  What do I mean?  I have mistakenly put way too much responsibility on my wife for my joy, happiness, and satisfaction.

Here is the trap.  Without realizing it I have looked to my wife to be things to me that she was never designed to be or do.  Many of us fall into this trap of marriage.  We marry because that person makes us feel like no other person has ever made us feel.  We feel alive with them.  We feel special and valuable to them and with them.  So we look to them to constantly feed that to our hearts.

Here is the problem.  My wife's purpose is not for my satisfaction, my feeling alive, my feeling fulfilled.  Did you heart that?  My wife isn't God.  Satisfaction, life, and fulfillment are things only God can deliver.  When I put my wife in that spot she never measures up and then she becomes the target of my frustration and hurt.

I remember when I learned this.  Moving to Orlando I left many friendships and relationships I had built in Lakeland, Florida.  It was just Janann, my three kids, and me.  We struggled here our first year because I put my wife in the spot of God.  I needed her to satisfy the void of relationships with other guys that I had lost leaving Lakeland.  I don't know if you've noticed, but my wife isn't a guy and thankfully so.  My point is that I was looking for her to provide something she was never meant to provide.

Yes, my wife is the best expression of God's love for me in that she feeds my heart.  But my wife was not meant to be my everything.  Jesus is.  My marriage has grown when I learned that.  Now, Janann is someone I serve with and out of the love of Jesus for me.  I receive the same from her.  We both know, however, that it is the love of Jesus that we give to each other.

Expecting your spouse to be more than they were ever meant to be?

The trap of "Mine"

"The humans are always putting up claims to ownership which sound equally funny in Heaven and in Hell and we must keep them doing so.  Much of the modern resistance to chastity comes from men's belief that they 'own' their bodies."  -Screwtape (Senior Demon)

One of my favorite scenes from a Disney Pixar movie is the scene in "Finding Nemo" where Nemo is trapped on the dock trying to get back in the water and the flock of seagulls see him.  Their voices, in seagull like fashion, is an orchestra of one word, "mine."

Do we realize the trap of that one word?  It, like a cancer, breeds a mentality that evades our entire soul that under-girds our sin and brokenness.  When I think my body is mine then my satisfaction physically becomes my leading muse.  If I think my time is mine, then you are my enemy if you demand any of it in ways that don't serve "my" purposes.  If I think my money is mine then I stand directly in the way of God's redeeming of the world since his people are his means of redemption through Jesus.

The world becomes about me and even God becomes something that I, in the most recessed parts of my mind think, is mine to manipulate and broker to satisfy my needs, desires and longings.  

In my life it's subtle.  Like Screwtape declares, it starts at childhood with the possessive word of mine and secretly leaks into every facet of my concise and subconscious.  "My wife", as I introduce her, then is for my pleasure, needs and service.  "My kids" are not something then I am responsible to God for to lead as scripture says, "in the way they should go," but the way I want them to go to feed some swelling ego in me.

It's subtle in my life but rears it's head often.  It causes pain in my relationships and doesn't allow God to be the center of my world.  I wonder how life would look different if I realized the truth of ownership...

"And all the time the joke is that the word 'Mine' in its fully possessive sense cannot be uttered by a human being about anything.  In the long run either Our Father or the Enemy will say 'Mine'of each thing that exists, and specifically of each man."  -Screwtape (Senior Demon)

Losing our Sensitivity?

"One of the greatest achievements of the last hundred years has been to deaden the human conscience on that subject, so that by now you will hardly find a sermon preached or a conscience troubled about it..." (Screwtape Letters Chapter 17)

Is it possible that we struggle with more than we know?  This word was about gluttony, pretty much a lost concern so it seems.  Screwtape letters says our gluttony can be as much in delicacy as in quantity!  Really?  That's not a reality I am aware!

Maybe I don't eat too much (spend too much or read any other temptation in that sentence) but have I shifted my source of life to my sensuality (food, drink, pleasure, etc)?  Ephesians has a cutting word here, that the focus on sensuality causes a loss of sensitivity to the Spirit!  That is why fasting can increase our sensitivity, it shifts our focus to the Lord as the nourishment of our hearts.  

