Exhausted

There have only been a few Sunday's in my ministry which I have felt exhausted. Today is one of those days. This means I will have to push through morning services on pure determination to complete the work laid before me. More importantly, anything of quality and consequence for the ministry day will have to come from God. My tank is on fumes and I am ready for a break.

Jesus had times when he needed a break, so he would withdraw to quiet places. I am not going off by myself this week, but I am going to spend time with my family, and time simply relaxing. Yes just when the tank is empty, it is vacation. The precious time when God can renew and refill my soul.

Vacation means for the next week blogs will be random at best. Continue to check each day, but I may not enter each day.

The Quest For Truth

There is so much joy in the quest for truth. I am convinced that Truth, note the capital T, exists. Additionally I am convinced Truth is found ultimately in God. There is only one major problem, as human beings, there is not one single person who knows the complete picture of Truth. This is not an excuse to slip into relativism or your truth is your truth and my truth is my truth. Rather it is the acknowledgement of our limitations as humanity.

So who's truth is closest to the Truth? Are some truths more true than others? The painful and difficult answer is yes. Only, we as humans do not always know the difference. There are times when Truth can be know by humans, but we do not hold the complete picture. The real measure is not whether or not there is an accumulation of truth, rather is there a living of the truth that has been revealed. There is also a measure of our willingness to quest for Truth. In fact it is more important to be on the quest, than to think we hold all the answers.

The Paradox of Followers

Over the past few days I have been ruminating about the fickle nature of us human beings when it comes to matters of following God. Fueling the thoughts have been my readings in Hebrews and the minor prophets. Adding fuel to the thought fire is also a chain of recent events. At a local church the pastor just resigned. For the past two years I have been in this area the pastor had been struggle to move the congregation, the largest non-catholic in our area, to a new place. As you might guess the resistance was large, and many left the church. In my own church I struggle with how to get people to engage in the work of God through the church, or how to move past convenience Christianity into vital life-giving Christianity.

So what are the results of my musings? We are strange creatures. There is within all of us a longing for something more, something greater than ourselves. At the same time there is an ever-increasing desire to have everything on our own terms. We want a life with God, only on my schedule, my comfort level, and my determined level of commitment. There are times when our lives say, I will whole-heartedly serve God, as long as it fits my schedule.

In the life of the church, God's vehicle for the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ for the transformation of lives and all the world, this gets played out in many ways. There was a day and time when people scheduled life around the work of God at the church. Now that work must be fit in around all the rest of life.

The paradox is we want all of God we can get, and we recognize our need for something larger than ourselves. Only we want to be in control of what is larger than ourselves, we want to control God and God's involvement in our lives. We are such funny people.

Complete With A Bow On Top

I find the more questions I ask, the more questions I have than answers. For a long time this really bothered me. I am a big fan of having clear cut and definite answers. I am learning to be more comfortable with mystery and uncertainty. It is completely possible that I do not know the whole story and I do not have complete understanding.

What would happen if we stooped looking for nice neat answers, complete with a bow on top, and began truly seeking after God? Instead of reading the scriptures to prove our point, read the scriptures to learn God's point. Do we remember the Bible was never intended to be a scientific document of proof to beat people up with? The Bible is a companion for the journey. It is our guidebook, our map.

Our scriptures are intended to prove who God is, or even prove the existence of God. It is simply given that there is God. What our scriptures point to, which is really the point, is the live giving relationship God longs to have with us. There are parts of the book I do not understand. There are parts that I struggle to see how God is cultivating relationship. And I am learning to live with that mystery a little better each day.

I do not think we live in a world that is looking to have all the answers. I do not think we live in a world that needs to have everything in nice neat packages, complete with a bow on top. I do think we live in world that is hungry to be on a quest to experience relationship like never before. The relationship God longs to give us, if we will allow the opportunity, questions and mystery in all.

What's The Deal With The Bible?

For the past 20 some centuries there have been a collection of books, organized into what is called a canon. This canon we might know as the Bible. For many the Bible, or the scriptures are the foundation of a journey with God. From the scriptures knowledge of who God is, what God has done, and how we should live can be gained. Still there are many struggle points with the good book.

So why is it that the Bible faced unparalleled scrutiny among the holy books and other historical documents? There are all kinds of reasons. Some say it is because of science. Others will chime in and say because of the miracles. Still others claim doubt because of the way we see God in the Old Testament. There is also an aspect of looking at the scriptures which has been tainted by what other humans have done with the words given to us. Many a times, unfortunately I myself have been here, humans take the scripture and distort it to fit their message. This is pretty backwards, yet still done my many if not all.

However, there is one reason the Bible is questioned which overrules all the others. The content of the Bible is not merely history, it is not merely literature, the content of the Bible deals with our moral life, and calls us to a high moral standard. If I admit the Bible to be truth, and something I should pattern my life after, I will have to change my life. If I can discard the Bible as story or myth, I can live however I want to, with zero perceived ramifications.

Now I am willing to admit my bias, I think the Bible is not only the single most important book on my shelf, I think it is the single most important book ever written. I do believe it to be 100% truth. I do believe I should conform my live to it, not it to my life. I am also willing to admit I do not have a perfect understanding of the what is presented int he Bible. I must interpret what is there into my life and the lives of those who I shepherd, but I am not the final authority on the interpretation.

In the end we should read the Bible, study it. We should challenge and ask questions. We should seek to investigate all the claims of God through the scriptures. In doing so we need to be open to the idea that God is at work in those pages, and our lives can be forever transformed for the sake of the world, if we would allow it.

Lessons From a Moose

Over the past few days I have been involved with the hunt for the great moose. Being in Maine, I thought it would be a rather easy and quick hunt. All I can say is... wrong. It took great effort and persistence. We drove for miles, we searched the shorelines, we waiting while the bugs were on full attack and, nothing. Then when we had all but admitted defeat, in the dim light of twilight, there is was. Then as we drove home, in the dark, there is was again and again.

There have been times when my spiritual quest has been parallel with my moose quest. There has been a great search and great effort only to feel like I came up empty. I have been on the verge of giving up on this whole God thing. And wham there is God in full glory. Then while traveling on a road new to me, and the fog all around, God continues to show up.

Why is it God seems so elusive? Could it be that God is right there and I keep missing Him? I shutter to think the number of moose I went right by every day or while on the intentional quest. I wonder how often God is right there and I am moving too fast, or looking for the wrong thing. Or even worse, I just am not looking for God in ways and places which involve only my understanding.

So much to learn from the moose/

MIssion in Maine

The joy of being on a mission trip is the clarity which it brings. It becomes easier to see what matters most, and what it is that God has called me to do. I am convinced I waste so much time on things which do not really matter, and neglect the most important things. So much of what the church spends time on is chasing the wind, it is meaningless.

It seems real simple to me, do what ever we can to serve who ever we can. Let God sort out the rest. Here are a few pics from Maine