Here I sit on Sunday June 29th up at some friends lake house, its before 6am. The sun is breaking through the clouds, the bird’s voices are competing with one another, the breeze is light, and there is a bit of fog hovering over the still water. There is no sign of cell phones, not a sound of cars, and the lack of noise is deafening. There is something divine about this time of day.
I’m amazed at how much pondering and reviewing of my week I can do when there is stillness externally, stillness all around me. There seems to be some correlation with the state of my soul when there is stillness around me. It seems to soften, relax, and bring my soul to a calm place, a destination its been longing for.
I’ve heard it said before that “busyness is a disease”, and often times I feel this disease and see this disease all around me. This often drives within me the desire to move to another culture, or relocate to the wilderness of Alaska or something, perhaps a similar “into the wild” desire.
I’m also amazed at the lifestyle of Jesus, one who in his early thirties had grown to an incredibly popular status, while he didn’t have email and voicemails to return, he did have the constant pressure of people, the constant attention of people, and the pace of a culture trying to thrive within the Roman Empire. Yet Jesus lived out of a centered place.
When I think of the discipline of solitude, or all disciplines for that matter I think the word discipline within its self throws me off. I go back to places in my past of countless hours in the principles office, or receiving rightful discipline from my parents. Its taken me some time to get over the mere semantics of this gift, the gift of disciplines.
One of my closest friends in Axis is a welder and recently he was instructing me on the ins and outs of welding. He told me “the most critical element within welding is alignment. If you don’t line the piece up, then the finished product will be off. Some may not notice, but I would know so that’s why you do the meticulous work of making sure you have alignment first.”
This conversation has helped me see disciplines in a new light, they have opened me eyes to see that they are a gift and they do produce alignment within my soul. Disciplines are not the destination, however they are the vehicle that help me arrive at the destination, that being the presence of God; enjoying time and conversation with the Father.
Getting aligned vertically with the Father is key, it’s a necessity to live a life of love, to live a life of joy, to live a life on mission. It’s the key! To get aligned daily with the Father.
Its about 6:30, my coffee has turned cold, but my heart is burning. I feel so close to you Father, your presence is here, I breathe you in, I’m excited for the day and thankful that this morning you invited me to “lie down in green pastures”, and you lead me “beside still waters”.
How about you? Have you been able to sneak away today? Can you carve out time to be alone? Are you afraid of the silence?
Lets chat……
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Lumen
About a year ago I came across a quote that says “surgery is never done in the dark”. As I thought about it I realized how often I try to fix myself; alone, perhaps passing myself the scalpel and bandaging wounds that don’t need bandaging, however really need to be cleaned out an examined by others. I am blown away at my tendency to hide.
I’ve been acknowledging the ever growing temptation to stuff and hold in the pain in my life, temptation I’m dealing with, or things that I’m afraid to bring to friends, because after all they need me to have my stuff together right? I’m seeing the gap between my theology and reality when it comes to the words of Jesus’ brother in James 5:16 that say “therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed”. I believe this is true in my head, but do I live this?
I’m amazed at how often I reduce the power of light, the power of bringing the light of Christ into the dark corners of my soul, into the dark corners of my life.
A lumen is defined as a unit of measure of the quantity of light. One lumen is the amount of light that falls on an area of one square foot. This word Lumen has been capturing me a bit and is driving me to examine the luminosity in my life, the luminosity in my soul.
How much light am I allowing into the dark corners of my soul, into the dark corners of my life?
How about you?
Maybe you don’t struggle with this, maybe its just me.
Does your Community really know you?
Do you have a couple friends that ask you really hard questions?
I’m praying that as a Community we continue to carve out time to sit with one another and share the difficult things, and confess our sins to one another. I pray that we would live out James words, and find that its actually true that when we crack open the door to the dark rooms in our soul the healing light of Christ’s love pours in through his redemptive community providing the healing he so desires for our souls.
Lets Chat……
I’ve been acknowledging the ever growing temptation to stuff and hold in the pain in my life, temptation I’m dealing with, or things that I’m afraid to bring to friends, because after all they need me to have my stuff together right? I’m seeing the gap between my theology and reality when it comes to the words of Jesus’ brother in James 5:16 that say “therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed”. I believe this is true in my head, but do I live this?
I’m amazed at how often I reduce the power of light, the power of bringing the light of Christ into the dark corners of my soul, into the dark corners of my life.
A lumen is defined as a unit of measure of the quantity of light. One lumen is the amount of light that falls on an area of one square foot. This word Lumen has been capturing me a bit and is driving me to examine the luminosity in my life, the luminosity in my soul.
How much light am I allowing into the dark corners of my soul, into the dark corners of my life?
How about you?
Maybe you don’t struggle with this, maybe its just me.
Does your Community really know you?
Do you have a couple friends that ask you really hard questions?
I’m praying that as a Community we continue to carve out time to sit with one another and share the difficult things, and confess our sins to one another. I pray that we would live out James words, and find that its actually true that when we crack open the door to the dark rooms in our soul the healing light of Christ’s love pours in through his redemptive community providing the healing he so desires for our souls.
Lets Chat……
Friday, April 4, 2008
Prague: Day 6
Today was an incredible day once again. We arrived on the construction site at 9am and finished out the job at right around 3pm. Our work there at what we're calling the "house of Hope" was amazing. This project began 3 years ago and according to Vtech the director of Teen Challenge they have around 3-4 more years of work because they have to rely on oversees teams like us coming over to serve because they don't have the cash to pay to get the House finished. This home will serve as their new place to run the children's program out of reaching and rescuing the most at risk children in Prague, the Romani Children. These kids also known as gypsie kids live in the Ghetto where we've been serving each day. Yesterday outside the door to the current center Tyler was offered some cocaine by a guy passing buy, and roughly 15 steps from the center as well is a strip club. Day in an day out these kids live in a city that is not only considered one the most "lost cities" on earth but daily live as the most marginalized children among this people group. Yet within all of this there is Hope!
We have seen this week once again that wherever His followers are there is hope for the hopeless.
This afternoon Kelly, Katrina, and Bowie finished up leading the children through some Bible lessons and ended with a time of prayer, where multiple kids prayed for us and for America. At that point the rest of the team showed up and we had a time to celebrate all that God has done this week. We were presented with an award, thanking Axis for the work that was completed and the Seed that was planted in the lives of these precious kids. At that point Amy then asked to pray for the organization and for the kids, and there was for sure was not a dry eye in the room.
At 6pm the trip for all practical purposes ended, our work completed, but our hearts set on fire for these people and for these kids. Our desire to see this "House of Hope" completed by Axis is something that we're praying about and excited to send out our next team over here as soon as possible to this historic city.
