tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41372086174543892912024-03-21T18:17:27.168-06:00Joe CouchJoseph Couchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291029869140826865noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4137208617454389291.post-89494972367412317052011-04-19T10:32:00.006-06:002011-04-19T10:54:36.168-06:00"I Couldn't Help But Notice...You Seem To Be At War With Yourself"<div>My beautiful wife and I recently watched Tangled, the Disney cartoon about a princess who escapes from the confines of her tower only to wrestle with herself over the great disappointment she will cause her "mother" in leaving. It's a funny scene of dichotic emotional extremes - the great joy freedom, mixed with an air of utter despair. How funny... how true. Maybe the spiritual life looks a little something like Tangled in each of us? </div><div><br /></div>How often I find myself in this place where what my mind hates most and what my heart yearns continually for - is present: Total dependence. Loss of control. Hanging by a word from you. The dichotic extremes of intense joy in Christ, entangled with the the entourage of logical questions and demanded proofs.<div><br /></div><div>My intellect attempts to console and persuade my heart, and my heart in return attempts to communicate the incredible joy and confidence of the Lord's word to me; and neither fully understand or speak the other's language. </div><div><br /></div><div>Like Peter, following HOPE in a world bereft of hopefulness, I say "To whom shall we go... You have the words of eternal life." (Jn 6:68) So it is, be still oh my soul, for the Lord <b><i>has been</i></b> good to you (Ps 116:7).</div>Joseph Couchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291029869140826865noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4137208617454389291.post-66705472064628123692011-03-18T10:52:00.006-06:002011-04-19T10:32:04.611-06:00I Carried You<div>Probably everyone has seen the poem "Footsteps In The Sand" pinned on the bathroom wall or down the hallway of one of our relative's homes. It's the one about a man who has a vision in which Jesus carries him, unbeknown at the time, through the darkest and most desolate times of his life. It has become almost a household standard in the United States, surely for anyone over 30years of age. But there is something special about it - something that stirs our hearts. It's one thing to be encouraged and challenged by those you love, it is entirely another thing to be lifted and carried through your greatest times of trial. That type of sacrifice resonates in us - even beyond our understanding. </div><div><br /></div>I was just struck by the passage in Matthew 8:14-17 where Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law. The last verse in that section leapt off the page at me. Verse 16 says, "When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. V.17 <i>This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 'He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.</i>'" The contrast lay in this: Jesus is healing people and driving out demons, as we see throughout the New Testament, but here Matthew interprets Jesus' action through the lenses of Old Testament prophecy as <i>one who carries our diseases. </i>So often we read through Jesus' miraculous acts as if he were only a benevolent dictator, destroying the works of those he hates, and going on about his business of pleasure. But Isaiah paints a different sort of rescue. <div><br /></div><div>Isaiah says that Jesus didn't just remove our burdens, he <i>lifted</i> the burdens from us - AND PLACED THEM ON HIS OWN SHOULDERS. </div><div><br /></div><div>Once there was a village of people that were forced to leave their beautiful valley and take flight to the mountain peaks above because their land was being flooded with ravaging torrents of rain. Each carried what they must in order to survive on the heights above, less they avoid the floods only to starve on the mountaintops. In short time, however, it became apparent that the journey up the jagged peaks was too much for even the strongest among them. Yet the waters rose ever nearer. One by one they would be swept away in the torrent. To leave their burdens would mean death above, but to carry them would mean death below. When all seemed utterly lost, suddenly one appeared running <i>down</i> the mountain. He had no burden. He leapt past those highest on the peak and made his way down to those nearest the water's tumultuous fury. With tremendous power and skill he lifted their heavy loads and carried the burdens himself - all the while moving the exhausted people up the mountain to a precipice of safety. As the waters rose, he worked ferociously, exhausting ever ounce of his energy in the rescue. In a final selfless act, he heaved the last person over the edge to safety. As he did so, his body - utterly depleted of strength - sank back into the waters and was lost. The people looked at one another in utter and solemn amazement. Not only had he rescued their lives, but he'd made complete provision for them to live, having carried <i>their </i>loads and bringing them all to safety. They all noted that the man himself had left the protection of the heights above to enter their struggle, carry their burdens, and sacrifice his life so that they might now live. </div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>Perhaps our gratitude and affection for Christ would be different if we realized that before he destroyed our sins, he first carried them where we could not</i>. <i>And having nailed them to the cross, he made provision for us through his death - and resurrection, to be forever called sons and daughters of the most high God. </i></div><div><br /></div></div>Joseph Couchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291029869140826865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4137208617454389291.post-70923772046428592012011-02-22T10:43:00.003-07:002011-02-22T11:10:04.743-07:00Don't tell anyone!Matthew 8:1:4 records Jesus healing a man with leprosy. Not an out-of-the ordinary kind of act for Jesus, but this situation is different. After healing the man, Jesus says, "See that you don't tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." I was curious, why would Jesus tell him NOT to tell anyone, but to go to the priest. Perhaps had the man stopped and began to tell others they might have answered him, "Jesus who?! That carpenter... I doubt it" or maybe "yea sure, we'll see how long this lasts." Perhaps the stopping along the way might have hindered the man's own confidence in his experience with Jesus. Perhaps by the time that he had arrived at the priests - the very ones to whom Jesus sent the man to testify - his message and belief would have been stale at best, or maybe bereft entirely of the passion and zeal he'd experienced only a few hours earlier. Then I began to think; 'What thing has Jesus done in me - and who has He commanded me to tell?' <div><br /></div><div>I shudder to think how often I have experienced some incredible sense of His working in my life, bolted out the door, and within a few hours lost the passion of that revelation...defeated by apathetic hearers or my own questions plaguing the truth and reality of what He had done. Worse yet, I have sensed something that was once hot within me, long since squandered on indifferent hearers, that I knew was for a particular people. The pain of realizing there was no zeal or conviction necessary to communicate that truth in the moment it was needed was almost unbearable. </div><div><br /></div><div>He has done a mighty thing in redeeming us. We now must realize that His ongoing work in our lives is to be the greatest testimony to those for whom we have been sent. Do not think, oh dear heart, that His work in you is for you alone. You have become His living testimony. His very love in you is validated as love because it reaches beyond you to others.