Dig the Hole Deep

"We must not longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their crafiness in deceitful scheming." - Ephesians 4:14

"One of the greatest decptions in the practice of the Christian religion is the idea that all that really matters is our internal feelings, ideas, beliefs, and intentions.  It is this mistake about the psychology of the human being that more than anything else divorces salvation from life, leaving us a headful of vital truths about God and a body unable to fend off sin." (The Spirit of the Disciplines - Dallas Willard)

This summer, I spent many hours hand-digging a well in my back-yard.  The hole ended up being 13 feet deep and 13 inches in diameter.  I don't mean to brag, but that is an impressive hole!  The ground was wet and heavy clay.  The auger bit was hard to turn.  But the hole is done and soon it will be home to an automatic sump pump.  I have high hopes that this well will be effective in removing groundwater from our yard when the storms come...I will keep you posted!

And now as I reflect on my summer's work, I see many parallels to our faith.  Like that hole, our faith needs to be deep in order that we are not, "tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine."  After all, we live in a world that competes for our loyalties. After all, it is easy to be passionate about politics or gender equality or climate justice. This is fine, however, unless we are deeply rooted in our faith with prayer and study, our passion means nothing. Unless we dig our hole deep, God takes a backseat instead of the driver's seat in how we respond to these 21st century storms. Unless we have a heart transformed by God...a faith deeply rooted in Christ...we will be washed away when the storms come. 

However, Dallas Willard reminds us that in order for our relationship with Chist to be robust, our faith cannot just be deep; it cannot just be an intellectual ascent...it must also be wide.  In other words, we must include our physical bodies in the practice of our faith. Certainly, a wide faith involves acts of service.  However, we can't neglect worship, or fasting, or even our posture in prayer and in praise.  This is the point of the spiritual disciplines...they engage our whole (hole!) being in our relationship with God so that when the storms come,  we are able to stand.  

Blessings to you and yours as you dig your hole!

Church Stopping. Less doing. More being.

Real Men Raise Their Hands

Our boys raising the roof: Gull Lake Ministries 2019 (There is one behind the pillar, but you can see his arm!)

Faith in its celebration sometimes becomes a delirious joy coursing through our bodily being, when we really begin to see how great and lovely God is and how good he has been to us. (Dallas Willard, The Celebration of the Disciplines)

"Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.  How awesome is the Lord Most High, the Great King over all the earth!" --Psalm 47:1-2

"Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." So they began to celebrate. --Luke 15:23-24

There is an old picture I remember seing. I am one or two years old. Maybe I am wearing a diaper, maybe not, but I am holding a strategically placed balloon so it is okay.  In fact, it is amazing.  It is amazing not for the balloon, but for my expression; on my face I see utter, complete, belly-shaking joy.

In the last year, I can count the utter, complete, belly-shaking joy on one hand...with several fingers left over.

I don't know what happened over the last 50 years that chipped away at that joy.  I know life has happened; there were some low spots; heart breaks, discouragements, shattered dreams, worries and anxieties. Yes. But there were also high spots; birthdays, and graduations,  and our wedding day. There have been victories and celebrations of three healthy boys. We have seen incredible beauty and tasted wonderful food. We have seen the miraculous and mighty power of God at work.

But I seldom laugh like that any more, and it has taken it's toll. Not just on my heart, but on the hearts of those around me, my marriage and our children. "What can I do to make you laugh again?" my wife said to me recently, "You seem so sad.  Where is the dreamer who swept me away with visions of a life full of adventure when we didn't have two nickels to rub together?"

She's right. My wife gave me two tickets to see a movie together at Christmas. I still have them.

No one is to blame. There is no fatal wound. This really is on me, and I have resolved that in the next several months, I am going to grow closer to the heart of a God who loves to rejoice with me. I have been lost, but I have also been found.  And it may be a discipline at first, but I am going to connect with God and it starts in worship. I am no longer going to be bound and afraid of what others might think if I lift my hands in worship. I have never done this before and it makes me nervous.  It may not be at the appropriate times. And it is going to be intentional, at first. However, I believe that it will become natural because I believe that is closer to the truth of how God created me...like that little boy with the balloon who so reflected the heart of God.

Church Stopping. Less doing. More being.

UPDATE: I did it!  It was sweaty.  (I brought a handkerchief to blot my brow.) It was only during the refrain, but I was able to raise my hands in worship!  And though it was a bit mechanical, it helped me to focus, not on the words, but on the One the words were directed to.  I can't wait until next week!

