A Masked Christmas Surprise

Merry Christmas!

It has been two months since I've sat down at the computer to do some blogging. There have been several thoughts on my mind to write about but just haven't taken the time to sit down and journal on this blog. If I don't take the time, the thought goes off into space and gets lost for a time. Frustrating! Can you relate?

This remembrance though will be etched in my mind for a long time. The etching carves deeper because my emotions were seriously stirred and emotions, when linked to life events, are the tools of memory makers.

We are enjoying a White Christmas here in northwest Washington; the first one in a long time. As I write on Christmas Eve there is a sprinkling type rain falling, which is threatening the snow dusting which highlights the trees, but I suspect the white blanket of snow on the ground will stay through Christmas.

Now for the surprise; yesterday afternoon, around 4 p.m., for the first time in many many years here in Friday Harbor, Christmas carolers came to our front porch. They were very mysterious because all of them were wearing ski masks. They came with loud boisterous voices, belting out familiar carols but I could not identify the faces behind the masks. There was laughter amongst the caroling and it definitely seemed that they knew me. Who could this be?

My daughter-in-law Lindsey and son Damon, here from Arkansas, and a little boy Adolfo who we were are caring for were the only ones in the house with me. I looked and looked at each face but was completely stumped. Who are these people? I began to suspect they might be some of my son's old high school friends stopping by to say hello. But then, would they be caroling?

The carolers continued to belt out the carols with laughter and joy. At about this same time, my wife Monique and her mother came in the back door to the house. We are all stupefied by the carolers and could not figure out who was behind the masks. Daughters Ellie and Carly were off sledding with friends so we didn't have their help in figuring out the mystery.

Finally, this band of merriment began to take off their masks. Much to our surprise, the voice behind the deep HO! HO! HO! was my brother Tom and his family; wife Marti, daughter Amy and son Brian. Wow! We were all in joyous shock. Merry Christmas! they shouted and we all hugged and laughed for what seemed like hours later. What an incredible memory that has been carved in our hearts and minds.

In my next blog...I'll share what makes this masked mystery even more amazing.

A Supernatural Coke

On Thursday Oct. 30th I flew out from Seattle to Little Rock, AR with a stop in Denver. My mission is to visit son Damon and his wife for a long weekend. On the leg of the journey from Denver to Little Rock, God showed up in the effervescence of my diet Coke. Really! In Reality, God was and is all around me, but He gave me a sign that I will never forget.

Before I tell you what the sign was I must mention that for me to have a diet Coke is somewhat out of character. I don't usually drink diet Coke. I will occasionally have one with my friend Paul, who usually has quite a diet Coke stash in his refrigerator. That is about it as far as diet drinks go for me.

As the stewardess came down the isle and poured classic Coke to most folks, I was really tempted to have the "real thing." My mind tossed back and forth between diet and real, diet and real, with an occasional, "just have water" thought thrown in to mix things up. Anyway, I said, "diet Coke please" when the stewardess posed the question, "what would you like to drink sir?"

She set the plastic glass down on my tray table and as I went to pick up the glass someting incredible appeared in an ice cube. It was a perfect cross, the cross of Christ. The bubbles continued to fill the ice cracks with effervescence setting the cross a glow. It would not go away. I'd take a sip of diet Coke, set the glass down and there it was again, glowing against the backdrop of the carmel colored Coke.

In our Wednesday morning men's group we are going through John Eldredge's book, Walking with God and learning about hearing God's voice, listening for His voice. The Cross in my Coke set me in immediate listening mode this afternoon. As I'm listening He is telling me to watch Him heal, watch Him reconcile, watch Him restore, it will happen all around me if I watch. He is also telling me to "watch out" there is a theif who wants to rob and destroy these God moments from me. So I will stand firm and resists, as He instructs me and put on the full armor He has given me. It is the way of Walking with God.

What is He talking to you about today?

The Great Adventure

The Great Adventure is the third year of Men's Fraternity, a men's study designed to help men to grow in their walk with Jesus and to live out true manhood in out times today. Carly and I embarked on an adventure up this high wall during father/daughter weekend at Warm Beach Camp in September. We both stepped out and took a risk, knowing it was going to be challenging. Whew! We got a workout!