The fear I read here is that the enemy wants to move me slowly, unnoticed by me, toward a life of stuff, taste, pleasure, etc. and away from the Lord.  Question is how can I be alert to that shift?  How can I be aware if I have shifted to food, drink, or anything else for my joy and source of life?  

When you scan your life, what could be the places the evil one would shift your heart to some pleasure, some focus that might cause you to lose your sensitivity, capture your thoughts and focus and move you away from the move of God fresh in you?

I've Done Tough Times Wrong in the Past! Not Doing It This Time!!

"Humans live in time but the Father destines them to eternity.  He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend to chiefly two things, to eternity itself, and to that point of time which they call the Present.  For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity."  (From Screwtape Letters, words from the senior demon).

Lot of words but here's what I take away personally.  We are made for eternity.  We can choose to live in the light of eternity, make decisions in the light of eternity and live in the moment knowing that we have eternity.  Or, we can be swallowed in anxiety, fear and shame.

I can worry about tomorrow, jobs, health, etc.  I can live in the shame of the past failures.  Both steal away the present moment where the Lord is with me.  Both shift my focus from the God who has a destiny for me to my problems and my pain!

God's grace is for the present.  It is bread for today, as Jesus said.  Tomorrow the Lord will provide again but today His grace, care, provision is sufficient.

So, here's the point.  Walking through a bit of personal anxiety currently.  Not as bad as some have it, maybe worse than others.  And that is irrelevant.  What I am choosing to do each day is worship the God who has a destiny for me.  I choose to worship that He will provide even though I don't know how.  I am choosing to resist the shame that says I am not worthy of His love, that I am being cursed.

I've done tough times wrong in the past, fears, worries, stress.  Not doing it this time.  I have a God who has destined me for eternity and He is with me right now.  Tomorrow has it's own evil (as Jesus said) but today, the Lord is good and good to me.

How about you?  In a tough season?  You are not alone and the Lord is not done with you!  Now we have a reason to celebrate!!!

True Confessions!

True confessions are the moments I stare face to face with scripture that God has illuminated to me as if it was flashing with neon lights. Paul's words in 2Corinthians 12 cut my heart wide open.

So here is my true confession. My struggle as a pastor is the motive of my heart. I have three equal parts of truest desire that live in my soul.

1. My desire to honor God and live out of the truest and purest call to the mission of Christ.
2. The desire to build his church calling people to real life in Jesus and watching it grow into a movement of intense love and grace in the community.  
3. My desire to feel valuable, important, needed, and indispensable. 

I don't always get it right. I find  that I want to live a life of sacrifice and lay myself on the alter of Christ.  However, that third deep desire at times leads rather than falling into line.  When it leads I find people become less the priority, I become more short term rather than long term focused, I feel more empty and less alive.

What if life was more about living out of the first two motives and allowing God to satisfy the last?  Is this as tough for you as it is for me?

Who's the Best Preacher?

Is the best preacher the loudest, the quickest wit, the smoothest talker?  II Corinthians 11 Paul is being compared to other preachers... and coming up short.  Apparently some are saying he isn't the speaker that other leaders are.  Not as quick, not as astute!  Likely every preacher has that experience.

What makes the best preaching?  We know the answer, the best preaching is the Word of God.  But style can affect the listener, too!  What we have to guard against is style over substance.  Is the Word of God being taught in a manner that brings wisdom, conviction, guidance, hope and help?  We can trip over style, what appeals to us or what may not, but the real power is the Word being heard and obeyed.

So here's a question for you, what helps you to hear the Word? What teachings have been the best for you and why? Do you regularly experience the Word coming alive for you?  What aids or detracts from that?

Now that's some funny stuff!

In chapter 11 of "Screwtape Letters", Screwtape (Senior Demon) reveals the trap of humor that dulls a persons senses and holds them in the camp of the enemy (devils camp). It is when humor becomes the mask we hide behind because we learn that when laced with humor we don't only give ourselves permission to say whatever we want but get the permission of others who encourage our humor with their laughter.

Am I giving myself way to much freedom and in doing so invite others into a cynical world where virtue is lost and nothing anymore is sacred? Is the invitation that I give to others around me one where life has richness and meaning or one where nothing and no one is safe at the sharp end of a tongue that stabs freely at every matter of heart and soul.