I wish I was with you all at the Axis Experience, right now it just started which means its almost 3 am here, so needless to say I need to get some sleep.
Thanks for all your support, your financial contributions to make this possible, and your commitment to lift us up in prayer for the duration of this amazing trip.
Tomorrow we have a free day to relax and recover a bit before our flight Sunday morning. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Blessings.
Jon
We have seen this week once again that wherever His followers are there is hope for the hopeless.
This afternoon Kelly, Katrina, and Bowie finished up leading the children through some Bible lessons and ended with a time of prayer, where multiple kids prayed for us and for America. At that point the rest of the team showed up and we had a time to celebrate all that God has done this week. We were presented with an award, thanking Axis for the work that was completed and the Seed that was planted in the lives of these precious kids. At that point Amy then asked to pray for the organization and for the kids, and there was for sure was not a dry eye in the room.
At 6pm the trip for all practical purposes ended, our work completed, but our hearts set on fire for these people and for these kids. Our desire to see this "House of Hope" completed by Axis is something that we're praying about and excited to send out our next team over here as soon as possible to this historic city.
I wish I was with you all at the Axis Experience, right now it just started which means its almost 3 am here, so needless to say I need to get some sleep.
Thanks for all your support, your financial contributions to make this possible, and your commitment to lift us up in prayer for the duration of this amazing trip.
Tomorrow we have a free day to relax and recover a bit before our flight Sunday morning. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Blessings.
Jon
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Prague: Day 5
Day five started as usual, wake up at 7am and have breakfast with the team down in the pub/breakfast bar. It was obvious that the rhythm of the trip has began to take a toll on the team, many of us were really tired and myself still really sick.
As we left for the day God began to do what he does, raises up his strength in our weakness to make himself known. So many of us felt that today and felt your prayers. Personally I didn't think I would make it through the morning and thought it would be day 2 stuck in hostel trying to get better, but I truly felt your prayers and God's strength.
Today 4 of us, Kelly, myself, Amy, and Katrina got to go into one of the city's high school's to help teach English. Some of you you who know me may find that really odd, because my grammar and spelling as you have read is pretty bad. The others were quite equipped I must say.
Each of us got to share about America, our homes, and about God. Amy even got to share her testimony and as she asked the class of 15 how many believed that God exists, only one raised their hand.
As Amy told me this story my heart broke even more for this city, it is truly a harvest ripe for the gospel to be spread. As I spent time on the high school campus today I felt God show me that perhaps the gateway to this city being reached will be through high school students. Please pray with us to that end, these students are completely lost but very open.
The work on the construction site went really well also, the floors were laid and other odds and ends were completed. The time with the kids went great the guys said, Gabe got a chance to speak on the Prodigal son and share the Gospel.
Many of you have been praying for Jose,and we have seen God moving in his life. Jose tagged along with our team all day and all night, actually they're still downstairs hanging out as I write this entry. We're confident that Seed has been scattered planted in his heart and earlier he told Bowie that event though I live so far away from you guys I feel at home when I'm with you.
Tonight Kelly and I spent around 5 hours with Craig and Sara at their apartment and saw God do awesome things in our time with them. Many of you know that God has put the two of them on our hearts and more than anything felt that they were the reason God was sending us here, to love on them and encourage them to keep running the race here in Prague. Kelly and I have been praying that God would use us and our team to ignite within them a re-newed passion for Prague and reminder of the calling on their life here for this people group. God has been so faithful in doing that, and tonight both of them with tears in their eyes said that their hearts have been strengthen by our Axis team being here.
Tomorrow we're hoping to get some more work done on the construction site and treat some of the Teen Challenge staff out to a nice dinner. Please pray that God would continue to give us the strength that we need and that God would continue to use us to encourage the Springers.
We miss you and love you.
Jon
As we left for the day God began to do what he does, raises up his strength in our weakness to make himself known. So many of us felt that today and felt your prayers. Personally I didn't think I would make it through the morning and thought it would be day 2 stuck in hostel trying to get better, but I truly felt your prayers and God's strength.
Today 4 of us, Kelly, myself, Amy, and Katrina got to go into one of the city's high school's to help teach English. Some of you you who know me may find that really odd, because my grammar and spelling as you have read is pretty bad. The others were quite equipped I must say.
Each of us got to share about America, our homes, and about God. Amy even got to share her testimony and as she asked the class of 15 how many believed that God exists, only one raised their hand.
As Amy told me this story my heart broke even more for this city, it is truly a harvest ripe for the gospel to be spread. As I spent time on the high school campus today I felt God show me that perhaps the gateway to this city being reached will be through high school students. Please pray with us to that end, these students are completely lost but very open.
The work on the construction site went really well also, the floors were laid and other odds and ends were completed. The time with the kids went great the guys said, Gabe got a chance to speak on the Prodigal son and share the Gospel.
Many of you have been praying for Jose,and we have seen God moving in his life. Jose tagged along with our team all day and all night, actually they're still downstairs hanging out as I write this entry. We're confident that Seed has been scattered planted in his heart and earlier he told Bowie that event though I live so far away from you guys I feel at home when I'm with you.
Tonight Kelly and I spent around 5 hours with Craig and Sara at their apartment and saw God do awesome things in our time with them. Many of you know that God has put the two of them on our hearts and more than anything felt that they were the reason God was sending us here, to love on them and encourage them to keep running the race here in Prague. Kelly and I have been praying that God would use us and our team to ignite within them a re-newed passion for Prague and reminder of the calling on their life here for this people group. God has been so faithful in doing that, and tonight both of them with tears in their eyes said that their hearts have been strengthen by our Axis team being here.
Tomorrow we're hoping to get some more work done on the construction site and treat some of the Teen Challenge staff out to a nice dinner. Please pray that God would continue to give us the strength that we need and that God would continue to use us to encourage the Springers.
We miss you and love you.
Jon
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Prague: Day 4
Well if you read my last post, then you know what day 4 consisted of for me, yeah sleeping. Today was pretty depressing, and in alot of ways I felt that I let the team down. Its almost 1am now and I'm feeling alot better, its amazing what 24 hours of sleep can do for you.
Day 4 from what I heard was another successful day on the constuction site, a brick wall was built, another was cleaned, Jeff demolished a window so that a door can be placed there tomorrow, and prepreation for the pouring of another floor was completed. Today Bowie along Dana went and spoke to highschool students today at their school which went really well. Its amazing because Craig and Sara have made friends with some Christian school teachers where alot of their ministry is taking place. In the schools here you can talk about Christianity openly because its such a foreign concept, so we did exactly that. Bowie told me that it was awesome to share openly his story of deliverance from drugs and how God has re-directed his life in powerful ways. Tomorrow Kelly and I will be visting another highschool so pray for us.
