tomorrow night at the gathering we will bring not only this current series awaken humanity to the finish line, but also we will bring the last 4 months across the finish line.
this will be the most practical and visual example of 4 months of teaching culminating down to an understandable, NOT EASY reality of who and what we have been called to be.
i ask that you pray for clarity and confidence...
much love,
F
this is a reminder that after the gathering on wednesday night we will be having a tacky christmas sweater contest...
WEAR A TACKY CHRISTMAS SWEATER...
get over it... just do it!
F
call it human nature... call it making excuses... call it a fear of commitment... call it what you want, but i think that there is an epidemic, a problem that plagues north american christians... (obviously i am being very general and not specific here)
i am reminded of a talk talk that we had in september during our foundations series where the disciples were crossing the sea of galilee on a boat (because that is what you cross water in) and jesus had gone beneath to sleep and a storm had hit and the disciples FREAKED out! they were literally scared for their lives. they go beneath and wake jesus, he comes up and calms the wind, the rain, the waves, the storm and turns and looks at his disciples and questions their faith... "you of little faith, why do you doubt."
i think the epidemic that plagues us, that plagues me is to trust me, ourselves more and before we trust him.
it seems as though we get scared or tentative about the journey... about the price that it costs to follow him.
friend... where is your faith?
are you sacred or tentative?
IS HE ENOUGH?
IS HE OR IS HE NOT?
stay the course... run the race... there is light...
F
don't miss the finger prints of god this weekend...
they are ALL around us... currently looking like snowflakes falling from the sky and resting on the limbs of trees...
god, the personal and intimate artist has painted another truly awe inspiring painting for us... i hope that we don't miss it... i hope that i don't miss it!
F
there are times in life that you are a part of something that when you look back you realize that at that moment something changed... something happened that forever changed you.
i have had several conversations in the last two weeks that have had a depth to them in the way that i don't remember a time before this of having conversations of such depth.
something resonates in our souls when we explore what this life of following christ looks like and when we understand that we were reserved for something more than what and who we are.
i believe that for many of the people in our community they will be able to look back at this month in their lives and see a hinge point that something changed...
welcome to life...
F
let's just get right to the point...
there is WAY too much talk in america and coming out of america about accessing god for our own benefit... (this has come to be known as the health, wealth and prosperity gospel).
it does us no good to name people or churches in america that are preaching this so-called gospel... that will be divisive and could potentially be ugly and in no way want to go there...
i believe that god is trying to have a different conversation with us.
to describe something that was amazing or something that impacted me greatly... i often use the phrase... "my face fell off" or something that has to do with "your face melting off" or "i am still looking for my face"... something like that.
but last week, a buddy of mine shared this video with me that literally RIPPED MY FACE OFF!
let this video remind you of the REAL gospel... the real life that we have been called to live.
life is beautiful thing in itself... but there is POWER behind a life that represents and reflects the gospel.
you are the gospel.
are you willing to let god take you to a place that your life can be a gift to the world?
make no mistake...
this is a life of sacrifice...
this is a life of a servant... don't look for greatness or fame
this is a life of worship...
what would your life look like if you lived a life of worship?
STOP and think about that... what would life look like if you lived a life of worship?
we often think and i hear people say all the time, that what happens at the REALM on wednesday nights at the gathering is the highlight of their week... or when people go to "church" on sunday mornings they "really" worship god... may i suggest that the time we have together on wednesdays is an incredible time to be together and worship together and that i agree and if i were being truly honest, it is definitely one of the highlights of my week also...
but may i suggest also that what happens at the gathering is indeed NOT the apex of our worship... i think that the apex of our worship is when we leave this place, when we leave HERE and live THERE that we truly worship and that people truly see god.
you see... true worship serves objects of god's love - what does god most value? what does god most love?
PEOPLE...
you want to REFLECT our creator, because after all we learned last week, that is simply our purpose, live a LIFE that serves people... live a life that serves humanity...
life a life that LOVES...
to love is to be fully human.
