08.30.08
Posted in creation, relationship at 10:14 pm by Administrator
I read an amazing blog piece called Wait for It by Amy Gustafson. Her analogy in comparing the finding of her wedding dress and the “WOW” that comes from it with God’s relationship with her and her relationship with her fiancee. Her fiancee is Patrick Oden who is also a tremendous author and blogger. He is featured on my links.
I think that is what many of us have lost or are missing in our lives. We fail to see or experience the “WOW” that God places in our lives everyday and all across his creation.
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08.26.08
Posted in Ministry, Pain, missional at 2:22 pm by Administrator
I was taught and it has been my own personal experience that one’s mission or ministry in life often stems from the source of one’s greatest trial, pain or suffering. Recently when I was watching a Youtube video of Donald Miller at Point Loma Nazarene College’s Writer Symposium by the Sea, a question towards the later part of the video addressed the area of pain, both in life and as an aspect of his writing. He references a calling to his being a wounded healer to others through his writing by sharing his experiences through empathy and the assurance that people are not only in their experience. Then I thought about the testimony I shared on the Lofter’s Life blog recently on the Teamloft website managed by my friend Bob East. Wasn’t that living the role of the “wounded healer“?
Many of us minister to others through our words, deeds, actions and writing because of the hurts and pains we have suffered and been through. It is the former alcoholic taking an active role in assisting those who are trying to escape the throes of alcoholism. It is like Donald Miller who created the Belmont Foundation to mentor to those who grew up without a father much like Donald. Whether it is greeting people because you realize how greeters helped you to come to Christ or creating a ministry to assist those families with Special Needs children because you had a special needs child yourself and could find no assistance.
Donald Miller references a quote by Bishop Desmond Tutu when he was asked who should be on a committee for reconcilliation in South Africa where he says “the people who should be on this committee are people who are victims. People whose lives have been ripped open and they have gained an education towards empathy. These people should be wounded healers” This quote is found in Antjie Krog’s book “Country of My Skull“
Attached is a transcript of the part of Donald’s interview I found so interesting. The video is about an hour and it’s towards the end.
“There’s a depth to… because my life has had some pain in it….there a broader range of colors with which to paint with. You have had joys and you have had lows, and you understand those things. And so if you want to talk about the human experience, there is a broad range …of tools you can use to do that.
” I think it enhances the work a little bit…. There have literally been times when I have wondered whether God gave me the experiences that I had in order that I could write them down and other people read them and not feel alone in their experiences. And, there have been times I have been pleased at that. That God would do that. And there are times when I’ve not wanted that. You know, I don’t want to deal with this….
” There’s a great line from Bishop Tutu in a book called “Country of my Skull” by Antjie Krog. She is talking about the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. And Bishop Tutu was asked, ….., he is putting together a commission to try to… bring parties together, bring groups together, establish the healing or begin the healing process, Tutu was asked by the committee, what kind of person should be on this committee. And Tutu said, the people who should be on this committee are people who are victims. People whose lives have been ripped open and they have been gained an education towards empathy. These people should be wounded healers….
” I read that, and could only receive that as a dignified calling. That God doesn’t say “Look, this stuff happened to you so you’re just a loser or whatever. God says this happens to you. You have a choice here: You can both become a wounded healer and walk other people through it or you can let it take you and drown in it. And I clinging with everything I got to the wounded healer, because girls like it more…”
Donald as usual inserts his humorous style there at the end.
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08.25.08
Posted in Communication, Holy Spirit, prayer at 12:33 am by Administrator
I know, it kind of sounds like Yoda giving Luke Skywalker some advise, but I truly believe that God talks to us. How God speaks to each one of us will differ as everyone’s walk is different. Only Moses got the burning bush. Noah got a rainbow. I believe that God speaks to us in many ways. It may be through the Scripture, through an experience, through other people, or some for of direct connection.
Case in point, one of my kids and I were traveling down the highway discussing things along the way. My child asked me if I thought God was real. I said yes I believe that God is very real. “Well, how do you know?” was the counter question. “Well, God has spoken to me and he speaks to all who will listen.” At this point, I told my child of several of the experiences I encountered over my years in relationship with Christ. Still struggling with doubt, my child said, “You know, sometimes I wonder if God is really out there.” Before I could reply, I then heard my child say “You have got to be kidding me.” I asked , “What do you mean?”
A big truck had come into my child’s sight. On the front of the truck, was a giant, glowing cross. As soon as the words of doubt had come out of my child’s mouth, this truck came into my child’s view. I never saw the truck, but my child did. It was a powerful message to my child, but I believe it was a message just for my child and not me.
God speaks to us in many different ways. What I experience will be unique to me, though the message will always coincide with the Scriptures. It part of the relationship that God pursues with us and that we should share with Him as well.