Tonight the girls all went over the the Springers and they had a girls night out filled with, well whatever girl do :)
They guys on the other had an evangelistic poker night which was really fun. Craig is good friends with the owner of the hostel we're staying in and once a month the owner, who is a Christian has a poker night to reach out to some of his staff and other constituants in the area. We had alot of fun and some good conversation.
Well thats about it for now, as I mentioned earler pray that we get the floor completed tomorrow, that Kelly and I speak and walk in power tomorrow morning with the students, and for Jose Maria, he'll be joining our team on the job site tomorrow. Should be interesting :)
We miss and love you all.
Jon
Day 4 from what I heard was another successful day on the constuction site, a brick wall was built, another was cleaned, Jeff demolished a window so that a door can be placed there tomorrow, and prepreation for the pouring of another floor was completed. Today Bowie along Dana went and spoke to highschool students today at their school which went really well. Its amazing because Craig and Sara have made friends with some Christian school teachers where alot of their ministry is taking place. In the schools here you can talk about Christianity openly because its such a foreign concept, so we did exactly that. Bowie told me that it was awesome to share openly his story of deliverance from drugs and how God has re-directed his life in powerful ways. Tomorrow Kelly and I will be visting another highschool so pray for us.
Tonight the girls all went over the the Springers and they had a girls night out filled with, well whatever girl do :)
They guys on the other had an evangelistic poker night which was really fun. Craig is good friends with the owner of the hostel we're staying in and once a month the owner, who is a Christian has a poker night to reach out to some of his staff and other constituants in the area. We had alot of fun and some good conversation.
Well thats about it for now, as I mentioned earler pray that we get the floor completed tomorrow, that Kelly and I speak and walk in power tomorrow morning with the students, and for Jose Maria, he'll be joining our team on the job site tomorrow. Should be interesting :)
We miss and love you all.
Jon
Prague: Day 3
Day three was quite a day, one filled mostly with manual labor as we began our building project for the new City Center. We arrived on the scene at arond 9am and worked till about 5. Our construction consisted of laying a new concrete floor, demolishing 3 brick walls, mixing concrete, and moving alot of rubble from what had been demolished days prior. We worked with a man by the name of Vtech, who has become without a doubt our teams hero! Vtech who has the strenght of 10 grown men also has the heart of 10 grown men as well. He along with his wife oversee the Teen Challenge program and are building this new facilty to accomodate more children from the streets. Also as of late they have taken in 3 girl as their foster children to provide for them a home filled with love.
In the afternoon Tyler, Gabe, and Bowie worked with some of the teens and got a chance to share their testimonies with them, and as they did that Kelly and Katrina worked with the younger kids.
We arrived back at the hostel at around 6pm or so, a full day for sure.
At about 7pm the team headed out to do some more ministry with some of the highschool students in the area at one of the near by pubs and from what they told me it went really good.
Me on the other hand hit the pillow at 6:30 and didnt get back up for 24 hours! I somehow came down with a sinus infection and it completely knocked me out, and caused me to miss an enitre day.
Please pray for my recovery and that the rest of the team will not get what I have.
Talk to you soon.
Jon
In the afternoon Tyler, Gabe, and Bowie worked with some of the teens and got a chance to share their testimonies with them, and as they did that Kelly and Katrina worked with the younger kids.
We arrived back at the hostel at around 6pm or so, a full day for sure.
At about 7pm the team headed out to do some more ministry with some of the highschool students in the area at one of the near by pubs and from what they told me it went really good.
Me on the other hand hit the pillow at 6:30 and didnt get back up for 24 hours! I somehow came down with a sinus infection and it completely knocked me out, and caused me to miss an enitre day.
Please pray for my recovery and that the rest of the team will not get what I have.
Talk to you soon.
Jon
Monday, March 31, 2008
Prague: Day 2
Here I sit in my bed, in the room with all the guys, all 6 of us piled into our room named Jaro, Czech for Spring. The hostel we're staying in is amazing, according to many of the travelers we've become friends with the nicest they've stayed in. I've been thinking about the name of our room and have seen God use this name which means "spring" or new life as a true word of what he's doing through us here in this hostel community. The residents here are literally from around the globe, and God has given us tremendous favor with them. I do believe that those who follow Jesus have what I consider "hidden magnetism" within them, and those outside the family of God are attracted to them because of the hope that resides within.
Our experience here thus far supports that, especially with our experience with our friend that we've officially adopted into our Axis team. His name is Jose Maria and he's traveling from Argentina throughout Europe. Yesterday morning Tyler and some of the guys met him at breakfast, began a conversation with him and pretty much left it at that. As we toured the city that afternoon we ran into Jose near the historic Charles bridge that was constructed in the 1300's. We asked Jose to tag along with us and he agreed. He ended up spending all afternoon and night with us. I asked Jose if this was how he usually rolled when back packing and he said "actually I prefer to travel alone but for some reason I really enjoy being around your group."
Tonight when we got home from our serving with the kids (more on that later) we split up into 3 groups for dinner, and one group Bowie, Jeff, Dana, and Katrina saw Jose and invited him along. As dinner went on Jose began to ask a ton of questions about faith and why we follow God.
About 10 minutes ago he and I along with Kelly, Amy, Katrina,Bowie, and Dana finished talking with him even further for a couple hours so much so that Matthew, myself, and Katrina had an opportunity to share our faith stories and the gospel with him. I'm amazed at what God is doing in him and how God is seeking him out. As I left him a few minutes ago I looked at Jose in the eyes and said bro it's no accident that we've run into each other, and that we're having these conversations, Jose agreed completely.
Will you pray for him today? We ask that you would pray specifically for him, that we would see him come to faith, see him respond to the Truth of the gospel! Tomorrow I'm praying for the opportunity to walk him through Romans 6:23 and pray that when I do that God would anoint our time and direct my words with power and clarity. It's so obvious to our team that he's on the brink to responding to the beauty of the Gospel.
Also keep praying for the other relationships that we've been able to make with the other back packers. It's been such a blessing to get to hang with these people who all speak English (praise God), people who are open to community and conversation, and people that are all searching for something. Pray that God continues to give us opportunity to keep scattering his love, and sharing his gospel.
So the rest of our day was incredible as well and if you have the energy I encourage you to keep reading. Listen I'm the tired one, its almost 1:45am and I have to be up in 5 hours or so :)
Ok....