The more flipped I get the more I melt away the kingdom of God. If I am to bring the kingdom of God my humor will paint the picture of laughter founded in joy not cynicism.

Don't hear me wrong. The gift of laughter is from God. Joking is my favorite past time and has real power in creating bonds of intimate relationship. I just know that I have killed to many moments where God was speaking with what I like to think is great quick wit. Do not fear. You will still have the same Phil who lovinglingly teases you and calls you into fun relationship. Just more concious that my teasing is elevating you, my God, and others and not tearing down with the permission of others laughter.

Pleasure Was God's Idea

Screwtape Letters is a behind the scenes look at how the evil one seeks to destroy us.  Along the way C.S. Lewis gives us insight into God's heart and dreams.  Here's one quote that may surprise you, "Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure, in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense on (God's) ground. It is His invention." (Bolded for emphasis).

Imagine that!  God created pleasure for us!  Maybe He does want us to laugh, take time off, enjoy the senses of touch and sand.  Does that give you a new picture of God?  Does that take the shame away from some of the things you love?  Yes, it has to be within the boundaries and in its healthy form.  But playing with your kids, reading a newspaper, watching your favorite team is something God has given to you.  Imagine, when you are smiling so is the Lord!  What a cool picture.  Think I'll have a Chai Tea today to celebrate I Timothy 6:17, "God... who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment."

Pleasure is God's idea.  Go enjoy!

God, Cash and Faith

"Some people got to have it.  Some people really need it.  Some people do things, bad things with it!" says the song.  II Corinthians 9 is a high calling.  Walking with the Lord is not a Sunday moment praise but an act of real faith where we give even when it means we will have less!  Even when it means we will do without and lead our families to "live less".  No wonder money gets to my heart.  No wonder it can create anxiety and pressure.  And no wonder the Lord loves a cheerful giver.  Who wants a gift that is given begrudgingly?

A few years back the Lord asked me to give and I resisted.  Then he said, "Just keep your money!  I don't want it!"  I was heartbroken.  I had hurt the heart of the Lord who had given me everything by my own fear and selfishness.  Then He said, "Would you like a gift someone gives with resentment?  Would you think I would like that?  If you can't give it cheerfully just keep it."

Still sometimes have to work through this but I will never forget the Lord's cutting words, "Just keep your money.  I don't want it."  Still rings in my head!  Is giving easy or hard for you?

True Test of Faith

So what is the ultimate test of faith? Have we reduced it to a collection of emotions, principles, or practices? Is it a mere set of values and virtues that we keep in order that we feel good about ourselves and in comparison to the world hold ourselves in high esteem?

What if the real test of your and my faith was connected to our heart that God has chosen to connect to our wallet. What of the standard of faith is not the virtues we profess but the eagerness of our heart? At least that is what Paul attests.

"For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord's people. And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. (2 Corinthians 8:3-5 NIV)"

As a pastor I struggle here as much as anyone. I long to be fully a part of what God is doing and the dream of a world and people who love God and live lives of full surrender that brings life and joy and peace. But my earnestness falls short at times at the place of sacrifice. It is a battle to put my money where my mouth is because everything I have been taught by this world is protect and provide for your family. My man's duty is to dream a future for my kids and my wife and in doing so place myself in the same dog eat dog world where we are all in competition for the top spot. We are all in the same race for the best line in the supermarket, the best opportunities for our kids, and the best provision this world has to offer.

The mistake I make is to live our lives as if I am my own provider. I am not. When I live life this way I make myself my own God and leave God to the position of euphoric feelings supplying the mirage of happiness I am sometimes chasing.

What sobers me each time is Gods invitation to live in the other world, the world he is bringing and will claim it's victory. That is the world where God provides our every need and we live in a constant state of gratefuness for the life that he gives that far exceeds any possession this world has to offer.

So God bounces the ball back to me. He places the ball in my court with an invitation. The invitation is the same as Paul give to the Corinthian church. Get in the game! It can not be played from the sidelines where we cheer on those who "give themselves". No the invitation is to step on the court, to give ourselves fully to the mission of God and it starts Witt the challenge to give. Only then are we really playing ball.

I know what I have to do. How about you?

Rich Times in the Valley?