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lord Jesus, help me to revel in awe at what you have done in me, and help me to then carry that <i><b>directly </b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">to those for whom you designed my witness should be given, that they too may come a saving knowledge and worship the living God. </span></i></div>Joseph Couchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291029869140826865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4137208617454389291.post-15588816677987523002011-02-11T09:28:00.010-07:002011-02-22T11:41:54.247-07:00The Great Crisis of Christianity In Us...The great crisis that Christianity produces in us is not usually when we're presented with our own death. The indomitability of pride and our human will to survive constitutes enough for us to sacrifice our own lives for something we hold to be true. That is the case of many belief systems and ideologies. A Kamikaze pilot, Islamic extremist or death bomber all hold the same commitment to die for their beliefs. The great crisis that Christianity produces within us is that our obedience may require sacrifice <i>in the lives of those around us</i>. It is one thing to die for what you believe in, it is entirely another to watch the ones you love suffer torture, disdain, mockery and death for what you hold to be true. <div><br /></div><div>This crisis produces a tremendous tension between what we <i>wan</i>t to believe is true about God, and the capacity we have to respond to that truth - <i><b>and</b></i> - rescue the lives of those we love in that process. This is where a dissonance between the intellectual ascension of ideas and the allegiance to a <i>person</i> begins. We must realize that every Scripture and Biblical admonishment we received is on a continuum of understanding. Philosophy, ideology and intellectual ascension stand at one end of the continuum - where man's ability to theorize and assimilate information allows him to remain above circumstance and ultimately to have the last word. On the other end is a personhood - God, an infinite and self-sustained deity who holds all things in His sovereignty, who understands with simplicity those things which man deems mystery, and who ultimately has the last word in all things. On every issue, we filter our beliefs and interpretations somewhere along that continuum. </div><div><br /></div><div>If we arrive nearer the end of man's intellect, then in a crisis saving the lives of those around us will trump our personal obedience to God on the rationalization that He knows our truest intent is to serve him and that rescuing lives is something that even He would have the grace for us to do. In fact, since He is a gracious God he will forgive and understand our trouble in compromising personal declaration for the chance to intervene in the destruction of another's life. Beware. When our will to save lives stands above our obedience to Him who created and gives life, we are in grave danger. </div><div><br /></div><div>If, however, our reception of Biblical truths finds its understanding at the opposite end of the continuum, where He - the personhood of God - sovereignly reigns, exercising His will and having the the last word, then our response will be different. <b><i>Until we understand that the consequences of our obedience lies in His hands, we will continue to try and intervene and run damage control in other peoples lives.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div><i>True Christianity will produce a powerfully destructive force in our own lives, until we understand it rightl</i>y. This IS the great joy and triumphant freedom, coupled with the gruesome end of our flesh that we face in surrender to Jesus Christ. For He who alone who can produce right standing <i>in</i> us first requires total surrender <i>from</i> us - even when others are drawn into our own perilous circumstances. </div><div><br /></div><div>Imagine the Apostle John in the first century church, last of the twelve of the inner circle with Jesus. He's now talking to young men, women and children that are daily faced with circumstances where their faith could demand their lives. Imagine him turning to young men and saying, "Listen, if you are arrested and put on trial for your faith, make sure that the authorities believe that it is only you who are a Christian...your wife and children do not know about your secret Christian beliefs, and you have deceived them. In this way, they too will not be thrown to the lions." </div><div><br /></div><div>Contrast the above with endless stories of saints who have been at deaths door, their own families drawn into their peril on behalf of their own faith. At the end of their defense and moments before torture or death, a father unapologetically and with great compassion looks to his son, a mother to her little girl, "No matter what - stand strong! Jesus is with us - He'll never let us go! If we do not deny Him, He will not deny us". The trigger is pulled. The blade is dropped. The lions are loosed. And the One name that is above every name, is as much glorified in the lives of the ones who suffered on another's account as it is on the one who testified. </div><div><br /></div><div>Let us not become amateur deities in the lives of other people. Let us not look upon their peril as a condition for our obedience to HE who alone gives life. Instead, let us fix our gaze steadily before us and have such resolution by His Spirit that He is worthy no matter the cost. For we reckon that HE who demands life can raise it again. For when the fear of death is defeated within us, then no more remains to dissuade us from our unwavering obedience to Him. </div><div><br /></div><div>All glory be forever to Jesus Christ, Amen. </div>Joseph Couchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291029869140826865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4137208617454389291.post-61597595629679203242010-11-05T11:49:00.009-06:002010-11-05T12:53:32.578-06:00Despair or hope; what do you see?I had the privilege of a long talk with a good friend yesterday morning at Olivers delicatessen. Our conversation ranged across many topics, not the least being the recent political struggle for senate office in Colorado. A host of predictions and possible forecast about our country's future ensued, some positive and others not so positive. <div><br /></div><div>As I drove home I began to think out loud before the Lord, and specifically about how easy it is to become disheartened at times with the political maze of injustice, squandering and manipulation. I then felt the Lord impress on my heart: </div><div><br /></div><div>JOE, MEN HAVE DESPAIRED IN EVERY GENERATION. MEN HAVE ALSO HELD UNSWERVINGLY TO HOPE IN EVERY GENERATION. THE DIFFERENCE IS WHERE THEY'VE PLACED THEIR TRUST. Immediately Psalms 147:11 blazed in my mind, "The Lord delights in those who fear him, <i>who put their hope in his unfailing lov</i>e."</div><div><br /></div><div>Those who <i>fear</i> Him, i.e. consider Him with awe, wonder and in submission in all their decisions - those find a special place in His delight. Furthermore, their hope is in His unfailing love; there is no power - even unto death - which can withstand the power of Love. It is mighty, it dispels darkness, it causes the weakest to become the strongest warriors and invigorates the strongest to live, and if necessary die, for a cause far greater than themselves. </div><div><br /></div><div>My wife and I were also reading from The Lord of the Rings trilogy last night... There is a solemn part early in the The Fellowship of the Ring when Frodo (our young and unlikely hero) realizes that he must bear the responsibility to destroy the evil ring of power and save the world of Middle-Earth from the ugly aggression of Sauron. He turns to his elder counselor and companion in Gandalf and says, "<i>I wish that it need not have happened in my time". </i>Gandalf responds, "<i>So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.