Earlier today for lunch we had the amazing blessing of sharing a meal with a man by the name of Sasha, who is one of the most influential person in the Czech Republic when it comes to Christianity. Sasha who is now in his early 40's became a Christian in 1987 while the Communist party still ruled the Czech people. He sat and shared his faith story and how he was arrested for his Faith, and how for the last 15 years he has given his life to translating the Bible into a form that will communicate God's Word to the Czech people in a relevant fashion. Currently there are two translations here in Czech. One is similar to our King James Version yet even older, and the other was edited by the Communists and just happens to leave out many important pieces of scripture that you and I enjoy on daily basis. So in our understanding he's dong what would be similar to our New International Version but for the Czech people. This work has the potential for incredible Kingdom impact, and is one year away from being fully released.
From there we went to the City Center to spend time with the Romanni Children (gypsie kids) who are the most marginalized and oppressed people group in Central and Eastern Europe. We sat with these beautiful kids and were able to lead them in some really fun worship songs, saw them smile, clap, and shout words that we're praying will be planted in their hearts. After that Dana was asked to share her faith story, and she shared in power and spoke of how difficult it was for her to grow up with a father who was a drug addict and alcoholic. She shared that most nights he wouldn't come home, and how this implanted in her a lack of trust in anyone, especially her dad. She then shared how she came into a relationship with Jesus and how he's become her perfect Father healing her hurts and disappointments.
At that point they opened it up for these kids to ask questions, and a child on the front row who was around 8 years old said that he understands her pain because his dad never comes home either. It was at this point that our hearts broke to a new level for these kids who live in a family system that consists of perpetual addiction and abuse, and how our hearts are longing for the power and Grace of God to break this cycle and bring them into freedom.
From there we went to the park and finished playing with the kids, some jumped roped and the rest of us played football, yeah not the American kind unfortunately :)
So this day has been quite full as you can tell, so please pray for our strength for tomorrow because we'll be starting our construction project that will consist of laying concrete for a new floor along with quite a bit of interaction with the kids again.
God is continually showing us that he's in the darkest, dirtiest, and most forgotten places longing to shine his light into the darkness so that all might see the beauty of who He is and what He has for all humanity.
We miss you all and love you.
Talk to you tomorrow.
Jon
Our experience here thus far supports that, especially with our experience with our friend that we've officially adopted into our Axis team. His name is Jose Maria and he's traveling from Argentina throughout Europe. Yesterday morning Tyler and some of the guys met him at breakfast, began a conversation with him and pretty much left it at that. As we toured the city that afternoon we ran into Jose near the historic Charles bridge that was constructed in the 1300's. We asked Jose to tag along with us and he agreed. He ended up spending all afternoon and night with us. I asked Jose if this was how he usually rolled when back packing and he said "actually I prefer to travel alone but for some reason I really enjoy being around your group."
Tonight when we got home from our serving with the kids (more on that later) we split up into 3 groups for dinner, and one group Bowie, Jeff, Dana, and Katrina saw Jose and invited him along. As dinner went on Jose began to ask a ton of questions about faith and why we follow God.
About 10 minutes ago he and I along with Kelly, Amy, Katrina,Bowie, and Dana finished talking with him even further for a couple hours so much so that Matthew, myself, and Katrina had an opportunity to share our faith stories and the gospel with him. I'm amazed at what God is doing in him and how God is seeking him out. As I left him a few minutes ago I looked at Jose in the eyes and said bro it's no accident that we've run into each other, and that we're having these conversations, Jose agreed completely.
Will you pray for him today? We ask that you would pray specifically for him, that we would see him come to faith, see him respond to the Truth of the gospel! Tomorrow I'm praying for the opportunity to walk him through Romans 6:23 and pray that when I do that God would anoint our time and direct my words with power and clarity. It's so obvious to our team that he's on the brink to responding to the beauty of the Gospel.
Also keep praying for the other relationships that we've been able to make with the other back packers. It's been such a blessing to get to hang with these people who all speak English (praise God), people who are open to community and conversation, and people that are all searching for something. Pray that God continues to give us opportunity to keep scattering his love, and sharing his gospel.
So the rest of our day was incredible as well and if you have the energy I encourage you to keep reading. Listen I'm the tired one, its almost 1:45am and I have to be up in 5 hours or so :)
Ok....
Earlier today for lunch we had the amazing blessing of sharing a meal with a man by the name of Sasha, who is one of the most influential person in the Czech Republic when it comes to Christianity. Sasha who is now in his early 40's became a Christian in 1987 while the Communist party still ruled the Czech people. He sat and shared his faith story and how he was arrested for his Faith, and how for the last 15 years he has given his life to translating the Bible into a form that will communicate God's Word to the Czech people in a relevant fashion. Currently there are two translations here in Czech. One is similar to our King James Version yet even older, and the other was edited by the Communists and just happens to leave out many important pieces of scripture that you and I enjoy on daily basis. So in our understanding he's dong what would be similar to our New International Version but for the Czech people. This work has the potential for incredible Kingdom impact, and is one year away from being fully released.
From there we went to the City Center to spend time with the Romanni Children (gypsie kids) who are the most marginalized and oppressed people group in Central and Eastern Europe. We sat with these beautiful kids and were able to lead them in some really fun worship songs, saw them smile, clap, and shout words that we're praying will be planted in their hearts. After that Dana was asked to share her faith story, and she shared in power and spoke of how difficult it was for her to grow up with a father who was a drug addict and alcoholic. She shared that most nights he wouldn't come home, and how this implanted in her a lack of trust in anyone, especially her dad. She then shared how she came into a relationship with Jesus and how he's become her perfect Father healing her hurts and disappointments.
At that point they opened it up for these kids to ask questions, and a child on the front row who was around 8 years old said that he understands her pain because his dad never comes home either. It was at this point that our hearts broke to a new level for these kids who live in a family system that consists of perpetual addiction and abuse, and how our hearts are longing for the power and Grace of God to break this cycle and bring them into freedom.
From there we went to the park and finished playing with the kids, some jumped roped and the rest of us played football, yeah not the American kind unfortunately :)
So this day has been quite full as you can tell, so please pray for our strength for tomorrow because we'll be starting our construction project that will consist of laying concrete for a new floor along with quite a bit of interaction with the kids again.
God is continually showing us that he's in the darkest, dirtiest, and most forgotten places longing to shine his light into the darkness so that all might see the beauty of who He is and what He has for all humanity.
We miss you all and love you.
Talk to you tomorrow.
Jon
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Prague: Day One
Day One
Today has been quite a day. Our travels here took some 27 hours due to layovers, delays and having to do an emergency landing in Berlin. We finally arrived here in Prague at 4pm yesterday. As we grabbed our bags we made our way through customs and there met our dear friends and church planters here Craig and Sara Springer. A couple who came to faith in their teens at Willow through Student Impact, joined the 3 year internship, then followed God to do the un-thinkable; plant a church in arguably the most lost city on the Planet. Craig said that “the Czech Republic is known as a spiritually desolate place. It is considered one of the most secular and atheistic countries in the world. A recent Euro-Barometer survey identified that only 19% of Czechs believe God even exists. More Czechs believe in UFO’s than in God and that less than .5 percent would consider themselves Christian”.