The manhood adventure includes many challenges. The questions we will be tackling this year as men are; Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? I think every man comes up against these questions at various season of life. We are created for community and answers to our questions come to us as we journey together. This is going to be an exciting year. Please feel free to join us on Tues. evenings, 6:30 pm. Call 378-8435 for directions.

A Touchpoint with Sons

One of the joys of summer for me came with a ceremony we had with sons on Jackson Beach in Friday Harbor. We gathered together as dads to affirm our sons. It was a blessed evening, God orchestrated.

One of the men in our group used his shop tools to craft a beautiful wooden sword. Men gathered around a beach fire in prayer and thanksgiving for their sons. Here, friend Dave Wolf, knights his son Brian with words of truth and affirmation. Dave created a beautiful manhood creed for his sons and they shared it together. When I think of discipleship, I will always remember this evening and the process started by these dads with their sons.

Affirmation Story continued...

I love this passage in The Message, Hebrews 10:25 - "Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching."


Psalm 10:17 - "You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry." NIV


1 Corinthians 14:3 - "But those who proclaim God's message speak to people and give them help, encouragement, and comfort." The Good News Bible


Affirmation and encouragement appear to be from the voice of God in good times and in bad. I think affirmations are part of God's universal love language to His people and His people need to be speaking His voice to each other continuously in these times.

A tool I have used that really helps in sharing Affirmations is one Leadership Catalyst has produced titled, Experiencing Affirmation. Go to: http://www.truefaced.com/ to purchase this fantastic tool to bless your family, small group, co-workers and friends.



The affirmation story in Friday Harbor began on the beach, with a group of men circled up around a beach fire. We were talking about our journeys in raising sons. We felt the need to affirm them and weren't sure how to go about it. This led to practicing affirmations amongst ourselves. Each guy lifted up the other, taking turns sharing words of affirmation around the fire. What an unforgetable evening! From this night, a wave of affirmations spread to men as far away as Lopez Island.

Affirmation

A funny thing happened on the way to a men's retreat. Here is the story. A few weeks ago, as I was preparing to give a message at our Lopez Island/Friday Harbor CTK men's retreat, I picked up an activity in affirming others. Monique, my wife, and I experienced affirming each other at a recent marriage conference and it was powerful. God used the time together to encourage us, pour His love into us, and give us the opportunity to love on each other, His way. The tool we used is titled, Experiencing Affirmation in Marriage and it can be purchased through the ministry of Leadership Catalyst. www.leadershipcatalyst.org They offer the same tool for affirming family members, leadership teams and small groups. I strongly encourage you to give it a try with your spouse, co-workers, friends and family.

The major theme of the retreat was unmasking, taking off the false protective layers of stuff that surround our hearts making it difficult, if not impossible, to receive love. I felt God saying to men that men, in the midst of unmasking, need to be affirmed and encouraged. There is not enough encouragement in our lives, in our culture and our God is an encourager.

Scriptures on encouragement... and the rest of the story in the next post.

Time and Space

The disciple of Jesus Christ must create "time and space" in his/her daily life. As we looked at pace of life in the previous blog entry, this creation of time and space requires discipline in the life of the disciple today, just as it did in the first century.

This discipline begins from the moment we wake in the morning to the time we lay our heads down in the evening. The fillers of time and space for the disciple are the things we saw Jesus live out for us in relationship with his Father, and now our Father. As disciples who live under the New Covenant, these practices are not complex, but simple. The difficulty lies in our discipline and self-control.

We must practice and put on the "new man". I remember during my junior year of high school, I was really struggling with my jump shot. It was a pivotal year for me. I either improved my shot or suffer the consequences, not making the varsity basketball team in my senior year. I went to a college coach for help and then applied his teaching with hours and hours of backyard shooting practice. Change did not come easy but the results in the end were phenomenal; increased range and accuracy for my shot. I became a real shooting threat from 15-18 ft.

I was disciplined, creating the time and space for something that was important to me. That was back in 1968. It is now 2008 and I am a new creation in Christ. The Lover of my soul has rescued me from darkness and now I live in the light. Out of reverence to Him, motivated by love, I want to become more like Him. He has given me The Counselor, the Holy Spirit and power to overcome my laziness. I can create time and space with His help. Jesus wants to sit with me and talk to me. He is an incredible listener too.

