Where's Waldo

Early in ministry I had a friend who was a high school youth minister at the church where I was the College Campus Minister. Jayson, I and a third amigo (the Children's Minister) would tease each other quite brutally. Our desks were in the same small room of a renovated house on the church property. One year, near Jayson's birthday, we decided to take him to Disneyland. Yet this was no ordinary trip to the Magic Kingdom. You see, Jayson looked a lot like Waldo from the Where's Waldo books. Because Jayson was a good sport and we promised to never ever refer to him again as Waldo, he let us disguise him as Waldo. We were not ten feet out of our car in the vast parking lot when a little boy ran up and said, "Look mom, there's Waldo." That's how much he looked like him. That afternoon I laughed so much my side ached for a week. There was even chatter on the security radios that linked the agents in the park. A friend of ours worked security and said that there was an unofficial contest to find Waldo.

It was a blast to have so many folks looking to find our friend, Jayson. But what about finding or pursuing God? I don't believe God is hiding or missing, though, He may often be in disguise. Sometimes God is hard to recognize if we do not have our eyes trained to see Him. The writer's of scripture and worship songs ask God to, "open my eyes."

My question today is: Where are you in relation to God? He is not hiding but are you seeking? My favorite description of the journey to full devotion to Jesus has three phases:

Faith - our initial belief in Jesus Christ and His forgiving and life giving work on the cross.
Conviction - our belief now forms our decisions and determines our values, actions and places to serve in our community.
Consecration - our conviction fully grown now saturates our life. In this phase we are so wholly surrendered to life in Christ that His purposes are ours.

So pause for a moment and ask God to open your eyes and help you see where you are in your faith journey. Where do you want to be found?

Grace and Peace,

Troy

One Life Together

Monologue or dialogue. It is a choice. Do we talk to others or with them? Do we speak and hear or share and listen?

Do you remember "show and tell" in kindergarten?

The first part was to bring something (or someone, favorite pet) and then to share about it with your class. But, most of us forget that the most fun part was getting the follow-up questions from our classmates... If you ever get a chance to experience a show and tell day in a local kindergarten. It will bring deep joy and true laughter to your soul.

That's what this blog is supposed to be. With this new beginning, I hope that this blog will be a collaborative environment for many in the One Life Church community. I invite all to write, share personal stories and uncompleted thoughts. The key element here will be grace. Permission to share without pious judgement and dogmatic argument. Please honor all those who share and comment as it is a courageous thing to participate. Also, for those of us who like to hear ourselves talk (or type). Be courteous and patient as not everyone can fill four web pages (front and back) without taking a breath. Each post will be reviewed for expressing the grace-filled tone and being family-rated.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth is our model. He spoke to all kindly and honestly, yet was never rude or hurtful. Even when speaking with the oppressive political elite or hypocritical religious leaders you almost hear his heart breaking. He said to many, "you are close to the Kingdom of God". Let's pray for one another to experience the revelation of a God who so out-loves every earthly example.

A new Grace and Peace,

Troy

Stumbling Toward God

A number of you requested the quote from Leo Tolstoy from yesterday's message. The context is that even though we are not perfect, sometimes hypocrites, often inconsistent in our living for Jesus, we can still point to the Way of Life that He modeled for us.

Attack me, I do this myself, but attack me rather than the path I follow and which I point out to anyone who asks me where I think it lies. If I know the way home and am walking along it drunkenly, is it any less the right way because I am staggering from side to side.
Leo Tolstoy

I found this reference in the recently released book, UnChristian.

Grace and Peace,

Troy

Trail Head

A few weeks ago I shared about envisioning a pathway for spiritual formation for our families. It is less about a formula and more about a shared road of God-experiences. This is not to say that we do not have a plan, its just that the plan is a beginning point. Like a trail head.

A few weeks back I have a week with two of my sons. We do this every few years. I spent the first half of the week with my middle son and then the latter half with the eldest. We went hiking a few days (a different trail with each boy). We found each trail head and started there. Sometime we stayed only on the trial, sometimes we ventured off a bit to get, what we thought, was a better view.

The passage that serves as inspiration is Deut. 6:1-9. It is a picture of a whole life filled by God's good presence, experienced throughout each day in the most ordinary ways. A few of you asked for the short prayer we shared together. Is it simple way to begin each morning individually or as a family. It again finds the inspiration from Deuteronomy:

[4] Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. [5] Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. [6] These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. [7] Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

As you rise, we God and others in your home, join in a prayer of receiving the day:

Thank you God, for this day. I receive it as a gift. This is a one-time opportunity. Help me to live it well. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Grace and Peace,

Troy