This morning we had some flex time so I threw on the running shoes and went for a run to get a feel for the context in which we would be serving for the next 8 days. Running through these streets was incredible, the trams running to my left and right, the stunning architecture and age of the buildings that date back to the 1100’s, it was incredible. I ran through the city park and began to make my way back to the stellar hostel we’re staying in and in the distance saw a billboard that consisted of only three letters. Those being “PRE”.
Now for most of you that means absolutely nothing but for me and those of you who have seen “without limits” it means everything. I first saw this movie that tells the life story of the legendary and arguably greatest American long distance runner of all time named Steve Prefontaine. Steve known of as yes “PRE” ran unlike any other of his time because when he stepped on the track he ran to win, so much so that he never embraced the idea of pacing himself. As hard as his coach at the University of Oregon tried, he could never convince Pre to start slow and work to 100%, on the contrary from start to finish Pre ran full out.
As I ran I reflected on that mindset, and was reminded of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9:24 that say’s “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win”! When you stop and think about it, the mindset behind the race set’s everything, the pace, the training, and the commitment to not stop no matter the pain or discouragement. God has been teaching me about this verse that its really not about winning, for his love is unchangeable, its really about how I run the race, and when I run to win I’m willing to surrender everything to him, follow him not matter the cost, and make decisions like Craig and Sara in moving to a city like this for the single purpose of making Christ known among the Czech people.
How about you? How hard are you training? Are you running to just finish, or like Paul, and Pre I might add running to win!
The Kingdom is at hand.
It’s time to lace ‘em up!!
Please continue praying for us, God has been opening doors to scatter His love with quite a few people in just one day. Tomorrow we'll be meeting the Gypsy children and will begin some of our construction on the park.
Your prayers a making a difference!!
Jon
Today has been quite a day. Our travels here took some 27 hours due to layovers, delays and having to do an emergency landing in Berlin. We finally arrived here in Prague at 4pm yesterday. As we grabbed our bags we made our way through customs and there met our dear friends and church planters here Craig and Sara Springer. A couple who came to faith in their teens at Willow through Student Impact, joined the 3 year internship, then followed God to do the un-thinkable; plant a church in arguably the most lost city on the Planet. Craig said that “the Czech Republic is known as a spiritually desolate place. It is considered one of the most secular and atheistic countries in the world. A recent Euro-Barometer survey identified that only 19% of Czechs believe God even exists. More Czechs believe in UFO’s than in God and that less than .5 percent would consider themselves Christian”.
This morning we had some flex time so I threw on the running shoes and went for a run to get a feel for the context in which we would be serving for the next 8 days. Running through these streets was incredible, the trams running to my left and right, the stunning architecture and age of the buildings that date back to the 1100’s, it was incredible. I ran through the city park and began to make my way back to the stellar hostel we’re staying in and in the distance saw a billboard that consisted of only three letters. Those being “PRE”.
Now for most of you that means absolutely nothing but for me and those of you who have seen “without limits” it means everything. I first saw this movie that tells the life story of the legendary and arguably greatest American long distance runner of all time named Steve Prefontaine. Steve known of as yes “PRE” ran unlike any other of his time because when he stepped on the track he ran to win, so much so that he never embraced the idea of pacing himself. As hard as his coach at the University of Oregon tried, he could never convince Pre to start slow and work to 100%, on the contrary from start to finish Pre ran full out.
As I ran I reflected on that mindset, and was reminded of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9:24 that say’s “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win”! When you stop and think about it, the mindset behind the race set’s everything, the pace, the training, and the commitment to not stop no matter the pain or discouragement. God has been teaching me about this verse that its really not about winning, for his love is unchangeable, its really about how I run the race, and when I run to win I’m willing to surrender everything to him, follow him not matter the cost, and make decisions like Craig and Sara in moving to a city like this for the single purpose of making Christ known among the Czech people.
How about you? How hard are you training? Are you running to just finish, or like Paul, and Pre I might add running to win!
The Kingdom is at hand.
It’s time to lace ‘em up!!
Please continue praying for us, God has been opening doors to scatter His love with quite a few people in just one day. Tomorrow we'll be meeting the Gypsy children and will begin some of our construction on the park.
Your prayers a making a difference!!
Jon
Friday, February 15, 2008
Shotguns in Classrooms
On the day marked as the day of love, how does such hate occur?
As most of you have already read, heard, or seen yesterday marked yet another tragedy on a college campus, however this one in our back yard. As I watched the news reports yesterday I was filled with intense anger and sadness. Anger that people around each college campus will now attend their classes in fear, angry that 6 sets of parents had to bury their children, angry to see innocent victims victimized, angry because I don’t know what to do, sad because someone was this lonely to do something like this, and sad because this was not and is not God’s intent for humanity.
Questions have been filling my mind today, questions of how do we explain this? How does a sovereign God allow this to happen? If Satan is defeated then why does he seem so victorious at times? Questioning our part in this, what does the Church do? Wondering what the root problem is that continues to cause these school shootings? Wondering what it looks like to bring justice to this, or is this even up to me?
I’m not sure I have many answers, but questions I do have. How about you?
One thing I would like to speak to is how does God feel about shotguns in classrooms, how does this incident that happened yesterday impact him? I’m amazed when I hear people put things like this on God, or they say “this was what God wanted”, lets be clear God did not intend for this to happen. God did not take joy in seeing more of his beloved murdered. God did not take joy in witnessing such injustice, his heart breaks for this, his heart aches to see this, tears spill from heaven when these things occur.
As we journeyed through our Skurriculums last week we discussed a very fitting topic within our month focus of Re-Entry, that being Suffering.
It’s true that suffering is a natural result of living in a fallen world, and yet God can redeem it so that it becomes a vehicle to greater intimacy with Him.
This truth is what I’m clinging to right now, holding on to the truth that God does not delight in this, for he is perfect love. And as I hold on to this I pray toward the truth that he can use this suffering to bring about good, to bring about redemption.
I’d love to open this up to hear from you, how are you doing? What are your questions?
Lets chat and express our pain, our fear, and our hurt's within community.
Jon
As most of you have already read, heard, or seen yesterday marked yet another tragedy on a college campus, however this one in our back yard. As I watched the news reports yesterday I was filled with intense anger and sadness. Anger that people around each college campus will now attend their classes in fear, angry that 6 sets of parents had to bury their children, angry to see innocent victims victimized, angry because I don’t know what to do, sad because someone was this lonely to do something like this, and sad because this was not and is not God’s intent for humanity.