</i>"</div><div><br /></div><div>Later in the book, Frodo reaches a safe place - at least for a time - and a great counsel of revered leaders has convened to discuss what must now be done with the ring of power. Finally a resolution is reached to destroy the ring, but it must be done in the mountain of fire from whence it first came - a perilous and almost certain destruction for those upon whom the task is laid. One of the leaders remarks that the plan is most assuredly one of despair. Galdalf, the old wise one, again speaks. "<i>Despair or folly? It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. It is wisdom to recognize necessity when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope</i>."</div><div><br /></div><div>Once again my mind turned to the many generations of upright and brave people who have face perilous times in history. I thought of the million man invasion on the shores of Normandy in WWII... every one of those men having a family - a mom and dad, possibly brothers and sisters, or a wife and children of their own. All sent on the <i><b>hope </b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">of defeating Nazi Germany and ridding the world of the evil power that existed there. I thought of sons and daughters, young men, fathers, farms, livestock...homes and all that was risked in America's Civil War for the <b><i>hope </i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">of bringing the dreaded practice of slavery to an end in these United States. I thought of the many families that loaded their lives into tiny boats on European shores to cross uncharted seas and face a harsh new world of perils, all for the <b><i>hope </i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">of beginning a new life, free to worship and conduct their themselves in way that reflected the values that they'd come to share. I even thought back to a group of men in Jerusalem whose dreams and lives had been given birth to and then suddenly destroyed through the body of a young itinerate preacher. A few short days later there was a knock at their door and a couple of women told them that all of their hope had not been in vain, in fact their </span><i>hope</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> lived! </span></b></span></b></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></b></span></b></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Then I thought back to the circumstances that surround us now in this generation. And though at times I feel like Frodo, wishing that many of these times had not come to us... I remember Galdalf's words, and realize that though to others our hope may seem as folly, and though we do not know the immediate outcome of every battle we'll face, this one thing we know; our <i><b>hope</b></i> is in His unfailing love. The very reason that His love is "unfailing" is because it has never failed. It cannot be defeated. Our hope is sure. </span></b></span></b></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></b></span></b></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">We may see unclearly now (I COR 13), but He is working all things together for the glorious end, and thereby beginning, a world made new - deplete of evil powers that roam and raze the good place that He once created. </span></b></span></b></span></i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Let us then stand, in every circumstance and precipice to which we have been called to stand in this - and every generation - for the great glory and<i><b> hope</b></i> that is in Christ Jesus. For to this, we have been called. </span></b></span></b></span></i></div>Joseph Couchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291029869140826865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4137208617454389291.post-4979405568720733992010-08-30T13:11:00.007-06:002010-08-30T15:19:09.871-06:00Faith...Phew, It Worked Again.I have come realize that faith, in the end, is entrusting yourself to the character of God. <div><br /></div><div>For many years I have been taught and heard and yearned to be a man of faith and walk in it as one approved by God. I have studied and prayed and continually asked for more faith, and while seeking to exercise it, have often been disappointed. </div><div><br /></div><div>It seems that there is some mystery between <i>asking</i> what I think is of God, and <i>hoping</i> that He actually intends to answer my request. After enough disappointments and seemingly unreturned or unheard request...I often feel my faith is more like a stubbed toe on furniture in the dark than a clarion call as a Patriarch of Christianity. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you've ever gotten up to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water in the middle of the night, then you know what I'm talking about. Somehow the inanimate furniture seems to have crept across your path and is waiting, bated with evil intent as you come clumsily along in the dark down a path that is seemingly well known. The next step is fatal - ouch! You run headlong into the coffee table, the corner of the dresser, or heaven forbid the doorjamb. Suddenly that which you thought you knew all too well comes to a startlingly painful end. </div><div><br /></div><div>Remember the time <i>after</i> that time when you got out of bed in the middle of the night? Every step was painfully slow, every move calculated, muscles tense and aware of even the slightest shadow that may indicate a deadly blow to your toes. After a journey that usually takes fifteen seconds has now take forty-five, you finally reach the bathroom, flip on the switch and deeply exhale a well-earned breath of relief. You wiggle your toes and snicker just a little. All's well, no damage done, you've beaten the odds. </div><div><br /></div><div>That is how my faith has often seemed for years. I set out to do what I believe is the path along His will. A route I presume all too simple and familiar - at least that's how it sounded in Sunday School and the other books I've read. Somewhere along the way I find an obstacle - a pitfall, a relationship, a conversation, something that says I've gotten it all wrong, and my belief suddenly feels train-wrecked against the iron circumstance at hand. Or if otherwise, having seen my request answered, I take deep breath of relief and let out a sigh...phew <i>it</i> worked that time. </div><div><br /></div><div>I've been wrong. </div><div><br /></div><div>Faith is not a matter of exercising enough sheer willpower to move things in the spiritual realm. Faith is <i>yielded obedience to the character of God</i>. I cannot trust hard enough. I cannot muster enough belief to bring about change. I cannot grit my teeth and slug my way to success. Oswald Chamber says of the human will in My Utmost For His Highest, "The preaching of today tends to point out a person's strength of will... The statement that we so often hear, 'Make a decision for Jesus Christ', <i><b>places the emphasis on something our Lord never trusted</b></i>. <i>He never asks us to decide for Him, but to yield to Him.</i>" And what yielding to Him really means is yielding to His character. </div><div><br /></div><div>God is not the finicky spiritual being we sometimes make him out to be. We imagine him totally unpredictable like a little child happily playing one moment and throwing a tantrum the next. Are we really to believe that the same God who set planets in motion so perfectly that we can predict their exact location a thousand years from now, is <i>not</i> so perfectly calculated when it comes to matters of responding to His own children? </div><div><br /></div><div>Faith is confidence in the character of God. The more that we know God, the more that we ask of Him <i>according to His character.