Chapter 8 of Screwtape Letters gives us a different understanding of valleys. Low moments are alive with the presence of the Lord!! I've been trying to remember that when I hit low moments when life seems dark and God seems far. That truth, that these are fertile moments for the Lord to work breeds hope and joy in the valley. 

One of the powerful realities of community, life together in small groups is that others can remind us that though the moment seems hard when we lose a job or face a crisis the Lord is with us and is at work!!

In a valley today? You are right where the hand of God can be more evident!! You have a God. Valleys are fertile ground to grow real faith!!

For Each Other

Oh, that we could speak to each other the way displayed in 2 Corinthians 7. I read Paul's words and my stomach at times sinks as if I am the one receiving the letter from him (and maybe I am). I become afraid for him. "You cant talk like that Paul. What if they get mad and read your heart wrong?" That's just it isn't it?

We don't have real intimate relationships with one another because we are so fearful in our relationships. We are afraid of being misunderstood. We are afraid of being misrepresented. We are afraid of being wrong. We are afraid of being abandoned by each other so we we slow dance with each other but the way our teachers made us dance in the 8th grade, where we hardly even touch. The ruler distance we keep is because of some unwritten rule that we not allowed to meddle in each others lives. 

So what type of relationship is that. Oh that we could speak the truth in love to each other and, just like scripture says, "spur each other along toward love in good deeds. I am as guilty as anyone.

I'm on vacation and a member of my family isn't here with the other 19 of us because we are so afraid to hurt each other that we just allow distance and non-inclusion to exist without a fight for each other. I want to be fought for. I want someone to come after me and not quit. I want to be rebuked when I am wrong and trust your heart is not for your gain but Christ's and my own. I want a church body that does life this way, don't you?

Is It Worth It?

A Conversation Out of 2 Corinthians 4...

I had a conversation with a friend the other day of how since she became a Christian she has felt an increasing loneliness.  When I asked her to tell me more, she said that she does not have the same desire to be around the same people she used be drawn to and that has her at times feeling lonely.

So what do you do when as the scripture say's, "the veil has been lifted" and you begin to see life different and your hearts motivation changes?

2 Corinthinas 4 talks about a dying and a resurrection and how both are a continual journey.  Could it be that there can be things that feel like loss in the journey with Christ?

Here are a few of mine...

• Friends that are now redefined as mission.
• A loss of desire for things that used to be filling even if only temporary.
• A loss of the veil that allowed me to ignore hurt and indifference all around me.
• A loss of my own direction and satisfaction with it.
• I lost of thinking I was good enough, strong enough, and impressive enough.

What about you?  What have you lost in your following of Christ?  Is it worth it?

Worth Dying For

One of the realities of the human condition is that of war. War wages in us,outside of us and all around us. The next holiday coming on the American calendar is Independance Day! It is a celebration of that which cost so many their lives and still claims lives today. It is a celebration of that which is most taken for granted in our country but which has the greatest impact on us all living in this great nation.

Is that not the reality of anything worth dying for? In chapter 5 of "Scewtape Letters", you discover that war is something the enemy loves since it has to do with human suffering. However, it produces something the enemy fears most, an alive mind that contemplates virtue and questions cause that excites faith. The potential of war forces us to decide what is worth sacrificing for. Are our marriages, our children, the hurt of others around us, homelessness, bigotry, racism worth the sacrifice of ourselves? Is our faith?

The battle is lost not on the field of combat. It is lost in our minds. Complacent minds that live idle in the freedoms others have sacrificed for. The greatest weapon we have as people of faith is that of a mind alive in its engagement with the spirit of God. It happens in intense engagement with scripture. 

"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12 NIV)

Summer Pursuit is that invitation to an alive faith that is active and moving. It is an invitation to a life of purpose and meaning. It is an invitation to a bigger world that you may find is really worth dying for.

The Pinprick Spiritual Attack on Your Family

Every family is under attack from the enemy.  However, most of it is subtle and in our minds.  The dream of the enemy is to divide families and destroy people.  Sometimes that is done by big hurts. Mostly it is done over time, with one pinprick at a time, as Screwtape Letters reveals in chapter 3!  One pinprick at a time, one offense at a time and before long we have lost our intimacy and love.  It can begin as simple as our assuming a family member is oversensitive while we are speaking at face value.  At the same time we can be oversensitive on our end.  Maybe that is why Ephesians 4 tells us to speak the truth in love!