Questions have been filling my mind today, questions of how do we explain this? How does a sovereign God allow this to happen? If Satan is defeated then why does he seem so victorious at times? Questioning our part in this, what does the Church do? Wondering what the root problem is that continues to cause these school shootings? Wondering what it looks like to bring justice to this, or is this even up to me?
I’m not sure I have many answers, but questions I do have. How about you?
One thing I would like to speak to is how does God feel about shotguns in classrooms, how does this incident that happened yesterday impact him? I’m amazed when I hear people put things like this on God, or they say “this was what God wanted”, lets be clear God did not intend for this to happen. God did not take joy in seeing more of his beloved murdered. God did not take joy in witnessing such injustice, his heart breaks for this, his heart aches to see this, tears spill from heaven when these things occur.
As we journeyed through our Skurriculums last week we discussed a very fitting topic within our month focus of Re-Entry, that being Suffering.
It’s true that suffering is a natural result of living in a fallen world, and yet God can redeem it so that it becomes a vehicle to greater intimacy with Him.
This truth is what I’m clinging to right now, holding on to the truth that God does not delight in this, for he is perfect love. And as I hold on to this I pray toward the truth that he can use this suffering to bring about good, to bring about redemption.
I’d love to open this up to hear from you, how are you doing? What are your questions?
Lets chat and express our pain, our fear, and our hurt's within community.
Jon
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Don’t read alone!
As we continue to journey through the 5th thread of the Movement this month, I challenged our Community at the Axis Experience this past Friday to saturate our minds with God’s Word, in particular Chapter one of the gospel of John. The reality is that we continue to live and move with many misconceptions of who Jesus was and is, and typically our best combatant is to fix our eyes and time on really digging through the gospels.
This past year I had the amazing privilege to travel to Cape Town, South Africa on a mission’s trip and while I was there we finished up our trip on what is known as Table Mountain. Now if you can picture the continent of Africa, then picture the very most southern tip, and that’s where this mountain lies, there where the Atlantic and Indian oceans collide. Myself along with the rest of the team crammed into the cable car as we left base camp on our trek to the top of Table Mountain and none of us were prepared for what our eyes were about to see. As we reached the Summit, we climbed out and began our hike around this mountain and gave explicit instructions to our students to meet back at the rendezvous spot at sunset. So each person went off on their own journey taking in on what is one of the most beautiful places in the entire continent of Africa. With the buds of my Ipod in place I began to hike myself and found an awesome rock off the beaten path we’re I could journal and overlook the entire city of Cape Town. I sat there in amazement of the view, and of the burden I felt for this city to know Jesus and experience his healing Grace. To my left I could see the prison off in the bay where one of my hero’s Nelson Mandela spent some twenty years in confinement and as I looked images of the Apartheid and all its injustice filled my heart and mind. After a few hours the sun began to set and as a result the skies exploded with a combination of orange and pink. I rocked out to “how great is our God” and had the privilege to see a side of our Creator that I’ve never seen before; all in all it was an experience that I will never forget.
After the sun set we all gathered and headed down to the base of Table Mountain and from there went out to dinner to unpack our experience over a meal. As we discussed what we saw I was blown away, not because of what we all saw but how each person seem to see something a bit different. It was if we all had different interpretive lenses that caused us to all digest the beauty of Table Mountain and God’s creation a bit different. It wasn’t that we disagreed; it was as if their experiences helped me see parts of the beauty of Table Mountain that somehow remained undisclosed. My Journey was only enhanced and deepened.
So what does this story have to do with “not reading alone”, well everything. The term of epistemology is one that I can barely pronounce but one that I believe is really important when it comes to studying or interpreting scripture, in particular gleaning from the Bible an accurate view of Jesus. This term is how you and I know things and one can make a strong argument from the arena a of epistemology that people, you and I interpret new data when unchecked, through a grid or lens of what we already know. What!
Seriously, when you and I read God’s word often times we see it through the lens of our stories, experience, brokenness and even geographical placement. For example someone that is from a broken home who lives in an urban setting may interpret the parable of the prodigal son entirely different then someone who is from a healthy home, however is wrestling with the let down of a Pastor they once believed in who lives out in the burbs. I’m currently making my way through a book called “theology as big as the city” a very interesting read on how theology is viewed by those who live and minister in an urban context. (shameless plug)
This reality is not bad thing at all, actually it’s really powerful when we study and read not alone, but within community! My biggest breakthroughs within seeing more of Jesus and learning have typically come when studying the scriptures in community, it’s as if I see parts of the beautiful story and landscape of God Word in ways that I never knew existed.
How about you? What have your experiences been? Are you willing to intentionally study scripture within community? Are you willing to dive into and LTG and explore with others to see in new ways?
Finally I want you to continue inviting the Holy Spirit to guide you as you read and pray. We need to realize our dependence on God to reveal Truth to us as we open the pages of scripture. One of my biggest prayers is that this year God opens the eyes of our Community to see the beauty of His Word in ways that we never thought were possible, will you pray with me?
Have a great week!
Jon
This past year I had the amazing privilege to travel to Cape Town, South Africa on a mission’s trip and while I was there we finished up our trip on what is known as Table Mountain. Now if you can picture the continent of Africa, then picture the very most southern tip, and that’s where this mountain lies, there where the Atlantic and Indian oceans collide. Myself along with the rest of the team crammed into the cable car as we left base camp on our trek to the top of Table Mountain and none of us were prepared for what our eyes were about to see. As we reached the Summit, we climbed out and began our hike around this mountain and gave explicit instructions to our students to meet back at the rendezvous spot at sunset. So each person went off on their own journey taking in on what is one of the most beautiful places in the entire continent of Africa. With the buds of my Ipod in place I began to hike myself and found an awesome rock off the beaten path we’re I could journal and overlook the entire city of Cape Town. I sat there in amazement of the view, and of the burden I felt for this city to know Jesus and experience his healing Grace. To my left I could see the prison off in the bay where one of my hero’s Nelson Mandela spent some twenty years in confinement and as I looked images of the Apartheid and all its injustice filled my heart and mind. After a few hours the sun began to set and as a result the skies exploded with a combination of orange and pink. I rocked out to “how great is our God” and had the privilege to see a side of our Creator that I’ve never seen before; all in all it was an experience that I will never forget.
After the sun set we all gathered and headed down to the base of Table Mountain and from there went out to dinner to unpack our experience over a meal. As we discussed what we saw I was blown away, not because of what we all saw but how each person seem to see something a bit different. It was if we all had different interpretive lenses that caused us to all digest the beauty of Table Mountain and God’s creation a bit different. It wasn’t that we disagreed; it was as if their experiences helped me see parts of the beauty of Table Mountain that somehow remained undisclosed. My Journey was only enhanced and deepened.
