What do you do when fearful?

I was in LA attending a conference and retraced some early steps in a walk around to have dinner. Leaving the restaurant to return to my hotel I decided to travel a street that I had neglected in my previous travel. I made a wrong turn and slowly became aware of dwindling population, change in those that I encountered, music heard on the street and feelings of being fearful arose within me. Looking around I saw people pitching tents for a night on the streets of LA; noticed an increasing lack of diversity that one sees in the downtown hotel area and I began to be fearful...

I was sharing this story with someone I met on my ride to the airport and their question to me was...Did I witness to anyone? They shared that their cousin was a missionary in Ecuador and had been for thirty years. Sometimes they would be flown into remote areas that held imminent danger and in those instances they witnessed most readily...I thought and have been thinking...

But I was fearful, quickly relying on my instincts to remove me from danger, and only had thoughts of what I could do in the situation...how quickly we can remove ourselves from reliance on God, seeking His presents and will in our lives...perhaps missing an opportunity to re-present the kingdom in real and tangible ways. As I changed course and began to encounter familiar landmarks then wiping the sweat from my forehead I realized that I had not once thought about God or to seek His protection in my unfamiliar surroundings. My fellow traveler to the airport has brought me to my knees!

What do you do when you are fearful?

New Life in New Creation

I just finished participating in the Greater Dayton Men's Walk to Emmaus #50 serving on the live-in team as Assistant Spiritual Director. My devotional this morning is a prayer form Norman Shawchuck:

" O God, I surrender to you the habits and sins that, like frost, chill my soul and cause your life-giving energy to cease its flow in me. Uproot me form the weed patches of evil wherein I have chosen to sink my roots. Plant me instead in your field of righteousness.

Direct the search light of your love into every crevice of my life that I may see to journey from this long winter of sin, to once again flourish in the summer of your goodness and love.

Send the gracious showers of your forgiveness to break the long drought of spiritual aridness that has shriveled my soul, and grant, my Lord, that I may become more like you and less like my shadowy self.

This day I pledge to you and to myself that I will begin even now to pursue right thinking and right living, but my God, I need your help. Amen"

This prayer has led me on a reflection of the weekend events. One of my colleague's had seven men from the church he serves present as pilgrims on this walk and another had four. I am convicted that this weekend experience can as I have seen before help build the local church community. One pilgrim was a pastor of a new church start and will incorporate this community experience into his building plan. I fill renewed by the witness of the weekend; and that I've found another component that will facilitate our efforts for Stillwater @ the Kleptz Y to not only be energize but also to realize the vision for "spirituality connecting health and wholiness" as a re-presentation of the kingdom of God in real and tangible ways.

Spirituality Connecting Health and Wholiness

Having taken a hiatus from writing on my blog, I now return with new purpose and focus. I've wrestled with the direction and content in this activity. I will use this to reflect on the practices and disciplines that will help me connect the theme of "Spirituality connecting Health and Wholiness" as a reflection of life in Christ. In James Bryan Smith's book The Good and Beautiful God, he makes the statement that "Christians are people Christ dwells in". This truth gives me pause to think on the question that if this is true why are so many of us are living lives that are unhealthy, unconnected, and unfulfilled. I begin this journey with these words on prayer by Michael Casey...To pray well I must first find out where I am. Self-knowledge is never procured cheaply. To pray well I need to face up to realities about myself, that I would prefer to ignore: my anxieties, fears, private griefs, failures, lovelessness, my utter lack of resources. To accept the truth about what I am, as also the truth about other human beings, demands courage. If I do not pray well, it is usually because I lack that kind of courage. Do you pray well?

Thanksgiving

As I begin my morning this Thanksgiving with a phone call from my son and his family on board a plane bound for California, I began to think about daily living in a state of thankfulness.

I was led to Hebrew scripture where I found some guidelines that can help live in a state of thankful Christian living:

Hebrews 10:23..."Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith." This speaks to fellowship with God...Quiet time, personal devotion or some other spiritual practice that is set aside each day to draw near to God

Hebrews 10:24..."Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess." This speaks to a commitment to outreach to the lost through personal witness or simply active participation in the Great Commission. We are to hold the confession of our faith high like a banner, never growing silent, never denying the Lord who has bought us for Himself

Hebrews 10:25..."Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." We are to encourage and motivate each other in the Christian life through meeting together in worship and small group to get instruction from His Word.

As I embrace these guidelines I find that I am able to experience joy and contentment in whatever circumstances and to give sincere thanks to Him who is able to do more than I could ever image or dream. This allows me to enjoy the unfolding wonder of each day as God reveals Himself in unexpected ways.

I truly have much to be thankful for! Praise be to God!

More Than Enough

"She out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood"... Mark 12:44

God looks at the heart, not the hand; the giver, not the gift.

In Adam Hamilton's book More Than Enough , he wrote: "Once Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, their immediate reaction was fear. From that time on, we human beings have found ourselves perennially afraid. Most of our fers are a result of our separatio from God and the distortion of what is good in us. As a result, we often live in fear of others who are different from ourselves, which can lead to hate and violence and even war...and in economic times such as these, we fear financial instability and distress."

Adam suggest the keys to overcoming fear are: Trust God, Offer Gratitude, and Live a Life of Service and Generosity to others.

I find as the Holy Spirit transforms us from the inside out we learn that our ability is never the measure of our possibilities. We grow to live lives filled with gratitude and choose to be thankful because every circumstance is used and shaped by a will greater than our own.

Thanksgiving a time to be thankful!

More Than Enough...Faith

I will be joyful in the God of my salvation. The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He will make me as a surefooted as a deer and bring me safely over the mountains...Habakkuk 3:18b-19

Mother Teresa is quoted saying, "I don't think there is anyone who needs God's help and grace as much as I do. Sometimes I feel so helpless and weak. I think that is why God uses me. Because I cannot depend on my own strength, I rely on Him twenty-four hours a day."

God or Self?

More Than Enough

And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possession...Luke 12:15 NRSV

The riches of this world are vain, they vanish in a day; But sweet the treasures of God's love--they never pass away...Bosch

Why the obsession with aquiring, consuming and hoarding? Do you choose to live assuming scarcity or abundance? Your choice is an issue of the soul and lives of others hang in the balance.
What is your reality?