</i> The less we know of Him, the more our faith looks like stumbling around furniture in the dark - it's only a matter of time before we're severely disappointed. And the devastating outcome of that experience is that we move away from God in our hearts. Then, because we do not understand, we rationalize our experience and say something spiritual like, "well, God just moves in mysterious ways". No, there are reasons. There are always reasons. Our digress lies in one of two things; we do not know His character, or other circumstances are at play. But we must never allow ourselves to arrive at the conclusion that God is ultimately unpredictable, incongruent or otherwise temperamental in His ways. In fact He says that He has exalted His word (the consistent integrity of His creative power being released) even above His name. And those are the most predictable things in all of creation.</div><div><br /></div><div>All of us have been met with disappointments in our faith, and usually our reasoning leads us to believe that we simply didn't have enough faith to begin with. But the emphasis is all wrong; <i>while we're looking to amass a greater degree of willpower, He's beckoning us to meditate on the steady unchangingness of His character</i>. While we cannot choose to mandate His ways or even understand - at times - the temporal outcomes, this we know; there is no one more pure, just, wise or good than He. In fact these are merely attributes that we're humanly acquainted with and then elevate them to the N'th degree and call them God. It is not true. He is wholly other and beyond even what those words can ascribe to Him. </div><div><br /></div><div>Even when I do not fully understand - or even have the strength in my own mind or body to do something - I can still choose to yield to Him. And<i> faith is yielded obedience to the character of God</i> - even when we cannot understand His ways. </div><div><br /></div><div>Lord Jesus, help me be renewed in the knowledge of my Creator - in <i>His</i> character and trusting in His wisdom and goodness. I want to walk in yielded obedience to you. Help me to know and obey you and to share in the sweet intimacy of laboring with you in your kingdom. </div>Joseph Couchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291029869140826865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4137208617454389291.post-37863623957080607152009-12-07T11:10:00.004-07:002009-12-07T11:51:00.437-07:00Can't Help But Say So...<div>Precious Lord Jesus, sometimes I wish to live out in experience what only my heart can describe, and at other time my heart yearns to describe what only I can live out in experience... but here goes... </div><div><br /></div>Praise be to the Almighty Maker of Heaven and earth! There is none like You! <div><br /></div><div>Robed in splendor and majesty, high above every name - every power, every circumstance - every thought - You are God. You make public spectacles of Your enemies, while lifting the head of the widow, the fatherless, even the adulterer. You are not in king's palaces, but in the hearts of kings that fear You; You make yourself known to the hungry, the thirsty, the impoverished. And while You love so much that You - for a time - allow the grievious consequences of True-Love's free will to be experienced here on earth, still constantly reveal Your mighty arm on behalf of those who fear you - and their children never lack bread.</div><div><br /></div><div>You are returning and will gather Your bride to Yourself, even as she has longed for your appearing. Arrayed in light, heat, glory and fire, and with eyes like limpid pools of living love. Hands that worked, labored for a time in a natural father's house, but that labor for eternity -unto rest - in Your Heavenly Father's house. Robe dipped in blood, an olive branch at your side, fury and compassion interwoven into a single man of righteousness that rises with healing in His wings. </div><div><br /></div><div>A final gathering - of shepherds, adulterers, doctors, pilots, priest and peasants, business men and moms - the throngs gather in unending satisfaction, in captivated gaze on the One who alone is victorious...not in imagination, not in teaching, not in fairy tale worlds, not in coffee-shop conversations, not dimly or through a veil - REAL, right here, right now, present, He stands before you - the One who was and is and is to come! And all Heaven, all hell, all of creation, in awe, bow their knee for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Lamb that was slain and has received the reward of His sufferings...for HE alone is worthy. </div>Joseph Couchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291029869140826865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4137208617454389291.post-61347905711849020092009-08-10T14:04:00.013-06:002009-08-11T23:39:56.885-06:00Farwell DLA Class of 2009<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStVFkQ2gb9KFKUJXuUcwiDvxQ_Vn4yRrQ3jGMwFyU_JZ5unuwZlr2yxbJNFjcNsLGURdmnqV6bXgHI3WXtTeBIM1hvEAYDp2yamf9mrZ2oESBbac_UCZMltPSuHlDrkqfkI9BTBzCnrm0/s1600-h/Whole+group+jump.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368788246058012946" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStVFkQ2gb9KFKUJXuUcwiDvxQ_Vn4yRrQ3jGMwFyU_JZ5unuwZlr2yxbJNFjcNsLGURdmnqV6bXgHI3WXtTeBIM1hvEAYDp2yamf9mrZ2oESBbac_UCZMltPSuHlDrkqfkI9BTBzCnrm0/s320/Whole+group+jump.jpg" /></a> My Beloved <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">DLA</span> tribe,<br /><br />I can hardly believe we've blasted through eight months already. It seems like only yesterday we were sitting in orientation looking at one another as awkwardly as couple of high school kids on a first date. All of those thoughts and questions... all of us wondering if we really were going to become the incredible friends that we each hoped we would. Somehow we hit a time warp along about the second week, and popped out the other side eight months later... but with a wealth of friendships and memories that usually take years to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">accomplish</span>. Like the Chronicles of Narnia, one minute we're just ordinary people sitting on a bench in a train station, and few moments later we're swept into the most incredible adventure of our lives. In that place we've learned to love, to trust, to hope, to have courage, to believe in what we never thought was possible before. Now, back on the train bench and back into our daily lives, we look very much the same on the outside, but something entirely different is true on the inside. We're not ordinary. You're not ordinary. You've become kings and queens, rulers and servants, and maybe most of all - a band of brothers and sisters willing to do anything for one another in a dark and dangerous world. As we pass this season to the next I pray that you all remember three key things.<br /><br />First, your reward is and always will be Jesus. No experience or event or relationship can compete with the intimacy in Jesus that you have come to know. That alone is the greatest currency and residual you can ever carry from this place. It is the only thing that will ...<em>go anywhere, do anything, and pay any price...</em>with you for the rest of your life. Never betray it. Never underestimate it. Never grow weary in your pursuit of it. Jesus. That is the summation of what you came for. Let not your journey here ever be in vain. Jesus obsessively - THAT is the vision. There is no other.