So what does this story have to do with “not reading alone”, well everything. The term of epistemology is one that I can barely pronounce but one that I believe is really important when it comes to studying or interpreting scripture, in particular gleaning from the Bible an accurate view of Jesus. This term is how you and I know things and one can make a strong argument from the arena a of epistemology that people, you and I interpret new data when unchecked, through a grid or lens of what we already know. What!
Seriously, when you and I read God’s word often times we see it through the lens of our stories, experience, brokenness and even geographical placement. For example someone that is from a broken home who lives in an urban setting may interpret the parable of the prodigal son entirely different then someone who is from a healthy home, however is wrestling with the let down of a Pastor they once believed in who lives out in the burbs. I’m currently making my way through a book called “theology as big as the city” a very interesting read on how theology is viewed by those who live and minister in an urban context. (shameless plug)
This reality is not bad thing at all, actually it’s really powerful when we study and read not alone, but within community! My biggest breakthroughs within seeing more of Jesus and learning have typically come when studying the scriptures in community, it’s as if I see parts of the beautiful story and landscape of God Word in ways that I never knew existed.
How about you? What have your experiences been? Are you willing to intentionally study scripture within community? Are you willing to dive into and LTG and explore with others to see in new ways?
Finally I want you to continue inviting the Holy Spirit to guide you as you read and pray. We need to realize our dependence on God to reveal Truth to us as we open the pages of scripture. One of my biggest prayers is that this year God opens the eyes of our Community to see the beauty of His Word in ways that we never thought were possible, will you pray with me?
Have a great week!
Jon
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Division = Confusion
There seems to be some intrinsic, built in desire to see a band of brothers and sisters conquer some task, mission, or goal that lies incredibly deep within me. This is partially why I spent twelve dollars this past Monday along with my best friend to go and watch a 61 year old, face lifted, bow tox ridden, steroid induced, hero by the name of one John Rambo rescue the world from evil. I mean seriously Sly how do you do it? This guy is my dads age and my pops struggles to even finish a round of golf (sorry dad). I must admit seeing Sly in the shape he is in did inspire me to start a new diet, there was something hard to digest about a 61 year old grandpa making me look really bad, and I mean really bad!
Back to this intrinsic desire to be on mission with a select few is something I think about a lot, and something that I have been studying this week in Philippians chapter 2. The author of this short Epistle would categorize this as “oneness” as would the founder of Christianity himself; that being Jesus in John chapter 17. Paul begins to address this band of brothers and sisters in the influential city of Philippi, imploring them to bond to one another in “spirit and purpose.” He says:
“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better then yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”
This idea of oneness is something that I believe we not only crave but something that the world uses at an authenticomenter (word I just made up, an instrument used to tell if someone or some group is legit, or authentic)(copywrite 2008). I’ve been reading a book by Joe Meyers called “the search to belong” a read that has challenged a lot of my thinking, and within that book I came across a quote by the legend Francis Schaeffer that stated:
“Our relationship with each other is the criterion the world uses to judge whether our message is truthful—Christian Community is the final apologetic.”
This quote, in light of my studying of Philippians has been rocking me and leading me to ask the question of what do people see of God through me, through my missional community, through the community of Axis? Do people see more of God, because of what they see in the gathered community of Axis?
As Paul writes to this community in Philippi it’s important to know that they were quite the eclectic group, lead by women (culturally not the norm) and made up of anything but a homogenous group. What a difficult task of committing to oneness in the reality of diversity.
There are many things I love about you, the Axis Community and one of those is the amount of diversity that we have. I love how different we are, how each MCH differs from the other, however we are bonded together by our shared vision, and values of making Christ known in our culture, making Him known among our generation! This small band of brothers and sisters in Philippi seemed to understand what was at stake; they believed Paul and embraced the words of Jesus that said:
“I'm praying not only for them but also for those who will believe in me Because of them and their witness about me. The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind--Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, so they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me. The same glory you gave me, I gave them, so they'll be as unified and together as we are—I in them and you in me.
Then they'll be mature in this oneness, and give the godless world evidence that you've sent me and loved them in the same way you've loved me.”
It really is true that division = confusion, and we know that confusion leads to Spiritual inactivity. This is what happens when we are divided and not moving and living in unity as the body of Christ, the world continues to look on in confusion.
Will you pray with me for the unity of our Community? Will you pray with me that in the midst of our diversity we will claim unity? Will you continue to place Christ in the center of your MCH and in the center of Axis?
Also I want you to consider how you are bringing about dis-unity, whether in small ways or big ways? Will you surrender this? Will you realize and accept that it’s not about you, but about something much bigger? I have to do this weekly by the way!
Let’s chat and acknowledge that in deed the world is watching!
Jon
Back to this intrinsic desire to be on mission with a select few is something I think about a lot, and something that I have been studying this week in Philippians chapter 2. The author of this short Epistle would categorize this as “oneness” as would the founder of Christianity himself; that being Jesus in John chapter 17. Paul begins to address this band of brothers and sisters in the influential city of Philippi, imploring them to bond to one another in “spirit and purpose.” He says:
“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better then yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”
This idea of oneness is something that I believe we not only crave but something that the world uses at an authenticomenter (word I just made up, an instrument used to tell if someone or some group is legit, or authentic)(copywrite 2008). I’ve been reading a book by Joe Meyers called “the search to belong” a read that has challenged a lot of my thinking, and within that book I came across a quote by the legend Francis Schaeffer that stated:
“Our relationship with each other is the criterion the world uses to judge whether our message is truthful—Christian Community is the final apologetic.”
This quote, in light of my studying of Philippians has been rocking me and leading me to ask the question of what do people see of God through me, through my missional community, through the community of Axis? Do people see more of God, because of what they see in the gathered community of Axis?
As Paul writes to this community in Philippi it’s important to know that they were quite the eclectic group, lead by women (culturally not the norm) and made up of anything but a homogenous group. What a difficult task of committing to oneness in the reality of diversity.
There are many things I love about you, the Axis Community and one of those is the amount of diversity that we have. I love how different we are, how each MCH differs from the other, however we are bonded together by our shared vision, and values of making Christ known in our culture, making Him known among our generation! This small band of brothers and sisters in Philippi seemed to understand what was at stake; they believed Paul and embraced the words of Jesus that said:
“I'm praying not only for them but also for those who will believe in me Because of them and their witness about me. The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind--Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, so they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me. The same glory you gave me, I gave them, so they'll be as unified and together as we are—I in them and you in me.
Then they'll be mature in this oneness, and give the godless world evidence that you've sent me and loved them in the same way you've loved me.”
