Gettin on the train

Ever since I was a little kid, I have wanted to hop a train. I have had this fantasy of jumping in an old box car as the train chugs along, and riding it as far as it would take me. I imagine the train taking me to wild adventures and places I could only dream of. It is one of the few adventures I haven't lived.

There is something symbolic about the whole thing. As I reflect on my life now, I realize that the drive to jump a train has diminished considerably as I live out my life as a grand adventure. It keeps me alive just trying to keep up with what God is doing. Because every day is a new turn - the scenery that passes by the box car door of my life is always changing, always stretching me, always pushing me to new limits, and then breaking those limits. The adventure of faith has kept me more than entertained.

It is sad to see the numbers of people who settle for sitting in the seats safely in the station. It sure is a lot less dangerous, but it also lacks in stimulus to make you want to get out of bed in the morning.

If I were to throw down one challenge to my readers, it would be this; enter the adventure. Jump on that train that God engineers, and let Him take you where only God knows where. It will make your heart beat like never before. And it will stretch you beyond imagination. But what a grand life to live!

Dawn's Early Light

As I sit here, it is five something in the morning. It is Sunday, and in a few hours I will be busy doing whatever it is I do on Sundays. It is dark, and the house is quiet. I have the little portable heater pulled up close to my feet, trying to stay warm in the early morning chill.

As I reflect, I feel my aloneness. It feels good to be quiet and still, unhurried by the cares of what is to come this day. In my reflection, I am reminded that I am not really alone - I never am REALLY alone, because Papa sits with me. He loves me enough to sit quietly when I am too busy to talk, and He listens with heart engaged when I turn His way.

I guess that probably doesn't sound very profound - that God is always with me. But that is the very point; His presence isn't predetermined by my awareness. He IS always with me (even when I don't want Him to be). He will never leave me or forsake me. He and I are forever joined - Father and son, Friend to friend, Brother to brother. And knowing on any level, let alone the deeper ones, that I am never truly alone, feels really good. I am never alone.

And knowing that I am never alone, that in the middle of my confusion and lostness in life I sit with God Himself every moment, changes my reality, if I realize the truth. His presence changes my reality, my experience of life - He always does. But something even more profoundly shifts when I am aware of that presence. When I acknowledge what is true every second of my life - that He is with me - my life changes - because I am not alone. He doesn't have to part any seas or bring fire down from heaven. He doesn't need to make staffs bud or enemies defeat themselves. Because He IS - like He was at the burning bush, like He was at the cross. His presence is always enough.

Thank you Papa for the promise of the ages - for the promise that we are guaranteed You will always keep.

Do you wear your faith or live it?

One of my big frustrations with Christianity is that some people see it as a performance to put on. Evangelism and Bible study and church attendance become things to do, not a way to live. The events become the end goal, not the reason for the events. It is like our faith is something to wear because you are supposed to wear it, like a three piece suit on Sunday. Nobody REALLY likes wearing one, but you are expected to.

So are you wearing your faith, or are you living it.

Plugged in but not connected

Several years ago I actually was able to say to people that I didn't have an email address. It seemed back then that everybody wanted one. Now I not only have more than one email, but I also have a blog, a website, a book, more than 50 articles on the web, and Facebook. And then there are things like Twitter that I have not started yet. Let's not even go to cell phones, instant messaging, checking email from a phone, and all the other techo gadgets....

It strikes me as odd that we can connect with other people a hundred different electronic ways, but we really don't connect with people. We are plugged in, but we aren't connected. I wonder how much real relating is happening. I talked to a friend on the phone today on the way to work, and it was great to talk, but I longed to deeply connect - an option that doesn't seem to be available through the many ways we have to 'connect'.

More options, less substance. Makes you wonder where are we heading as a nation, as a people, and as the body of Christ.

It is funny that society is so interested in connecting....but not really.

After He Rose

So it is the day after Easter. It should be one of the most exciting days of our year, but it usually means we go back to the same old routine without much having really impacted us.

I was thinking about what today would have been like for the disciples. The very hope of their existence had come true - He had risen. And so began the adventure. Because from His rising till today, it has been a wild and crazy ride. I mean, think about it - tomb empty with angels hanging around, unpredictable visitations from the risen Christ, personal encounters that redeemed the fallen and doubting, Him magically appearing all over. Think about the church sharing daily, then the dispersion, then persecution. It has been much more than an adventure.

So why is boredom the biggest struggle most Christians have? I suppose because we have traded the adventure for the predictable. After all, it is a lot safer.

The day after He rose - isn't that where the rubber really meets the road? Otherwise it is just another holiday full of bunnies and eggs and pastel flowers. So when the rubber meets the road in your own life, what will change because of the celebration yesterday? Does He live? Or did He rise in vain? The answer will be determined in how you live today.

Commercials

I was driving to work this morning and listening to the radio. At about the 126th commercial, I shut it off. As I drove relishing the silence, it dawned on me that commercials are a choice we make. We are just as culpable as the Radio stations and TV stations in the whole mess. Somewhere we agreed to a TV commercial every 10 minutes. When I was younger, it used to be every 15, but some rocket scientist discovered that you could get more commercials in if you did them every ten minutes rather than fifteen. So we sit on the couch and agree to sit through an interruption every ten minutes. We agree to stupid commercials when we run out and buy the peripheral item that we really don't need. Commercials convince us that we need them. What a farce!

What would life be like if we were to unplug from it all? If we stopped being okay with a commercial every ten minutes, what would happen to our world?

Why have we created this system? Is it working? Or more accurate is the question 'Do we want it to keep working?'

My book is in print!

After months of work, I got my book published. "The Steps Leaving the Church." I can't tell you how excited I was when the Fedex guy finally delivered it. Ripping open that package and seeing something I created was an event I won't forget easily. If you have been a blog fan, check out the book at the link below;

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/the-steps-leaving-the-church/6616767

Reading my own words in book form has been really weird. Some of the pages I read sound almost profound, and I can't believe the words came from my little brain. Other pages I will blame on someone else. I don't know if the book will go anywhere. I guess ultimately it really shouldn't matter. I wrote it for me, as a celebration of the journey God has taken me on. The rest is up to God and what (if anything) He wants to do with it.

Here's to little accomplishments and future hopes!