<br /><br />Second, value and respect the shared experiences of your fellow <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">sojourners</span>. Tell the stories often. Remember to remember. Memories in your mind become like legends and fables that transcend the intellect and take you back to the place of heart - where the deepest truths in you are held, determined and lived out. These in turn become traditions and a sort of life-liturgy that begins to form the contours of your belief systems and values for community, mission and the body of believers.<br /><br />Third, love beyond all recognition. All the leadership principles in the world are useless without love. The apostle Paul says in I Cor 13 that if you can't look into the eyes of the very ones burning you at the stake and have genuine love for them, then you've missed the point of the Gospel. Leadership isn't about taking over, it's about using the influence you have on loan to transport the heritage of Jesus ministry to the next generation. Whether leading in the office, the church, or the home, remember that the most valuable commodity any leader can possess is love. It is the fuel for living. It is the cause for dying. it is the ultimate reward of serving the ONE whose name is Love.<br /><br />I would like to say to Jana <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Philbrick</span> - keep pressing in; what He has begun in you He will carry into completion, never doubt it... to Morgan Clark - believe that you really are who you've dared to believe you are this year; a man of courage and might - a man that loves extravagantly with no reserve... to Carter Moore - bro the same way that you take snapshots of people's lives, the Lord is taking snapshots of your life! He is crazy about you, your picture is posted all over His fridge, He is proud of what you have become and insatiably excited about who you're going to be...Alana Settle - you are a breath of refreshment; your greatest contribution is not in what you do, but like a wild flower - <em>in who you are</em>; your inner beauty is a delight that causes all who pass by to pause for a moment and see a piece of their God in you, His creation... to Kenneth Gracia - never let anyone talk you away from a cliff, to stay IN the airplane, at the bottom of a mountain, to settle for less - you live on the edge, you were designed to live on the edge, it is His preference in and for you; enjoy taking life to the extreme - you'll probably experience God most there...<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">CJ</span> Hock - every once in a while God breathes energy and life into a being in double portions, that is surely you! May the passion and zeal for living that you possess always take you where others have not the strength to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">tread</span>, you are one of a kind...Jessica <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Bowles</span> - may what you most earnestly desire and what He has planned for you become inextricably one; may you truly seek first His kingdom and see all other things added to your life...Jessica <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">Seigler</span> - had the South won the civil war, I would have been first in line to hear the sweet Southern accents in these Norther parts :) You light up a room by your presence, wit and gracious candor; I could wish for twenty more just like you, but <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">there will</span> always be just one Jess <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Seigler</span>... Megan Cox - if fervency and joy are a recipe of Heaven, they you must be it. You are one of the most encouraging and life-giving people I've known...<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kacee</span> Saxe - may the wisdom and preponderance that you possess lead you deeper and deeper into the mysteries of God. You're intellect and desire for truth are a gift of God that He has given you for that very purpose; enjoy the greatest journey ever known in to the depths of the Unknown... Sean Shepherd - your steadiness and integrity are telling; one could accurately project that thirty years from now you will be loving God, loving people, and changing the world, no doubt about it...Megan <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kallenback</span> - <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">overcomer</span>; there is hardly a better word to describe. It is not the great heights that men accomplish externally that are most impressive, but the greatness of the wars won inside - that I believe will be most noteworthy on That day...Chad <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">Prytula</span> - it is your humility, not your strength, that is most impressive; may every venture find you being exalted by our Father in Heaven as you continue to be the incredible servant leader that you are... Joshua <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">McGinely</span> - you are a man of wisdom and steadfast patience; tempered men often accomplish more in their focus than ten others in their untrained zeal. You will conquer <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">mountains</span>, being undaunted, one step at a time...Brandon Smith - no height, no depth, no distance is beyond the vigor and passion He has put in you to reach. May your gentle spirit and zest for life lead you from the forgotten paupers of the third world to the palaces of Kings, and may favor be granted wherever you put your hand to succeed...Jacob Wheeler - may the dedication and excellence you have garnered thrust you into realms of leadership and responsibility that are prepared for you; stay the course, never give up taken ground...Jennifer Bell - if joy and laughter could be bottled and sold, every one in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">DLA</span> would be millionaires! Your love of life is a gift beyond measure; it is not to be squandered or mistaken, but employed to love the hurting, the forgotten, the lost, and the very ones around you that need you most. You are a pillar in this community...Ryann Miller - may the melodies and harmonies of tune be indistinguishably woven into the heart-<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-error">cry's</span> and passions of our Savior. What you possess in music and worship is only a foreshadowing of what is yet to come in adoration at the Throne; use it well to speed the day of His return...Abigale Dean - with child-like simplicity of heart and compassion for people, I pray that you are continually ushered into the presence of our King as surely as literal children were of His day; you are precious, let the image of being His daughter remain the untarnished truth of your life... <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" class="blsp-spelling-error">Jaylynn</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_19" class="blsp-spelling-error">Widmark</span> - like Joseph in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_20" class="blsp-spelling-error">Potiphar's</span> house, while you still serve in yet unknown places, may our God train you in all wisdom and truth that you might one day rule as one approved unto God for purposes that only His heart can unfold... Nicholas Burgess - may no giant, no storm, no foe, no philosophy or intellectual ascension ever steal from you the raw fervor of spiritual things that you posses. May He continually bear fruit in you unto eternity, may you, like Peter, walk on water when all others stay in the boat...Leah Shaw - you are a beautiful <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_21" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">jewel</span>, made to reflect and adorn all others around you with joy and life; wherever you are, there is a greater degree of love and happiness in that place...Jacob Nash - you are ready in season and out of season for whatever comes your way; you seize opportunities that many others may miss because of your willingness and preparation. You are a model of ready anticipation...Aaron <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_22" class="blsp-spelling-error">Gambrell</span> - let love and faithfulness never leave you; you are a loyal friend and willing ally; may your journey be littered with friendships that are as committed as you are...Hailey Miller - you are a women of wisdom and skill; I pray that the dreams and passions of your heart are fulfilled in His timing and way. Love fiercely and never deter from His plans for your life...Melissa <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_23" class="blsp-spelling-error">Zackman</span> - may the strength and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_24" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">commitment</span> to principles you possess always be used for the glory of the our Lord; may He continually place you like a guidepost for all who cross your path...