It really is true that division = confusion, and we know that confusion leads to Spiritual inactivity. This is what happens when we are divided and not moving and living in unity as the body of Christ, the world continues to look on in confusion.
Will you pray with me for the unity of our Community? Will you pray with me that in the midst of our diversity we will claim unity? Will you continue to place Christ in the center of your MCH and in the center of Axis?
Also I want you to consider how you are bringing about dis-unity, whether in small ways or big ways? Will you surrender this? Will you realize and accept that it’s not about you, but about something much bigger? I have to do this weekly by the way!
Let’s chat and acknowledge that in deed the world is watching!
Jon
Friday, January 25, 2008
Is anyone asking?
Often within the Axis Community we share our faith stories with one another, and at times have one of you share your story at the monthly axis experience. So what is the point of this whole story thing anyway, why is this important? What is so important about Story that I would take time to blog about it, and hope that you would waste some of your precious working hours to stop and read this post?
When it comes to Story, the reality is it awakens the human heart like no other form of communication can. For centuries and centuries humankind has been fascinated with story, from ancient history to modern day story has stood the test of time as the primary and most powerful form of communication. It’s as if we were designed at the very core of our being to respond to story. Recently my buddy Arrendim and I, who lives a few doors down from me had an amazing conversation about this. Arrendim or “big A” as I call him kicked it out on his patio in the cold for a few hours reflecting on stories that have shaped our life and world view. He shared of story from his Hindu faith and provided opportunity for me to share story from my Christian faith, it was a conversation I’ll remember for quite a while. At the end of our time we didn’t really come to a conclusion of why story has so much power in our life, but to a question. That being why? Why is story so powerful? An article I recently read by Tom Atlee stated that:
“story is the reality that every person, every being, every thing has a story and contains stories—and in fact, is a story—and that all of these stories interconnect, that we are in fact, surrounded by stories, embedded in stories and made of stories.”
Poet Murial Ruckiser once said “the universe is made of stories not atoms.”
Story is and will continue to be the most powerful form of communication because we were hardwired for story, our beings, our very souls were designed to react and respond to story, and when we listen and engage in a story something resonates deep within us, and our wiring whether we consciously know it or not realizes that we are invited into a epic story, “The Story.” This is probably why Jesus taught the way he did, through stories because he knew better then anyone who has ever walked the planet of how to connect to the human heart, how to awaken the human soul.
So what’s your point Jon? Good question! A critical verse found in 1 Peter has been on my heart over the last month. Many of you have prayed for me and my family in the loss of my cousin. My family has been really struggling with this and the wake and funeral were really tough to embrace. As I looked at the man that taught me how to fish, how to hunt, and how to ride 4 wheelers, I thought to myself how young he was to be lying there in a casket and how I wish I could have had some more time with him. I thought of the brevity of life, and how fragile it really is which lead me once again to the beauty of God’s love. I began to think of what I can give people, and came to the conclusion once again that the ultimate gift I can offer another person is the gift of eternal life and purpose here on Earth through trusting in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. My passion for loving those who are outside the family of God has increased to a level like never before, largely due to loosing my cousin.
1 Peter 3:15 states “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”.
This verse has been burning in my heart for myself and for you my community.
As I read this verse I’m inspired and challenged with two questions:
1. Is anyone asking?
2. What’s the best way to respond?
So how about you, is anyone asking? Are there people in your life that are hard bent on finding out how the heck you have hope in the realities and uncertainties of life? If not why not? Secondly what’s the best way to respond? We see that we’re supposed to do this with gentleness and respect but that’s descriptive, not necessarily prescriptive.
I’d like to challenge you and suggest that you tap into the most gripping and compelling medium known to humanity; that being story. You have a story to tell, one that is true, one that brings fame to God, one that compels others to think, one that is worth telling!
Let’s Chat.
Blessings.
Jon Peacock
When it comes to Story, the reality is it awakens the human heart like no other form of communication can. For centuries and centuries humankind has been fascinated with story, from ancient history to modern day story has stood the test of time as the primary and most powerful form of communication. It’s as if we were designed at the very core of our being to respond to story. Recently my buddy Arrendim and I, who lives a few doors down from me had an amazing conversation about this. Arrendim or “big A” as I call him kicked it out on his patio in the cold for a few hours reflecting on stories that have shaped our life and world view. He shared of story from his Hindu faith and provided opportunity for me to share story from my Christian faith, it was a conversation I’ll remember for quite a while. At the end of our time we didn’t really come to a conclusion of why story has so much power in our life, but to a question. That being why? Why is story so powerful? An article I recently read by Tom Atlee stated that:
“story is the reality that every person, every being, every thing has a story and contains stories—and in fact, is a story—and that all of these stories interconnect, that we are in fact, surrounded by stories, embedded in stories and made of stories.”
Poet Murial Ruckiser once said “the universe is made of stories not atoms.”
Story is and will continue to be the most powerful form of communication because we were hardwired for story, our beings, our very souls were designed to react and respond to story, and when we listen and engage in a story something resonates deep within us, and our wiring whether we consciously know it or not realizes that we are invited into a epic story, “The Story.” This is probably why Jesus taught the way he did, through stories because he knew better then anyone who has ever walked the planet of how to connect to the human heart, how to awaken the human soul.
So what’s your point Jon? Good question! A critical verse found in 1 Peter has been on my heart over the last month. Many of you have prayed for me and my family in the loss of my cousin. My family has been really struggling with this and the wake and funeral were really tough to embrace. As I looked at the man that taught me how to fish, how to hunt, and how to ride 4 wheelers, I thought to myself how young he was to be lying there in a casket and how I wish I could have had some more time with him. I thought of the brevity of life, and how fragile it really is which lead me once again to the beauty of God’s love. I began to think of what I can give people, and came to the conclusion once again that the ultimate gift I can offer another person is the gift of eternal life and purpose here on Earth through trusting in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. My passion for loving those who are outside the family of God has increased to a level like never before, largely due to loosing my cousin.
1 Peter 3:15 states “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”.
This verse has been burning in my heart for myself and for you my community.
As I read this verse I’m inspired and challenged with two questions:
1. Is anyone asking?
2. What’s the best way to respond?
So how about you, is anyone asking? Are there people in your life that are hard bent on finding out how the heck you have hope in the realities and uncertainties of life? If not why not? Secondly what’s the best way to respond? We see that we’re supposed to do this with gentleness and respect but that’s descriptive, not necessarily prescriptive.
I’d like to challenge you and suggest that you tap into the most gripping and compelling medium known to humanity; that being story. You have a story to tell, one that is true, one that brings fame to God, one that compels others to think, one that is worth telling!
Let’s Chat.
Blessings.
Jon Peacock
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