Pace in Discipleship

While viewing "Walking in the dust of the Rabbi", a video series that explores the depth of making disciples in the first century, a couple of us were awakened to what the pace of life must have been like when the "Rabbi" and His followers walked the byways of Israel and beyond.

We discussed the pace of life in those times and contrasted it with what we experience in our culture. I thought I'd look for a picture that portrays a life pace that many of us experience daily, if not a physical pace of coming and going, we can certainly conjure up a mental pace; the tyranny of the urgent. (see photo to the right)

It was obvious to us that we are in a battle. How can we slow down long enough to create a life pace that is conducive to making disciples? We see again that an upstream swim against the current is required for the Christ follower in a culture that has more and more distractions with each passing day. Living the LIFE requires age age old character quality modeled by the Savior; DISCIPLINE. Your thoughts?

Vulnerability and Submission

Our journey in following Jesus has been quite a ride. My wife, Monique, and I have frequently been asked, how did you get to the point when you let go and trusted God for everything, launching out into marriage ministry. We both believe the launching point was a Sunday morning at church when we were given the opportunity to share with the congregation what God had one in saving our marriage from the brink of destruction.

That morning, the Holy Spirit spoke through us to proclaim Jesus Christ and the victory He had in bringing us back together from a time of separation. We were vulnerable, open and transparent with the people who God brought to church that Sunday. We submitted to God's leading and shared our sin before God and His followers. We embraced His love, acceptance and forgiveness which results in a hope that surpasses all understanding; a living hope for all marriages.

Submission is a love word. Have you ever thought of submission in regards to being loving? Read the passage below in the language of love, submission and vulnerability, from Jesus to his Father and before others.

Matthew 26:36-44 Amplified Bible

36Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He told His disciples, Sit down here while I go over yonder and pray.
37And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to show grief and distress of mind and was deeply depressed.
38Then He said to them, My soul is very sad and deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and keep awake and keep watch with Me.
39And going a little farther, He threw Himself upon the ground on His face and prayed saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will [not what I desire], but as You will and desire.
40And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and He said to Peter, What! Are you so utterly unable to stay awake and keep watch with Me for one hour?
41All of you must keep awake (give strict attention, be cautious and active) and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
42Again a second time He went away and prayed, My Father, if this cannot pass by unless I drink it, Your will be done.
43And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were weighed down with sleep.
44So, leaving them again, He went away and prayed for the third time, using the same word

As we enter into a life of discipleship, we must put on the character of Christ, Christ in us, rooted in humility, submission and vulnerability. God opens doors for us to begin the disciple-making process when we take this simple step of faith. He has not given us a spirit of timidity, join with Him and connect with another person today.

Accountablilty??

"Accountability is a principle of law and it will never ever, ever, ever, ever, assist you with sinning less. Accountability is a good thing when you measure tasks, it is never the right principle when you measure behavior, because it is a principle of law. Is it really possible for Christians to put so much confidence in the work of Jesus Christ (at Calvary) that we really do believe that He has already put in us a righteousness that can love, and instead of having to show you how good I am at anything, I humbly need to learn from you how to be loved? We get that right, and an early church changed the world."

What did he say? I'm listening to the TrueFaced Grace Series, a study through Romans 3-8, which is reaffirming what I believe to be true and it is being confirmed in relationships all around me. If you would be interested in purchasing this series on CD, and I highly recommend it, go to www.leadershipcatalyst.org

I have come to believe that by in large, "the church", doesn't understand GRACE; and for the most part lives under the law. Satan loves this by the way.

I do believe that discipleship cannot occur apart from environments of grace and relationships of trust. My experience is that these two essential ingredients in discipleship produce an "iron sharpening iron" relationship that is also healing and nurturing. What do you think?