<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_25" class="blsp-spelling-error">Abree</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_26" class="blsp-spelling-error">Manton</span> - women of valor and zeal; you have such joy and consistency; may you lead many and be yourself led to heights <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_27" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">unimaginable</span>...<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_28" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kinzli</span> Schroeder - you are a vast treasure of unknown strength and beauty; may the Lord continually lead and unveil you before many people as His chosen one in whom He takes great delight...Jessica <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_29" class="blsp-spelling-error">Teske</span> - you are full of life and vigor; I have no doubt that wherever the Lord leads you, you will take ground for His kingdom; remember who you are, remember the authority that resides in you, never shrink from the battle line, the battle is not yours...Charity Luce - you have wisdom and posture beyond your years; you are a women of great patience and faithfulness; you have served when no one was looking, or maybe you thought no one was looking :) You are a rare and significant treasure, a pioneer or sorts, paving the way for many others to follow... Sarah <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_30" class="blsp-spelling-error">Hanback</span> - you awe your Creator; he delights greatly in you as the apple of His eye; for those around you, you are strength, commitment, excellence, and a safe place to be loved and listened to... Jeremy Dare - you earnestly desire to accomplish great things for the Lord; remember that you are a prince and a king in His court; serve from that place, not out of obligation or duty, but out of delight and the pleasure of co-creating with your King... Andrea Davis - you have the zeal of ten women, and the raw determination to accomplish whatever task is before you; be faithful and enjoy the incredible joy of partnering with Him for your life's purpose... Josiah Carlson - it is not great men before an ordinary God, but ordinary men before a great God that change the world; may your view of God continually increase beyond your own imagination and may you serve mightily in all the works of your hands... Alyssa Rose - true to your name, you are a rose; one which gives off the aroma of Jesus in all seasons and places; allow Him to continually build in you the power of child-like faith, faith that will move mountains and cause giants to tremble before you... Kylie Erwin - you are so full of life; I pray that the joy and timing of all that the Lord has for you will find its perfect fulfillment in you; trust that all of His purposes will be fulfilled in you in <em>this generation</em>...<br /><br />To the CORE, Kelly <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_31" class="blsp-spelling-error">Edgett</span> - may the skills and willingness that you possess allow you to serve in measures you never dreamed of; you are a delight to lean on and trust with as a faithful steward...Kristina Trent - like a sister and a daughter to me, you have grown so much over the past two years; you have served faithfully, loved extravagantly and risked to become who you are today, I am so proud of you...J.D. Small - a mighty warrior my friend; the sky is the limit of what will be done through you in this generation; I pray that ministry never becomes a burden, but always a delight as you pursue and fulfill God's utmost for you; I love our friendship...Joel <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_32" class="blsp-spelling-error">Newby</span> - bro, you are a diamond in the rough; this year has been one of a great uncovering for you as you've begun to lead and take the steps to risk and become all that God has designed you to become... Tyler Griffith - you are a man's man, simply being around you causes men to be men :) You are faithful, steadfast, humble, willing, a servant, full of courage, willing to sacrifice and a man of immeasurable strength. It is a privilege to journey with a man such as yourself, really...Benjamin Martinez - you have been heavily gifted with so many talents its hard to know where to start; in the end, as at the beginning, I pray that you are more aware of your incredible capacity to love people than anything else; you have been given a tremendous gift to lead; I pray that no matter where or how, we have many many years together...Jimmy Jones - an unknown hero, and I'm convinced one of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_33" class="blsp-spelling-error">DLA's</span> best kept secrets! :) You have overcome so much, led from a place of humility and patience, and been willing to take a lower job even though you may be qualified for a much higher one; I respect you greatly and am so very proud of you... John Mark <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_34" class="blsp-spelling-error">Lohner</span> - you are man of tremendous compassion; may our great God use you mightily to display His glory around the world, and may many people from yet unknown tongues call on His name because of your life...Brandon Kelly - You have loved <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_35" class="blsp-spelling-error">unapologetically</span> and with great care; I am excited to see you spread your wings and risk to see <em>perhaps</em> what magnificent things the Lord will do through you...Aaron Thomas - you are a rock; men with wisdom, humility and integrity like you are incredibly few and far between, I'd trust you with my life... Jamie <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_36" class="blsp-spelling-error">Dunham</span> - with patience and poise you have led and loved well this year; there is no limit to the number of children you will love; I think 20 is <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_37" class="blsp-spelling-error">waaay</span> to little :) There will be many who line up behind you on THAT day that will tell of your great love and compassion for them; may it be so... Jessica <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_38" class="blsp-spelling-error">Reitveld</span> - friend you are a pastor of leaders; I pray that the wholeness of what God has put in you would come to fruition, that you would know fully who you are and the purposes that He has for you; may many leaders come under your care... Sarah Schroeder - I believe you barely know the tip of what He has put in you! You are a queen and princess to your Heavenly father and He has plans for you as such; I am so proud of what you have become and are becoming...