Category Archives: Spiritual Growth

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Floating The Upper Jack’s Fork River

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to float down the Upper Jack’s Fork River in South-Central Missouri. That’s right. I went canoeing in January in Missouri. 

And it was awesome! 

I was a little nervous about the trip, to be honest. This may have been one of the more dangerous things I’ve ever attempted. Because if I’d taken a dip in the river, dry clothes and immediate warmth would be crucial for my health, perhaps even my survival. 

Fortunately, I didn’t go in. We had a couple of close calls; but we stayed dry. 

This float was actually a sort of youth minister’s retreat led by Joel and Ronnie from Discovery Ministries, near Eminence, MO. There were nine of us on the river together. I had the opportunity to share a canoe with my younger brother, Rick. We had a good time. 

The Upper Jack's Fork River

The Upper Jack's Fork River

We put into the river at Blue Spring, just outside of Mountain View. Actually, Rick and I put in there. There rest of the group put in downstream a few hundred feet. The river was completely frozen over. Rick and I thought that if we got out into the middle of the river, the weight of our canoe, with us in it, would crack through the ice. So Joel gave us a big shove out onto the ice. 

It didn’t crack. 

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I Can’t Stop What God Is Doing!

TitusLast night, I was sitting in my office at home, catching up on some reading. My son, Titus, came in to talk to me. He’s five. He was going on about something he found on a website or some game he played online. It was entertaining to listen to him and watch his excitement.

After that conversation was over, I simply stated, “Titus, you’re getting too big. I want you to stop growing.”

With his arms flung wide, he replied, “I can’t stop! God’s making me grow! I can’t stop what God is doing!” There was a ton of excitement and passion in his voice as he made that exclamation.

There’s a truth there if we have the eyes to see it. Who am I to stand in the way of God moving? Whether it’s causing a child to grow, like Titus. Or it’s causing me to grow. Or my church. Or the kingdom.

I can’t stop what God is doing. My responsibility is to align myself with His will and allow Him to work in me and through me.

How is it, then, that I get so wrapped up in what I’m doing, in what I want, in what is going on in my life? How is it, then, that I seek sometimes, it seems, to squelch what God is doing and elevate my own agenda to the top of the list?

I can’t stop what God is doing. Nor should I want to stop what God is doing. Rather, I should display some excitement and passion in my life about what He is doing. And about the fact that He has chosen me to be a part of it.

Thanks, Titus, for teaching me more about God and my faith. It’s amazing, the deep faith lessons one can learn from a five year old…

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When Bible Reading Gets Boring

Bible ReadingI’ve always had a hard time when trying to read through the Bible comletely. I come across so many stretches of Scripture that seem so tedius. These passages seem, well… boring. Why in the world would God allow that to remain in the Word? What possible benefit could that have for my life today, in 2009?

My approach has been varied over the years. There have been times when my bull-headed nature took control and I simply plowed through the passages and kept going by sheer will-power. Other times, I’ve taken a more circuitous approach and broken those boring passages into more manageable chunks and scattered them throughout my reading schedule. Sure I missed out on some context, but I got them all read…

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Wilderness!

Wilderness LogoCIY Wilderness is in seventeen days!

I am so excited about this! Wilderness is a retreat for people in ministry. Check out their website here.

Wilderness is five days at Bear Trap Ranch, in the mountains near Colorado Springs. Wilderness is a time to be alone with God and his Word, seeking him and his will for my life. Wilderness is a time to rest in the solitude found in the mountains, away from the pressures of the office, the phone, email, twitter, facebook, and texting.

Wilderness is discussing life with other men in similar ministries. Discussions wll center around:
     • Retreat – withdrawing to be with God
     • Reliance on Jesus
     • Following God’s call on your life
     • As Christ loved the Church – marriage

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One Of Those Terrible Days

Have you ever had one of those terrible days where nothing seems to go right? I have. In fact, yesterday was one of those days.  

House For Sale SignI have been so stressed out lately. Our house in the Branson, MO, area is still on the market, which translates into two monthly house payments that we have to pay. Fortunately, we were blessed with some financial gifts during our move that has covered one of those payments each month for us. So it didn’t have to come out of our budget; which is good, since I took a pay cut by coming to Mountain View. We are having to re-figure our budget, scrimp more, spend less and generally adjust to a tighter income. At least till we pay off all of our credit card debt (in about three more years!) If we had to pay two mortgage payments out of my weekly paychecks, we would have sunk long ago.  

But those extra funds are running low. We have enough in our savings to cover two more months of those double payments. After that, I have no idea what we will do. Our hope and prayers are centered around God’s provision right now: we are praying that he provides our house to a new owner.  

So my stress level has been high lately. And then yesterday came along…  

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Camping Retreat

I’m back. Back from spending the last couple of days in the woods. Just me and… well me. And my Bible. And a couple of books. And some good coffee. 

I left home Thursday morning around 10:00 or so. After stopping for gas (and a honey bun), and then stopping back at home to pick up something I forgot (I don’t even remember what I forgot!), I was off. I went to Eminence, Missouri, to Discovery Ministries. 

Upon arriving, I took some time and set up camp. Since I was the only one there during the middle of the week, I had my choice of camping spots. I picked the most secluded spot I could find. You can see my tent in the photo… 

My Campsite at Discovery Ministries

My Campsite at Discovery Ministries

 

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Reading List for 2009-2010

BooksSo I’ve been really thinking and praying about what I need to soak into my life over the next several months in my reading schedule.  And I think I’ve finally narrowed my list down to a manageable amount.  And by “manageable,” I mean I’ve narrowed it down to about twenty books that I feel like God will use to teach me this year.  Just twenty.  Out of dozens more that looked like I would /could gain from reading them.

This is a pretty optimistic list.  Because I know there will be several other books that will make it onto my shelf to be read this year as well.  For instance, anything new that Ted Dekker releases will probably take immediate priority.  I just can’t help it.  Dekker is the unchallenged favorite fictional author that I’ve ever read.  He’s even trumped Tom Clancy and John Grisham! (for shame!) 

But after browsing in bookstores, and Amazon, and my own personal library…  And praying over the books that I’ve pulled from the shelves or purchased… I feel like God has identified these books to meet needs in my life and in the lives of my family, and eventually in the life of our congregation.  

The impact these authors could have in my life is potentially enormous.  I pray that I’m big enough to take it all in, and process it, and grow from it…

I plan to post my reading list here in a day or two.  If you have read any of the books I list, and want to make a comment about them, I would love to hear it.  And thank you for it.

Stay tuned…