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We are off to Orlando to take our daughter Leanna (15) to the Revolve Tour. It is a tour designed for teenage girls... Vicki will be attending the tour with Leanna... and I will tkae some time to visit my Dad and Step mom... might be quiet on the blog till Sunday unless I blog from the iPhone.
My friend David Kerr has a great post on his blog that he pulled from an old Leadership Journal article... it is excellent.
Enjoy...
Southwest Airlines has the catchy phrase- 'Want to get away?' What pastor doesn't, ah, to be free from people! On a desert island, alone.... If this is you then consider this.....
Pachomius was an Egyptian soldier won to Christ by the kindness of Christians in Thebes. After his release from the military around A.D. 315, he was baptized. Serious about his new faith and determined to grow, Pachomius became a disciple of Palamon, an ascetic who taught him the self-denial and solitary life of a religious hermit.
In early Christianity, the model of devotion was the recluse dedicated to resisting the corruption of society. These hermits wandered the desert alone—fasting, praying, and having visions. Many went to extremes: eating nothing but grass, living in trees, or refusing to wash.
Such was the popular image of holiness: solitude, silence, and severity. And such was Pachomius's early spiritual training. But he began to question the methods and lifestyle of his mentors.
How can you learn to love if no one else is around?
How can you learn humility living alone?
How can you learn kindness or gentleness or goodness in isolation?
How can you learn patience unless someone puts yours to the test?
In short, he concluded, developing spiritual fruit requires being around people—ordinary, ornery people. "To save souls," he said, "you must bring them together."
Spiritual muscle isn't even learned among friends we have chosen. God's kind of love is best learned where we can't be selective about our associates. Perhaps this is why the two institutions established by God—the family and the church—are not joined by invitation only. We have no choice about who our parents or brothers or sisters will be; yet we are expected to love them. Neither can we choose who will or will not be in the family of God; any who confess Jesus as Lord must be welcomed. We learn agape love most effectively in our involuntary associations, away from the temptation of choosing to love only the attractive.
So Pachomius began an ascetic koinonia, where holiness was developed not in isolation but in community. Instead of each person seeking God in his own way, with the dangers of idleness and eccentricity, Pachomius established a common life based on worship, work, and discipline.
In community with flawed, demanding, sometimes disagreeable people, followers of Pachomius learned to take hurt rather than give it. They discovered that disagreements and opposition provide the opportunity to redeem life situations and experience God's grace. Thus began genuine monastic life.
Pachomius, while largely forgotten in church history, points out to us that as attractive as solitary sanctification may seem, it is life amid people, busyness, and interruptions that develop many of the qualities God requires.
from Leadership Journal 1993
A couple of years ago, Leanna and I went with a team of people to Scotland to help start a skate church. One of the pro skaters that went with us was a guy named Dave Reasbeck. What an awesome guy! Deeper, the skate church is still going strong in Unit 23, the largest indoor skatepark in all of Scotland. This is a video about Dave Reasbeck and Scotland.
This morning Vicki and I went to see Mike Huckabee speak at the Fish House in Pensacola. I took these pics with my iPhone.
I have to say I was impressed. He spoke with clarity, conviction, humor and a real passion for America. Vicki said he had a twinkle in his eye as he spoke. i liked him a lot.
Will he be our next president? Doubtful, but I do think he would be a good one.
After he spoke we spoke with him and shook his hand. Now maybe it doesn't impress you that I shook Mike's hand... but think of it this way... I shook the hand that shook the hand of Chuck Norris.
And that's gotta impress you...
Not sure how google earth gets this kind of stuff, but here's a God's eye view of Moses and his team crossing the red sea.
Technology eh?
***Today's service was amazing! The worship team took the stage during the preservice countdown... and took control from there. They really went for it... not holding back. Man, I didn't want it to end. I felt like God really moved on a lot of hearts today as we talked about overcoming failure... and if you weren't there... let me just say this... you never can tell what I'm going to do on a Sunday morning...
***Our big sign out front just stopped working... so at night its dark at Coast right now. Someone is out working on it... but I hate when things like this happen.
***Lots of new faces today... that always makes me happy.
***Not quite sure what to with myself... I realize we still have the superbowl, but I am already going through football withdrawl. That's not good.
***We just went thrrough a massive project, where we completely pulled up our old concrete drives and went down with asphalt. We also put in our new irriagtion system. When spring hits we are going to look fantastic out front... but right now... we look like a front lawn of dirt.
***Because there is a lot of the dirt in the front... alot of people have moved to parking in the back... the problem is though... that if the front parking spaces are not filled... we can be packed inside... but outside it looks no one is here. I believe a crowd draws a crowd... so we need to get everyone filling up the front lots first.
***I am really looking forward to seeing U2 in 3D.
***Some really cool things coming to Coast as we work our way to Easter. More info on that coming.
***I was telling someone this afternoon... how cool it is to be able to do what you love doing... and God gets glorified. And as I was thinking about that... I realized that is really God's plan no matter what we do. The bible says do what you do as unto the Lord. God wants us to be a ministry whatever He has us doing.
***The weather is so much better today... still coolish... but much more like Florida.
***This week is a huge planning week for me... am really looking forward to staff meeting on Tuesday.
***One last thing... I really love the people who have become a part of Coast... What a blessing to be a part of a team like this!
On Saturdays I usually work all day on my message... and then I try around 6:30 or so to start settling down... and enjoy the evening... and just kind of rest up for the Sunday Celebration...
Can I tell you... its the hardest thing to do in the world... I start getting excited about Sunday morning... usually about Sunday afternoon the week earlier... I am thinking about it all week... And by Saturday night I am usually so stinking excited I can hardly sleep!
Tomorrow, we finish up our "Heroes" series and its going to be an amazing morning. I am so excited about it, its just crazy... And so many cool things are coming up... This year just keeps getting better and better.
So, if you are in the Northwest Florida area... hope to see you tomorrow!
Wow, Can you believe another week has passed? I hope you're week has been good. Mine has. Its been a learning week... lessons behind every little incidence. God saying things and teaching things. You know, that's a great place to be. To have those times where God is so clearly communicating with us.
Many go through life saying, "Where is God? Why can't I hear Him or see Him?" I find myself seeing Him and hearing Him everywhere. In a moment of doubt, He reminds me He's there. In a moment of temptation, He let's me know I can overcome. In a moment of weakness, He shares his strength.
I see Him as I look at the waves on the beach. I hear Him in the laughter of the little children running and trying to catch the sea gulls. I feel Him as the wind comes across my face. Psalm 19:1 tells us that "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands."
I wonder how different life would be if we began to see God's daily interaction in our life? ...if life became an ongoing conversation with the one who created us?
My challenge to you this week... Ask God to open your eyes to help you see Him. He loves you. He wants to be involved in your life. Every part. Every little tiny part. Take the rest of the week, and let it be God awareness time. He is with you always. He said He'd never leave you or forsake you.
So what would your life be like, if you always had the awareness that God was there? Would you still cut people off on the highway? Would you be nicer to the check out girl at the store? Would your TV viewing habits change? Would you feel different? Would you feel more secure? Would you feel more loved?
Sounds like a grand experiment... why not give it a try? Let me know what happens.
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