Where on the path am I?

Well I just returned from visiting my family in North Carolina and I am operating on two hours of sleep so please overlook any errors that may occur. I saw my parents who are fighting the effects of aging, my neices and nephews are growing up incredibly fast, and my brother and sister are sharing in the transition of mid-life with me. It reminded me of Stephen Covey's thoughts on life where he asks one to draw a line representing your life and then to put an "X" on it where you think you are now living. This exercise initiates a variety of thoughts regarding your health and the evaluation of your priorities. So where do I think I am?

During our visit we sat on a couple of occasions remembering the old home town and the people that were a part of our lives while growing up. It is a lot of fun for us to recall the simplicity and pleasure of our home and its acivities. But as you progress through your life it also reminds you just how far you have traveled in this life journey. Herein lies the morsel of truth I would like you to chew on today.

It is easy to yearn for the good days of the past, even to the extent to where the good days of the future are sacrificed. I believe the recollection of preceding days and their experiences can and should be used to instill a feeling of anticipation for the future. My parent's miss the days of how church happened the way they like it. My siblings and I loved our youthful days and all of us have sought to provide "good" days for our children to remember when they grow older, but I saw two different responses to the reminiscing. One causes an ongoing struggle to reinstitute the old ways and the other builds energy within an ever opening mind which seeks to embrace the new old days.

My illness has not stopped my dreaming of what the future could be, although it has interrupted some of the planning. I want to encourage you that regardless of where your "X" appears on your life's timeline don't relinquish your hope for the future. Our God is of the future. Yes He is also the God of restoration but He does not do this to move us backwards but to have the foundation upon which our future can be built and sustained.

Stay the course my fellow sojourners. We live in the hope; we carry the hope; we share the hope.

See you later down the path.
John

The storm season is here

Sharon and I have survived the most recent rounds of storms with a loss of some food and some water in the basement bedroom. So compared with the Iowans and Chinese and the unfortunate of Myammar we are truly blessed and protected. Yet this morning as a gaze upon an ever increasing pile of medical bills related to my cancer my trust in God once again feels the tug of doubt. I know that He has promised never to forsake me and I do rely upon that but here is where a momentary sense of contradiction arises.

I have been reading some truly challenging authors and my thinking continues to evolve regarding the church. I am becoming more excited of leading the church towards the true biblical, organic design but right in the midst of this effort I have this diagnosis to deal with. OK Lord so we have another storm to face. The contradiction comes in the juxtaposition of the call to do this and the feeling that His protection had a bit of a gap in it. Intellectually I know what God has assured me of but it is in the living that the truth of what He says is revealed and my heart is transformed. So here is the challenge of this week: how shall I reconcile all of this?

I encourage you to read Dr. Len Sweets new compilation of postmodern thought The Perfect Storm because I think his summary thoughts at the end of the book give great insight into how we reconcile this. One of my favorite biblical stories is in Mark 4 where to escape the crowds Jesus has His disciples push of from shore in a boat. Shortly Jesus falls asleep and a storm begins to overwhelm them. In their fear they awake the Lord who then immediately speaks and the storm is calmed. The main point is not so much Jesus' power as it is the lack of the disciples faith in riding out the storm. Dr. Sweet says that instead of having the ride of their life they chose the lull of their life. This is not the choice I want to make nor should any of you who read this. I am thinking that God is allowing me this experience of Him on my journey so I can better translate it into the life of the church which for too many years has chosen the "lull of its life".

So as the storms keep hitting us let us all endeavor to enjoy the ride. See you later on the path.

The Journey Begins

There comes a time when one realizes that the life you are living is but one story amongst millions which are all under the umbrella of God's huge metanarrative. In this you begin to see that you are not lost or insignificant but rather one who is designed with purpose and responsibility to fulfill that purpose before leaving this life. I believe to record the insights that God gives me in this pursuit is part of fulfilling it. I tend to ramble so let's move on.

I am motivated to do this for two reasons: first as I grow in the likeness of Jesus Christ who I feel was and is the greatest teacher of all time I am beginning to release God in my life. For too long I tried to relegate Him to my box and based my interaction with the rest of the world on how well it fit into my box. There is no longer a box. I now have found freedom in Christ (as He promised) and no longer allow the divisions of man to determine how I will live with others. Political, religous, doctrinal, and philosophical differences pale in the greater light of seeking peace and unity as taught by Jesus. This is how I will honor Him publicly.

The second reason is that I have just recently been diagnosed with cancer. Having almost died in 1984 I now face this illness with a different perspective. I learned in the first encounter with mortality that I did not really have the most important things in life holding the positions of highest priority. I have tried to rectify that in the ensuing years, sometimes better than others, but now facing an upcoming surgery I once again am re-evaluating life. This blog will allow me to share that effort and possibly be an encouragement to someone else. I travel a new path experiencing God's mercies which a new daily but an old path of considering my own mortality. I find it interesting, yet a bit frightening.

The spiritual and physical journeys are as integrated as the mental and social and so I will try to update the travel experiences at least weekly. I invite you to join me.