Environments of Grace and Trust

I believe the main nutrients in the soil of discipleship are grace and trust. Without these two nutrients, a real relationship, one of following Christ together will not grow. Preceding these relationship nutrients is acceptance. Here are a couple of quotes to chew on from, Beyond Your Best - authors Thrall, McNichol and McElrath, "You and I cannot give acceptance unless we have been willing to receive acceptance. I cannot receive your acceptance, no matter how much acceptance you have to give, if I fear trusting you. When both come together, acceptance and trust, there is a tangible, life-giving freedom released that spreads faster than butter on a warm cinnamon roll. When we experience grace in spite of our failures, we gain the strength to face the truth without fear. "

These nutrients are all embodied in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and they are available to us right now, in Him, He in us. Jesus encourages us, empowers us, strengthens us and uses us. The disciple journeys to know Him and give Him away. The disciple is living in His grace and trusting in his identity in Jesus.

Follow the Leader

This scene is not uncommon for us in the San Juan Islands at certain times of the year. Salmon swimming in formation, seemingly following a leader. One thing that strikes me is that as they follow there is order. I wish I could catch one, one of these years, but that is another story.

"Follow the Leader", was also a warm-up activity I used to do with kindergarten and first graders in my elementary physical education classes. I was always amazed at how much fun the kids had either following me around the gym, hopping, skipping, galloping and or following one of their classmates. Teachers and aides who observed us from time to time always got a chuckle out of watching as the class orderly followed the leader around the gym. The purpose of the activity went beyond just warm-up, as it involved listening, observing and imitating.

I think this is not unlike what I experience in following Jesus. As his disciple, obeying His call to "come follow me", the journey brings order to my life. Embracing His love for me leads me to discipline which is not birthed out of compliance, but out of love. His love, acceptance and forgiveness pushes me out into others lives who are waiting for the gift that He will give through me.

My heart is warmed up by the Spirit as I connect with another as Jesus did during His earthly ministry. Love, joy, peace that surpasses all understanding fills my heart as I walk, following Him, discipling another. How about you? Are you experiencing fulfillment in your life through guiding another in the life of following Jesus?

Nomadic Hospitality

In following Jesus in this journey to discover discipleship His way, a friend of mine mentioned that Jesus practiced "homeless" hospitality. I had never given that any thought. My view of hospitality always has my home as part of being hospitable. Inviting someone over to my house is the picture I get when I think of hospitality.

Yet Jesus did not have a home, so to speak, as he ministered his love throughout Judea and Samaria. He traveled on foot most of the time, staying with people wherever he was welcomed. Jesus lived out an attitude of hospitality as he was going along the highways and byways of the land.

He often experienced a lack of hospitality too. In Luke 9 we read, When it came close to the time for his Ascension, he gathered up his courage and steeled himself for the journey to Jerusalem. He sent messengers on ahead. They came to a Samaritan village to make arrangements for his hospitality. But when the Samaritans learned that his destination was Jerusalem, the refused hospitality.

The apostle Paul taught hospitality as he learned from Jesus, "Share with the saints in their needs, pursue hospitality." Romans 12:13 "Don't forget to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it." Hebrews 12:12 He exhorted leaders of the church to put on a hospitable attitude, see 1 Timothy and Titus.

Hospitality is part of the heart of a disciple and it is an initial step in making connections with people. Putting on hospitality is enabled by our listening to the Spirit and risking; getting out of our comfort zone. Hospitality can happen as we travel the arteries of our communities, at the local coffee shop (Starbucks), during our lunch hours, or on the weekends and it is not confined to our homes. Practice hospitality and discern the path of discipleship. It may be right in front of you.

Antenna's Up

For you and I to connect with the life Christ calls us to in being a "disciple maker", we must have our antenna's up. I took this picture of my daughter Carly and her friend Faith just before they attended "The Bee Movie". The went to the show is costume.

The picture tells the story of something that is true about Faith and Carly. God has their attenna's up, for real! They are caring young ladies, who look to minister God's love and encouragement to their friends.

Jesus calls to us saying, "Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men." A lot has been made about "fishing" and linking it to evangelism. I think fishing is more about having our antenna's up in terms of relationships with people. The Holy Spirit will do the leading as we take the risk to connect with others. He lives in us. Yielding to the Spirit is a supernatural habit formed in us as we submit to Jesus and his leading.

Discipleship is birthed out of listening to God and the people He connects us with when our antenna's are up.