Have you seen this temptation in your family, to take offense when no offense is given?  Did you know it was the evil one wanting to ruin your family's connection??

Innocuous Prayer!

"It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds:  in reality our best work is done by keeping things out."  -  Screwtape

If prayer is to have power it must be in connection with the God of the universe.  This is not a praying to but a conversation with.  A praying to God finds us as the leading voice.  A conversation with God asks questions and listens for a response.

In "The Screwtape Letters", the work of the enemy finds it's central focus in watering down and innoculating our prayers.  It's focus is to:


1.  Keep us from realizing that our physical position matters in the matter of prayers, because it becomes
     a reflection of the heart.
2.  Keeping our impression of God in the moments of prayer focused on an image rather than the
     essence of God and his character.
3.  Making prayer more about us trying to conjure up some certain emotion, leaving us feeling
     successful in our prayer rather than a concentration on Christ that leads our hearts.

Which of these means of the enemy do you find most successful in keeping you from real conversation with Christ?

2 Chronicles 7:15
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

How Can I Find God's Will

So many people wonder about finding God's will!  Have they missed it?  Did they make the wrong choice somewhere and therefore ended up in the wrong place?  And if so, is life pretty much void of significance?

II Corinthians 2:12-14 Paul finds God has opened a door for him.  But... he doesn't walk through it!  Really?  Aren't open doors always God's will?  Maybe.  But Paul moves on to another place and then says the Lord always leads us in triumphal parade.  Surely there are moments when God's direction is clear.  But apparently at other times the will of God has options.  As one of my friends recently said to another, "I think you can choose in this moment and the Lord will love you and bless you no matter!"

The will of God may be more dynamic than we think, but this is sure, the Lord is always able to take our choices and lead us forward from victory to victory.  Relax, seek the heart of God and the will of God will be clear and He will take care of that!

Who's on Your Team?

Who's on your team?  Who stokes your fire and fuels your vision?  II Corinthians 2:12-14 this trailblazer named Paul leaves a wide open opportunity and moves on looking for his teammate Titus.  Imagine that, he leaves a wide open opportunity!  Church is not a place we go.  Church is not a Sunday experience.  Church is a group of people called together to make a difference in this world.  People... called together...to make a difference!  This Summer we want to be on your team, fueling your fire and restoring your soul so that we can have the flow of His life into and through us.  Together we experience joy, hope, vision and passion.  Come join the team at GraceRiver and experience the real meaning of "church"!

Screwtape Letters Review

Go behind the scenes of how the evil one may be attacking you and your spiritual development! This book will open your eyes and your mind to "the schemes" of the devil (II Corinthians 2:11). Written from a demon's view, "the enemy" in the book is the Lord. 

Catch what one person said as they began reading this week:
"I just wanted to thank you so much for giving us that book and encouraging us to read. I have not been able to put it down. The vocabulary was a little challenging for me (I have a dictionary by my side), but a real eye-opener... and so true. From each letter I read, I saw it in my own life how Satan was trying to pull me away from God, especially during the early days when I first became a committed Christian. The one line I loved so far (or actually hated), was when Screwtape says... "don't worry, all the habits of the person,  both mental and bodily, are still in our favour." Wow.. if that doesn't make you want to change some habits, I don't know what will! So true. A great book... thank you. I wish I would've read it a long time ago."

Summer Pursuit "A Time For Growth"

This Sunday Launched our Summer Pursuit!  It is a passionate cry to experience, know, and embrace the heart of God through the summer in a way that fuels our spiritual passion and deepens our commitment and love of Christ!

To join the Pursuit:

• Commit to Sunday's.   (On location or by podcast via the website @ www.graceriverchurch.com.
• Follow the reading plan.  (Week 1 (June 17th):  2 Corinthians 1-3 and The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis chapters 1-3)
• Follow the blog with thoughts, comments, and questions guiding our hearts together on the journey.
• Engage in the online conversation through Facebook.

Don't miss out on a Summer of Growth that fuels your passion and "Leads You to Real Life in Jesus."