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08.24.08
Posted in God Centered, relationship at 12:25 am by Administrator
I once heard Steve Sample, the president of the University of Southern California, speak at a conference. He joked that his pastor was going to kill him for saying this, but that he had been an Episcopalian for 44 years and a Christian for 25. The thought slammed into my mind like a runaway train filled with explosives and diesel fuel. How true is that statement? If we think not just for him, but for all of us, we find ourselves living lives where we have all the religious trappings upon us but the insides are hollow. The prophet Ezekiel referred to this as “when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash” (Ez 13:10). Jesus referred to Pharisees who were like this in Mt 23:27 as “whitewashed tombs”.
I have always said that it’s not about the ritual, it’s about the relationship. However today I heard a great presentation, by a fellow named John, who had prepared it for an upcoming Men’s Emmaus Walk for the North Houston Emmaus Community. He asked “Do we have a religion or do we have a relationship? Do we have a God or do we have a Savior? Do we merely believe in God and not fully believe God at work in our lives?”
This poses a great question for me. How do we know when we just have religion without the relationship? The answer is that we looked at how God is working in our lives. It really comes down to what our intentions are. So are we for real or are we just a thin layer of whitewash covering up a broken wall?
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08.23.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:24 pm by Administrator
PEOPLE I LIKE TO READ
First, is Bob East, who inspired me to start this blog. He is the creator of Team Loft
His blogs are
Movin On , A Lofter’s Life, Scribbles , and finally Java Talk
Patrick Oden is the writer of a great book called “It’s a Dance: Moving with the Holy Spirit”.
I also enjoy his blog Dual Ravens.
Andy Nixon is my pastor at The Loft, which is a ministry of The Woodlands United Methodist Church.
I enjoy his blog to. Andy’s Blog.
Bard Letsinger was my former small groups pastor. He is a pastor at Parkway Baptist Church in Victoria, TX.
His blog, The Ride, is a good read as well.
Terence Hagens is a crazy cat. He’s the young adults pastor at The Loft, which is a ministry of The Woodlands United Methodist Church..
His blog, Terence’s Blog
GROUPS I LIKE TO SUPPORT
The Walk to Emmaus is a wonderful 3 day retreat that is consists of a short course on Christianity and experiences that assist those on the retreat to experience God in their lives.
My local Emmaus community is Houston North Emmaus Community.
Pregnancy Assistance Center North is a church supported assistance center for pregnant women and other womens’ services.
The Source for Women is another pregnancy assistance ministry I support.
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08.22.08
Posted in God Centered, Spiritual Warfare, missional at 12:50 am by Administrator
I was reading my friend Bob East’s blog, Movin On where he talks about being missional and John Ortberg in the same post. The reference remindered me of a presentation that John Ortberg gave at the 2007 Willowcreek Leadership Summit last August. He talked about a concept he called one’s “shadow mission“. When he spoke about it, it really hit home with me and my own walk in relationship to God.
John Ortberg spoke about how everyone has a mission in life. As I thought about it I personally looked at it this way. When we are in relationship with God, He gives us opportunity to “join in his work” to quote Blackaby’s “Experiencing God”. Ortberg continued with an illustration about how one’s mission can be derailed. He said that many people think that when Satan seeks to thwart your godly mission that he tries to take us in the opposite direction. This, Ortberg said, could not be further from the truth. Often, Satan will take your godly mission and deflect it slightly. Just like archery or riflery, a small deflection can mean that you miss the target.
This bring Matthew 7:21-23 in focus quite well.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Ortberg said that in his case his mission is teaching and writing. However his shadow mission is seeking approval of others and seeking validation of his ministry through people. Ortberg made a chilling comment. If you do not know what your shadow mission is, then you are probably doing it. How about you?
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Posted in God Centered, relationship at 12:22 am by Administrator
I recently ran into a guy that I met at Taft Street Coffee in Houston. Now he and I really don’t have much in common, especially on a socio-economic level. This fellow one day had just walked up to me and began telling me his story about how he had found God. As he told me the story about how he had been addicted to meth and how he had wandered into the coffee shop looking for a glass of water. He told me that he had found so much more. It showed me that we need to be aware of the people that we meet and those that cross our paths.
Now 4 months later, I have realized how much I have in common with this lower classed, former meth junkie. At the time we met, he showed me his former track marks and I commented that I had my scars too but they resided on the inside. Every time we see each other, it seems we were made to help each other out. It is eerie how similar our struggles are despite how different we are. God had provided both of us a person who truly cared about the problems that we had and who would listen and give aid. It is sad that in my former Christian life I would have just walked away from someone like this who has been such a blessing in my life.
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08.21.08
Posted in creation at 10:09 pm by Administrator
First, I am not a big fan of the literal creationist crowd. Many of these people seem a bit obtuse for my tastes.