Perspective

"I have come that they might have life and might have it abundantly." --Jesus

A Dream Within a Dream. Ravello, 2019

As a child, then as young man, I had very little idea of what I was going to do for a living, but whatever it was, I knew it would be legendary.  It was very clear to me that I would be very successful in whatever field was blessed enough to reap my obvious talents and charm.  

Then I received, "The Call" and my delusions of grandeur came crashing down around me like a house of cards. 

My wife (pictured above) called me to let me know that she was stranded in our twenty-year old Yukon on a residential street in a neighboring city.  At that moment, and in many other moments leading up to it, I realized that I wasn't really living the life I expected.  In fact, in many ways, my life was living me. 

Instead of realizing the blessings of family, good health, and a beautiful and talented wife, I had become consumed by the challenges of work, doing the dishes, caring for a family and fixing old cars.  Things break down...not only cars, but relationships at work and old plumbing.  These broken things have to be fixed. So, I had the Yukon towed to a friend and the two of us worked all day putting in a new fuel pump.  The car was fixed but in the process, the challenges of life were placed ahead of the blessings of God. A day with the family became a day with the Yukon.  I did spend some time with a good friend, but intstead of feeling abundant, I just felt tired.

It was an easy place to get to, but not a place I want to stay.  Maybe, like author Stephen Covey wrote so well, I have been caught in an, "activity trap" and I just need to put my ladder against another wall. 

There will always be something else to do on my list.  However, I don't have to neglect God's blessings just because the Yukon broke down and a passerby stopped to let me know I was blocking the street. No. I can choose to celebrate the fact that my wife and son were okay. And I can choose to celebrate the fact that God's Son came to fill up our lives with the good stuff...because those things are there, too, even when we get, "The Call".  It is just a matter of perspective. 

Church Stopping: Less doing. More Being.

For God so Loved the World

For God so Loved  the World...(John 3:16a)

The Christmas rush is over and we step into the 12 days of Christmas leading to Epiphany and the celebration of who Jesus really is.  The Wise Men saw the star.  The shepherds heard the angels sing. Mary and Joseph held Him and knew that God is love.   And we see, and hear, and know, and hold God's love in different ways during the different seasons of our lives.

God's love is sacrificial and we know it because of how a mother hen puts herself in harms way for her babies.

God's love is blind - not based on what we do or how we look, but who we are - and I know it through the words of my wife. Her love is proof perfect that Love is, indeed, blind...

4/30/03

My Love,

Wouldn't you know that I prefer the unpaved, un-marked  paths? I prefer them because treasures are found among their borders. Wild flowers without scientific names grow freely along their ditches, animals cross them without fear, and an occasional footprint can be found belonging to another lover of un-marked paths. This is where I found you, my restless wanderer - always looking for adventure, for a quiet place to release your Spirit. How blessed I am to have found your gentle footprint - How joyful is this live with love.

Soon, there will be three of us. Soon there will be Saturday morning cartoons and monsters in the closet. soon there will be a tiny set of footprints on the un-marked path we journey. May the seasons be the only thing that change it so that it may forever be enjoyed by the wandering lovers of this world. I would go anywhere with you. For where you are beautiful things appear, where you walk, wild flowers grow, and where you laugh all is made well.

I pray you will always be free to wonder my restless Cowboy. It's on of the million things I love about you - 

No matter who we are or what we have done, God loves us like this.  It is unconditional and it is forever.  There are twelve days of Christmas because one day would not be enough to take it all in.  So let us leave the tree up if we can and don't put the Nativity set away, not yet.  Let us see, hear, hold, read and know that God is love!

Church stopping. Less doing. More being.

Contentment

In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)

I would have thought it would be easier to stop by now...stop running, stop racing, stop trying so hard to keep up with my list.

This little pansy in our front flower bed gives me hope, though.  It has been snowed upon and frozen, whipped by rain and wind and it has never been anywhere else in all of it's life...except a brief stint in the nursery.  Yet, there seems to be joy in this hardy little splash of color, "fullness of joy."

Joy is harder for me.  I have a list.  It is quite embarrassing, really. The bathroom that is still not done after four years...my miniature wood pile...trips to see my family that haven't happened in several years.  These are things on my list that I must do, and want to do, but never seem to have the time. I try, but they are elusive, like a mirage I can't quite catch.

In addition, there are the things that I really don't want to do but wonder if I should.  These are things that are on someone else's list and things that I don't dream of  doing; things like climbing Everest or a Colorado sixteener; things like Class IV rapids and running a marathon or sky diving.  These things haunt me like shoes that don't quite fit.

"Am I doing something wrong?" I asked my wife. (She has heard this before!)  "Am I doing enough?"

"What more do you need?"  She asks.  "Will you ever be content?"