<br /><br />To the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_39" class="blsp-spelling-error">ATeam</span>... Jonathan Miller - we're just getting started; may the wisdom and willingness you have grant you a place before Kings; you win... Taylor Brooke-Donaldson - you are one of the most steady and reliable people that I know, truly an unsung hero; I could not have done this year without you...Bethany <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_40" class="blsp-spelling-error">Diehl</span> - your laughter and joy are contagious; you have been an inspiration and model for so many people these past two years, and the best days are ahead! Remember who you are... Benjamin Johnson - you have the heart of a lion and the loyalty of King; wherever you turn I am confident you will succeed; may His strength and joy be your unending delight.<br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><br /><br /><br /><div><br />To the staff of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_41" class="blsp-spelling-error">DLA</span>... Amy Perkins - I don't know that I have seen someone spin as many plates as you do without dropping any of them! You are amazing. I appreciate your honesty and willingness to have open discussion; I have much respect for you and look <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_42" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">forward</span> to leading together in the years ahead. Thank you for all that has gone noticed, and the many many more things that no one has seen. You truly are incredible. Daniel Well - <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_43" class="blsp-spelling-error">Geeza</span>, you have been a breath of fresh air and at times a life boat; thank you for your wisdom, temperance, and incredible ability to bring things to cool place when they have been at a simmer. I respect you immensely and pray that God continues to open every door for you and the dreams that He's put inside of you. I love working together. Yo-yo - brotha you are one incredibly gifted and talented man! I have sooo loved your incredible heart and passion for this ministry and in how you have served. I am so grateful for God's goodness in bringing you to Colorado. Love you like crazy. Michelle <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_44" class="blsp-spelling-error">Vette</span> - you are a tremendous well of wisdom and spiritual discernment; I know that those who sit under your leadership will walk away having experienced more of wisdom, and much more of Jesus. It has been a privilege to serve with you these past two years! Phil and Bonnie - you are the best parents a tribe could have! We love you all dearly! Justin - thanks for making happen with one man what should take eight men; you are incredibly impressive my friend, I look <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_45" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">forward</span> to all of time the Lord allows us to journey together.<br /><br />To our leadership in Dan, Dave and Renata - thanks for your vision, your patience, and your <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_46" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">commitment</span> to fulfilling the mandate on your lives from God. You have been faithful where so many others have fallen away, you are <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_47" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">examples</span> to the rest of us and pillars in the Body.<br /><br />To my beloved wife of almost one year... you truly are my best friend, partner in ministry, and greatest dream ever come true! I love you beyond what words can express... our journey begins!<br /><br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_48" class="blsp-spelling-error">DLA</span>, I love you, I am proud of you, I am so excited to have started a journey with you that will continue until the day of our Lord's return. Until then, remember... <em>If you love God and you love people, you can knit socks and change the world!</em><br /><em></em><br /></div><em></em></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4137208617454389291.post-21430838334705729102009-01-27T18:33:00.002-07:002009-01-27T18:46:22.069-07:00Wounded to Love<div align="left"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">Most of us are willing to love people but few of us have an experiential understanding of what it really means to love sacrificially the way the Lord loves us. How could someone leave the indescribable glory and intimacy of Heaven in exchange for a life of betrayal and torture on earth? If what you’ve experienced here on the planet is anything like what I’ve experienced, then you’ve observed the grand disparity between what most people would refer to as love and what we see in the love of the Lord Jesus. How did the Lord courageously endure the pain and suffering of the cross, in love? The uncompromising conclusion I have found was His <em>willingness to be wounded for the sake of loving</em>.<br /><br />The issue each of us must wrestle through is our own willingness to be wounded. What we ultimately desire is love, and we’re well aware of the command of Jesus to love. But simple awareness of our responsibility does not produce the sacrificial living that births true love.<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="color:#ffffff;"><strong>Love that doesn’t cost the lover is not love at all.<br /></strong><br />I’m often drawn to the story of Hosea, who among the prophets had one of the lowliest routes to Biblical fame. I’m not sure that if I woke up one morning and received a word from the Lord to go and marry a prostitute I’d be super quick to get out of bed that day. Doesn’t sound like my idea of building a spiritual fan club. But Hosea is obedient, and what is even more amazing is that after Gomer leaves Hosea and returns to her ways, God instructs Hosea to go again and bring her back. As odd as it all seems I can only imagine the pain and confusion that Hosea must have suffered. “God, isn’t there a better way to get the point across to Israel? Don’t you think we could just write it in the sky or something?” I can only imagine the Lord’s response, “No, Hosea I want you to know in the pain of the human experience what I feel in the eternal reality of the Lover’s experience. “You’re love of Gomer must cost you in reflection, what my love of people will cost me in my son”. Pain, suffering and trials – all these are the alibi and footprint of Love.<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="color:#ffffff;"><strong>Is there no better way?<br /></strong><br />For many years we’ve been told the stories of brilliant soldiers, sons and daughters of Christ that endured great personal tragedy for the very chance to love as Christ loved. We’ve read passages like, “I’ve been crucified with Christ…” and, “I’ve resolved to know nothing but Christ, and him crucified…” and all along thinking that we have something beautiful to offer in the laying down of our lives. However you approach it, the undeniable truth is this: our death is His invitation to end all the selfishness and all the pride and all the failure. The doorway to life-abundant was hewn from the cross of life-forsaken.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Love breathes outwardly what it lives inwardly.</strong><br /><br />Our great folly in the Christian life is that it often requires a larger withdrawal of love than most of us have within our resources to pay out. The Apostle Paul stated it this way; if you cannot look into the eyes of the very ones burning you at the stake and have genuine love for them, then you’ve missed the entirety of living as Christ lived (I Cor 13:3 paraphrased). Did you ever wonder that “God so loved the world that he sent his only son…” (Jn 3:16) was followed by, “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him [Jesus] and cause him to suffer….” (Isa 53:10). Could it be that in the same way the Lord was pleased to wound Jesus for love’s sake, he could also be pleased to wound you and I? For, indistinguishably woven into the fabric of love is the golden strand of pain.