Category: Spiritual Formation

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Distractions

There are a number of Bible books that I keep coming back to – they just seem to resonate with me. One of these books was written by the prophet Haggai. In this short two chapter book, we drop in on the Isrealites who have lost their focus, they have become distracted. I know I have written about Haggai in the past, but what I want to focus on today is the idea of distractions. I am coming off a five day staycation. We were going to travel, but ended up staying home. I had great plans of spending a couple of days reading and pondering and then spending some time doing things with my wife. Unfortunately I lost my focus almost immediately.

Bathroom redo, new rotors on the car, roof vents, extra shift running a camera at church – don’t get me wrong these were all good things, but they became distractions for me when what I wanted/needed was some time alone with God. I got that in the mornings, but as I thought about what needed to get done I would run to Ikea or Menards, I would Google how to replace a rotor(not really that hard), and sometimes I would just let my mind wander- it goes to a lot of interesting places. This all added to an interesting sermon prep as I was living out what Haggai was warning the remnant about. It was as if Haggai was speaking to me in a way that it hadn’t in the past.

The question that is forming for my sermon is “What is distracting you from your God given focus – loving God, loving others, making disciples, or making use of your spiritual gifts?” Haggai wasn’t condeming the people for living their life, rather he was talking to them because they seemed to have forgotten God in the process.

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Knowing That God Is In It

I don’t know why, but I am often surprised by how God is at work orchestrating things so that I am able to use the gifts and newly formed passions that He has stirred in my heart. Let me explain.

For the last 4 years or so I have been spending my Wednesday night being locked up in Lino Lakes state prison, working with a group of offenders who have finished or are just finishing their 18 month long IFI program. I work with the me n to help them understand their core beliefs and values and encourage them to live them out in specific ways. This is a ministry that energizes me. In June I was asked if I could switch to Monday nights as the IFI staff was going to me doing some different things on Wednesday with the men. I didn’t mind the switch, but I didn’t know why we had to move. The question “why” was rolling around in my head. Some times God has us do thing where He knows the “why” but we are just to follow.

Jumping ahead a couple weeks now, I have decided to become part of our HopeLink ministry team at my church. This is a ministry where you come along side an individual to help them through a tough time in their life. This is the type of ministry the God has been stirring in my heart for a while now. To wrap this rambling up, I applied for and was accept into the training program for this ministry. So how do I know God was in this, training starts in September on Wednesday nights. If the IFI program hadn’t shifted, if I hadn’t agreed to switch come September I would have had to made a choice between IFI and HopeLink. But due to, I believe, God’s timing I am able to do both.

So do you have a story of where you know that God is in it? Have you been inconvenienced or asked to change something and you’re not quite sure why? Maybe God has something new and exciting for you to try or do. Be open, be listening, Be willing.

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A Journey of Transformation

I have been silent for a while now. In part because I have not had time to process all the things I have been pondering – though I have at least 3 blog topics. In part because of the journey I have been on. And in part because I have simply been tired – mentally, emotionally, and spiritually – a good tired, but tired none the less.I

I had two seminary professors – Steve Sandage and LeRon Shults who wrote a book on spiritual transformation and used as their model a crucible. This crucible is where we go to have our impurities cleaned out of us. How we respond to this firing really determines how “pure” we become.

For the past few months I have been repeatedly jumping into and out of the crucible. A process that has made me so very tired. Through this process I have been pulled & stretched, I have been pushed to the limits and then reeled back in to find rest, I have gained clarity to where God seems to be directing me to go. I have to admit that it is not where I was headed when i began my doctoral work. I seem to be coming to a junction where a step of faith my be needed to get me over a rather large obstacle.

So what has been the results of this process? I have come to a deeper, richer appreciation of community. I’m not talking about community light, I’m talking about community where we allow transformation to happen to each other and we are their to help each other edit our stories.

I have come to see that I enjoy coming along side people who need some assistance I allow me to be their sounding board or to offer some words of encouragement or wisdom. I am not their to fix them, rather I am their to help them hear God’s still small voice and how they can respond to it. Or perhaps it simple helping them rethink how they can accomplish their goals in new ways.

Living out these changes has resulted in getting involved in a new ministry at church and the prospect of another possible ministry opportunity. This has also got me thinking about what I might have to give up to pursue these new opportunities.

It has also led to a number of questions that I am looking to answer – How do I recharge myself? What is my “land between” looking like?