"I know," I said, "You and the kids are so awesome. I love you and I will do anything for you.  But that's not what I mean.  There is no fire in my belly.  I thought I wanted to be a pastor, a writer, a farmer, and a helicopter pilot.  Now, I just want to sit in front of the fire and take a nap."

"What if you decided to make your life, your ordinary, humdrum life...special? What if you made this life fun and loved those who long to be with you more deeply than you ever have?  What if you were content to live this life you live, rooted and beautiful, and be filled with all the joy and pleasures God has promised?"

"You are right," I said.  "You are saying I should live like a pansy?"

She smiled, and it was as if God smiled through her, "In My presence there is fullness and joy, in My right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Church Stopping. Less Doing. More Being.  

Sabbath Together

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)

One of my favorite times is morning coffee with my wife, Jennifer.  We almost have it down to a science.

The alarms go off  and we stumble across the hall and get the boys up for school.  As they are getting ready, we head down to the kitchen. Jennifer starts breakfast and I start the coffee.  I know this sounds like a very unfavorable arrangement for her.  However, in my defense, our morning coffee is very labor intensive; it requires not only grinding of the beans and pouring them into the French press, but boiling of the water in the teapot, steeping the freshly ground beans, pouring my wife's creamer into her cup, and cutting the grass-fed butter.  (Yes! Butter is delicious in coffee!)

Usually, the two of us can sit back for a couple of quiet minutes before the boys descend on breakfast.   It is a bit of Sabbath we rejoice in together and a simple reminder that as powerful as Sabbath is when practiced individually, it is even better shared in community.

It has been over five years since I was first exposed to the idea of church-wide Sabbath; the idea that Sabbath is a divine gift not just for individuals, but for communities.  In overly-programmed lives and churches everywhere where there is always more on the list than in the day, Sabbath is a reminder that this is indeed the day that the Lord has made, and we should rejoice and be glad, not stressed and exhausted, in it.

Over the last couple of months, there have been a few individuals who have reached out for more information on the idea.  One individual was challenged by the thought of practicing Sabbath together and was excited to dig deeper into the idea.  I was thrilled to talk to the staff of a church committed to the idea and wrestling with what church-wide Sabbath would look like in their setting.

It was very encouraging for me to talk to these individuals about this idea that captured my heart so many years ago. And it was convicting for me to carve out just a little more time for my morning coffee.

May you always find many blessings in your cup ,

Geoff

Church Stopping. Less doing. More being.

Don't Worry. Be Happy.

In every life we have some trouble

But when you worry you make it double

Don't worry, be happy

Don't worry, be happy now. - Bobby McFerrin

It was a command I first heard back in 1988, "Don't worry, be happy."  I didn't think much about it, then. I was in college, and even though I thought I was terribly busy, I didn't have a lot to worry about and I found a lot of time to do a lot of things that made me happy.  

One of the things that makes me happy today is my wood pile. As you can see from the picture above, I have a some work to do before winter!  But the work always makes me happy; finding wood, gathering wood together, cutting wood, and sitting in front of a fire. Wood makes me very, very happy.

As an adult, I have sometimes wondered if Bobby McFerrin's lovely command to simply, "Don't worry, be happy now" is practical.  In fact, sometimes it seems a little quixotic.  After all, I am no longer in college.  There is work to be done. There is a real world with real problems and great suffering.  

But this command to, "be happy now" isn't just another pearl of wisdom from 80's pop music (of which there are many!) it is a command that goes back to at least the Apostle Paul...and it is a command precisely because we live in a world with real work to be done and a world with real problems:

"Finally, beloved ones, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if there is anything excellent or praiseworthy - think about these things and the God of peace will be with you." - Philippians 4:8

Sometimes it seems that these words fly right in the face of every dismal and depressing thought that we dress up in pious notions of responsibility and zeal.  Then we are reminded of the source.  This verse is from the transformed heart of a former Pharisee who was once quite willing to forego all of life's comforts for the rigor of Old Testament law.  These words as we have received them are the witness of one who was previously quite happy being miserable until later when he found a way to be happy under absolutely miserable circumstances.

So, today,  I won't listen to the news.  

I will pray for those that are facing natural and personal disasters with great anticipation and hope and I will look at my little wood pile and dream of cool days and cozy nights.  I will try not to worry by focusing on all that is good in this amazing world - the true and noble, the right and pure, the lovely and admirable, the excellent and praiseworthy. 

These good things in God's world are there, but we have to think about them.  They are near and far and big and small.  But the best thing of all is that we have a God who created us, walked in our shoes, died for us, and will never, ever be without us. So, beloved ones, don't worry, be happy.

Church Stopping. Less doing. More being.