F
where there is no hope, there is only despair.
life is frail…life is fragile…
this past week in our community one of the students’ grandfather had passed away at the age of 77. some would say that is young, others would say that he had lived a full life.
this morning I received a phone call that a senior at a local high school, had passed away allegedly from drug related causes. i am assuming that he was 18 years old.
life is frail… life is fragile.
if life is so frail and fragile, don’t you think that we should take the time to learn how to live? i think that there are few people who ever live life to the fullest. one of my mentors used to say, “gulp life, don’t sip it.”
so how do we live a life filled with hope?
we now have a sense of destiny… which should give us hope.
we know that god says that those who hope in him, he will give them strength.
he is our hope… and he will give us strength.
without hope, there is only despair.
Live,
F
this month at the gathering we are attempting to answer a question that some may assume is quite subjective but one that I feel has been answered for us.
what does it mean to be human?
this past wednesday night at the gathering we started the process that will ultimately and hopefully leave us with a sense of destiny… we now know there was something special reserved for us in god’s creative process that no other thing or creature created was meant for. there was nothing else that was created in his image and made with his breath… the greek word that was translated breath is the same word for spirit… we are the only things in the creative process that is both physical and spiritual.
there is something special about you and me…
there is something special about life…
there is something special about your LIFE…
may we learn how to live to fully…
may we learn how to live to fulfill our destiny…
may our lives reflect our creator…
F
ultimately i think that our failure at life comes down to an awareness issue...
WE LACK AWARENESS.
...ultimately blinding us from HOW we are living and what we value. essentially, when left to ourselves, we take the short cuts that life has to offer, knowing that the journey is difficult. BUT, the short cuts steal crucial points on the journey and we miss the things that we need to become to the person that we were meant to become and build that which was intended to be built.
therefore... by missing crucial things along the way, there is NO way that we can FULLY live life!
i mean... it is SO CLEAR... right?
the more self absorbed we become - the less self aware we are!
can i become aware of my need for less of me and more of him?
i guess more of him = brighter reflection of him
brighter reflection of him = more opportunity of REAL life
this is life
this is our purpose...
MAY WE REFLECT...
F
it's still wednesday night... 11:38 and i am still in the office reflecting on the night that was... i guess that i naturally have a heavy heart after the gathering on wednesday nights... some nights it seems to be more than other nights... tonight is one of those nights.
i think that the best way that i can articulate this feeling is by comparing the feeling to that of a parent that needs to say goodbye to their child as they go off to college or something like that.
it's sort of protective, yet proud, sad yet excited for what awaits him or her ahead... but you never know what or who is going to come back.
as a pastor, week after week, i see faces come and go, life altering and life changing stories that make me smile, deep and in the trenches conversations but still they leave and go and they experience this thing called life...
are they prepared? i wonder...
will they make it?
will they be successful?
does this "stuff" make sense?
will they reflect christ?
how will they handle the tension when life squeezes?
all this stuff floods my mind, overwhelms my heart and ultimately leaves the boundaries of my control.
so...
yeah... he (god) is that good
experience him for your self... (taste and see that he is that good)
this thing called life is a gift...
MAY OUR LIVES BE A GIFT TO THE WORLD...
F
i have never been more excited (i feel like a little school girl... not that i know what that feels like, ok a little awkward now) about a series like we are going to dive into this month.
here is a little teaser...
Q: what does it mean to be human?
wow!
is that capital A-mazing or what?
often times i hear people tell me that the conversations we have and the dialogues that we jump into at the REALM with our high school students is way too DEEP for a high school student... i think they are wrong... in fact i know that they are wrong!
this month i guarantee that your face WILL FALL OFF!
much love,
F
the past series that we have just finished... glimpses... is all up to date in itunes on our podcast...
here is the link...
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=268974252
F
starting this week we will start a new series called awaken humanity...
this is a call to LIFE... to live life and answer the question... what does it mean to be human?
it seems like a subjective mess of a question, but i think that there are some pretty concrete thoughts that follow this question.
we can take it a little further and wonder what it looks like for a human to be fully alive...
this is going to be a FUN series...
see you wednesday night
F
meaning is not created... meaning is discovered!
i have said this dozens of times in the past month and it seems to keep coming back up... and it keeps coming back up in the form of the mantra that we have sort of stumbled upon this year at the REALM...
we seek to STOP pretending...
and START pursuing...
the question that we need to ask ourselves is it worth pursuing?
or better yet...
is he worth pursuing?
is it worth it to you?
never stop exploring...
F