But many people fail to realize how much faith it takes to believe in a theory such as evolution as propagated by Darwin and other evolutionist. We are to believe that through chance mutation and random occurences that life grew from primordial goo to complex organisms. All of you mathematicians figure out the odds of that one. It is greater than the odds than when you calculate the probability of all the factors that make the Earth habitable and conducive for life.
Now people cannot deny evolution on a micro scale. It has been proven that species do adapt to their environments such as Darwin’s finch example with changes that help them adapt to an environment. There is a lot of documented scientific research there. However, it is dificult to prove that one species has morphed into another on a grand scale.
Creation as a whole cries out that their is something that has imposed order upon it. Life proceeds along orderly paths (albeit messy) and follows cycles and patterns that are seen in nature all around us. Modern science has tried to give us chaos theory, by pioneers such as Edward Lorenz, but even random events seem to follow circular patterns (aka “the butterfly effect”). Inevitably if there was once all chaos, what acted upon the chaos to impose order? Creation cries out the need for a creator. Many call this theory “intelligent design”.
Modern day scientists and humanists and scientific atheists all tell us that God and science are mutually exclusive with one another, yet I find that look and understanding creation of all that is around us screams out the role of a Creator. I have faith in that.
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08.16.08
Posted in God Centered, Poetry, Spiritual Warfare at 4:25 pm by Administrator
Someone close to me was going through a hard time. The person kept saying to me that “I am nothing”. This crushed me, because I knew this was not true. This was a person who was sad and depressed. Yet it got me thinking about things. I wrote this poem about it.
THE NOTHING
The Nothing wanders the paths of life,
consuming the substance of all that we love.
Into its gaping maw, all sources of feeling go
Consuming the energy driving one and all
The nothing it lies
The nothing it deceives
The nothing just binds and torments
destroying that which is free.
Doubting one’s life, doubting one’s soul
The nothing grabs on and on doubts does grow
The nothing does linger, the nothing does lie
The nothing confuses with thoughts that die
The nothing leads us down, isolated back roads
Far from the paths of those walking by
The nothing tells people, hold on to their pain
for embarrassment it will bring
The nothing says no one will understand what we feel
The nothing discourages
The nothing says hide
The nothing whispers to us that
The nothing is inside.
Soon we believe it, the words we hold as true
The nothing resides within us
and there’s nothing we can do
Soon hope in us is fading
Soon light is cast out
Soon nothing does become us
and leads us to the dark night.
by Brett the Lofter — 5/5/08
The nothing is the essence of spiritual warfare. It is the loss of hope. We change that by embracing a relationship with God. This is one of the tactics of the father of lies. If you feel this way, seek out the Lord. Look in the Psalms for there are many there who have fought this battle too.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 4:05 pm by Administrator
Left of Self Center was a group of words that I felt God press into my heart. I didn’t grow up in church in particular save for the once or twice a year pilgrimage to celebrate Easter or Christmas. I did go to twelve years of parochial to escape the local public schools however but that was a strange experience for a person who had been baptized as a Protestant but lived in a Catholic world. God intrigued me but in some ways I was a stranger in a strange land who was able to participate fully.
I came to true faith and relationship with God when I took the leadership of a small group that was meant to build up Christian families. What I saw was people being cast out and judged even though these were the people who needed to hear what was being said the most. I saw the hypocritical side of Christianity, the one I lived in my own life, face to face. It was not a pleasing sight to me. I stood up to these people saying that Jesus came for the sinner, not for the religious and that these people were being modern day Pharisees. Yet I was a Pharisee of the highest order myself in practice. Disillusioned I left the church.
Soon after, my life fell apart. I found myself in the proverbial pit, crushed by the pressure of the depths like Jonah experienced in Jonah 2. God found me there and he saved me. I began to realize that it wasn’t about the ritual, it was about the relationship. I wish I could say I got it right from there but God has had to continuously work on me, taking away the masks with which I hit myself with and breaking off the rough edges. I have had to learn many lessons that I now realize that many people struggle with: authority, rebelliousness, submission, self-centered versus God-centered life, the nature of relationship, humility, love, and many more.
Though I have always considered myself a Christian, I have only been a true Christian for 4 years. This blog is my attempt to share the lessons I have learned as I come to embrace my relationship with my God through Christ. I do not hold to any particular denomination stance as I believe that most of them have their strengths and weaknesses. I joke that I am a mutt Christian. Despite this you may see evidences of my past experiences in the Roman Catholic, Baptist, Pentacostal, Methodist, Prebyterian, Lutheran, and Non-Denominational style churches. I do embrace a missional stance especially in terms of building relationships with my fellow believer and I do agree with many of the ideas found in the Emergent Church movement as long as it doesn’t devolve into a Christianity Light mentality.
I am married and have 3 children and live in the Houston metropolitan area. Enjoy
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