<br /><br /><em>As Christians, if we do not choose to be willing to be wounded to love, then all else we endeavor to do will become irrelevant.</em><br /><br />May we never feign love. May we never sow with our words what we refuse to reap with our hearts. Get alone and be honest with God. Wrestle with him through your fears. Confess that you’ve vested more in your ability to avoid pain, than in his ability to carry you through the great depths of love. Then, tell him that you are <em>willing</em> to be wounded. Give Him permission to injure you even before circumstance demands it, so that you might truly have counted the cost of loving sacrificially. Ask Him for a soft heart that will allow you to love <em>freely</em>, uninhibited and resonating with the powerful expression of Jesus Christ. Let us be a people that from our very deepest recesses are <em>willing</em>, even at great personal cost, to love beyond all recognition.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Our hearts are epic.</strong><br /><br />They were never meant to be hidden from the wilds of life. They were not designed to be stowed away in the cargo bays of our existence. They were meant to be challenged, motivated, stirred, impacted, <em>even wounded</em>. They were meant to lean into the wind from the bows of great ships, forging the vast ocean before them. They were meant to savor the highest highs and endure the lowest lows. We cannot harbor them safely in the confines of protected living. No, they must sail through experiences and face the perils of life’s voyage head-on.<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="color:#ffffff;"><strong>We must risk living. We must risk loving. For if not, then what have we gained in our existence?<br /></strong><br />There will be those times and places when we will inevitably be wounded. These experiences will leave scars on our hearts. But the last thing I want to do is enter Heaven with an unscathed heart that has no scars from loving and losing. At the end of my days I expect that my heart will be strong, but not flawless, powerful, but not beautiful in the smooth untested sort of way. I expect that it will have a great many battle stories to tell of loving, losing, and loving again. And the deepest scars will be a testament to the things that I fought, and if necessary died for. Therein I pray will be found the wounds that came from the rescue of many lost souls. I want it to be so. Not because I am a masochist, but because I want my heart to bear the remembrances of a life that loved with reckless abandon.<br /><br />May our great Heavenly Father who fashions hearts help each of us be <em>willing to be wounded to love</em>. This is the greatest commandment and doorway to loving as Christ first loved us. For when we’re willing to love <em>even</em> unto death, no fear remains in us and we truly become fully alive!<br /></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4137208617454389291.post-35577646211964803412008-11-06T21:22:00.003-07:002008-11-06T22:09:07.336-07:00Addicted ... gotta come cleanPeople, there are some things that should just be said...things that need to be out in the open...and, speaking of addictions, I guess that the first thing you do to address them is to come clean - to tell people that you love, and trust that they'll come along side of you through a journey of recovery. But, to be perfectly honest, I am happy to be addicted no matter who comes along and I hope that I never recover! Some say it's rebellion and I guess they're right.<br /><br />So here it goes... I'm insatiably addicted to the presence of Jesus ...and I've decided to rebell against all the whinning wish list of comforts my flesh brings before me everyday...the excuses to entertain lethargy, to breathe easy, to just give 90% and call it 100%. I'm done trying to make that man survive... Why, because I've TASTED AND I'VE SEEN! And Oh! how good HE is to behold! I'm addicted and want more of Him...there is nothing like it in all the world...or existence for that matter.<br /><br />Tonight, at the Gathering - the Furnace's weekly meeting, I so got that tiny taste of God that drives you running, looking, searching, even doing crazy stuff like - going without food, just to get another piece of Him. Tonight was one of those nights for me when I just wish that time would stop and that there was energy enough in my body to keep singing, keep dancing, keep playing, keep crying out for more... and somehow, at the end of a massive and satisfying feast, all I want is more. What a kingdom dicotomy. You're never more hungry than when you've just left the Master's table! It's one of those times when you hear your love-sick heart admit, 'I'll do this a hundred times more, week after week, night after night if perchance, just if perchance He might show up!' What a whirlwind of heart and passion catapulted into an endless story of adventure, sacrifice and love - His story... or maybe HIStory, as it shall be told! :)<br /><br />Just had to let my heart out for a minute... May His Kingdom presence strike us, may we never recover, may the addiction spread and may we find ourselves...just ordinary people who've trainwrecked with the supernatural God... around a throne with a great multitude of people, in the most indescribably cataclysm of worship created beings have ever known.<br /><br />I love all those that call upon the Lord. I love His Church. I love Him. And I long for His return.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4137208617454389291.post-26380913774270352112008-07-31T20:45:00.003-06:002008-07-31T21:15:11.617-06:00Bigger than life!Hello all of you incredible people on the planet! Especially those of you that are dedicated to living this phenominal journey we call the Christian life! What an experience! I was in a meeting not too long ago where the presence of Jesus was so strong and he was touching peoples lives in a powerful way. I turned to a friend and whispered, "This is so incredible! I could do this for the rest of my life." He immediately responded, "I can't imagine doing anything but this". How true it is, I am addicted to Jesus - and everything he does!<br /><br />So, welcome to the DLA blogsite... I will be your host, and am definately looking forward to getting to share and "know" so many of you through our thoughts and conversations.<br /><br />This weekend, I have been enjoying the excitement and passion of our third Desperation conference this Summer, Michigan, Colorado and now in Alabama. What a blast! It starts with rolling into town a few days early and connecting with friends and pastors that we love. Just yesterday we were plunging into a pool and leaping over one another to catch a nerf ball in the water. Moments later we were playing a sweet game of two-touch football - the older crowd verses the younger ("older" by which I mean Dave Perkins, Dan Perkins, myself and some others) - and we won I might humbly add :P And then of course pizza, exciting conversations, and off to an amazing night with young people.<br /><br />We've had an incredible time already loving on friends, conference attenders and even some strangers. These conferences are such an awesome time to see people encounter the presence of Jesus and make commitments to change, press in and follow hard after the Lord. I love this more than I know how to say!<br /><br />I sincerely look forward to the times ahead that we will share! I love you all! More to come soon!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0