Crystal Kirgiss is Susie's cousin and the gifted author of a growing collection of thoughtful books.

This poem was on the Kirgiss family Christmas card. . . . our family liked it. . . .

The Tree

"whether short or tall
bent or straight
young or old
full or bare-
once chosen and decorated
with tender care
each tree becomes lovely
bathed in lights
wrapped in color
clothed in newness-
a symbol of bent, bare, empty lives
chosen by the Father
bathed in Light
wrapped in Hope
clothed in Forgiveness
Reborn
because long ago
a tiny babe entered our world
and
shattered the darkness."

-Crystal Kirgiss

like an ox I'm slow

Here's the C.S. Lewis poem I read at the conclusion of yesterday's message, entitled "Making Space" . . . fodder for my Christmas pondering . . .

THE NATIVITY

Among the oxen (like an ox I'm slow)
I see a glory in the stable grow
Which, with the ox's dullness might at length
Give me an ox's strength.

Among the asses (stubborn I as they)
I see my Savior where I looked for hay;
So may my beastlike folly learn at least
The patience of a beast.

Among the sheep (I like a sheep have strayed)
I watch the manger where my Lord is laid;
Oh that my baa-ing nature would win thence
Some woolly innocence.

angelic visits

Just feeding my own soul on some historic Christmas sermons when I stumbled upon this insightful and thoughtful paragraph from a sermon entitled "The Maiden Mary" by the great reformer Martin Luther. . .

Quite possibly Mary was doing housework when the angel Gabriel came to her. Angels prefer to come to people as they are fulfilling their calling and discharging their office. The angel appeared to the shepherds as they were watching their flocks, to Gideon as he was threshing the grain, to Samson's mother as she sat in the field. Possibly, however, the virgin Mary, was in a corner praying for the redemption of Israel. During prayer, also, the angels are wont to appear.

Martin Luther had a habit of affirming our everyday life callings and offices. Housework is one among a great many of life's worthy callings. . . .and unavoidable for most of us. Don't you think?

Parable Moving

Here's a Trib article about the downtown Parable store moving to the Trader Joe's center.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/business/story/945259.html

I know this is a big deal for my friend and Grace congregant, Steve Potratz. Look for a way to encourage Steve and Laurie when you have the opportunity. I'm going to miss the Parable downtown, but I get it. . . .

what are you doing for advent?

Our family has enjoyed Christmas using various Advent traditions, practices, and helps the past few years. The last couple of years, we've used Noel Piper's Advent Calendar. Some of you will remember that I integrated this into our Christmas Eve service a few years back.

(Unfortunately, Desiring God Ministries is not selling the calendar this year.)

This year, a new family to the church was kind enough to give us "The Advent Jesse Tree" with a little tree and all the ornaments, too. Our kids were excited to try something new and we began last night on December 1.

One of the things that I liked immediately about this resource was that Christmas did not begin with the birth of Jesus, but with creation. We had a great little discussion about that last night as Haaken got to put the first little ornament, a globe, on the tree. The whole thing took a total of 10 minutes (I've learned the hard way to keep it simple and keep it short!)

The Advent Jesse Tree is going to walk us across the sweep of redemptive history on the way to the birth of Christ. I so desperately want my kids to know that Christmas was God's plan to bring salvation to the world from all eternity. I'll try and post some pictures of our tree once a week or so.

So what do you do for Advent?

It's not too late to go for it this year. Here is the outline of the Advent Jesse Tree devotions I found online. You could use these devotions and then create your own simple ornaments for no money at all.

Maybe another way to start and do something this year, would be a light your own candle's around an Advent Wreath on the four advent Sundays and read a bit of the Christmas story from one of the Gospels.

I'm sure the web has a thousand other ideas to help you celebrate Advent.

Don't make it complicated, but do something. Take yourself and your family to the Christ of Christmas this year. They'll love it and look forward to it next year.

Journey of Faith #3: Making Time for Growth Groups

I appreciate all our Growth Group leaders. Our elders have been talking much about the priority of Growth Groups here at Grace. We have got a ton of great stuff going on, but none of these are as effective as Growth Groups as providing a consistent environment of growth.

Stay tuned for a lot more about Growth Groups in the days ahead.

Winter Growth Group enrollment opens in the middle of December.

struggle of faith

In Sunday's message, (LISTEN HERE!) we looked at Abram's struggle of faith as a means to understanding our own. We all, at times in our lives, experience struggles of faith. We need to normalize faith struggles. We need to learn to more openly talk about faith struggles. We need to be prepared for faith struggles. We need to actively deal with faith struggles. . .

I have been thinking about the many different types and categories of faith struggles. . . here's my growing list of some of things that can be a parts of our struggle of faith. . .

job loss
killing of the unborn
wayward children
porn addiction
homosexual desires
government mismanagement
adultery
crisis in your business
health issues
overwhelming personal responsibilities
emotional issues
corporate greed
chemical imbalances that can give rise to health and emotional issues
unresolved childhood issues
substance abuse
aging
a troubled marriage
a desire to be married
divorce
broken relationships
personal isolation
senseless crime
feeling overwhelmed by bad news
unrealized, broken dreams
natural disasters
feelings of failure
pervasive uncertainty
unresolved guilt
systemic poverty
escapism/denial
starvation of children
aging parents
general discouragement/depression
death of a loved one
home foreclosure
fear of death
fear of the future
fear of failure
anxiety
homelessness

All of these and a million more can cause and or contribute to a struggle of faith. Is your "thing" on the list? Why can't we talk about these things and learn to support one another through them?

For God has not destined us for wrath,
but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep,
we will live together with Him.
Therefore encourage one another and build up one another,
just as you also are doing.
I Thesalonians 5:9-11

don't give me any static

Totally random, but fun. . . another parent sent me this crazy shot of Zeke with some outrageously staticy (made up word, one "c" or two?)

correction & redaction (UPDATED!)

In last Sunday's message, we looked at the strangeness of Melchizedek in his genealogy, titles, offices and greatness and how he points us to Jesus.

I spoke of the 4 offices ordained by God for the leadership of His people, Israel . . . prophet, priest, king and judge. . . and made the argument that Melchizedek is the only figure in the Old Testament to formally occupy more than one office.

I was mistaken and wrong. (Arghhh!)

A couple of people pointed me to Samuel, who according to 1 Samuel 3:20 was a prophet of the Lord . . .

All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD.--1 Samuel 3:20

And according to 1 Samuel 7:15, Samuel also served as judge. . . .

Now Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. --1 Samuel 7:15

Its possible, based on the early part of First Samuel, that Eli, too, occupied the offices of both priest and judge.

I don't like being wrong. That's just my pride. Who likes to be wrong?

But I really don't like being wrong from the pulpit in my preaching and teaching of God's Word. Why? Because I want to represent God accurately and "rightly divide His word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15). These are among my very highest pastoral priorities.

So, not only was I wrong, but I'm sorry to the Lord and to you for mishandling His Word.

In retrospect, I wish I would have limited my explanation to the 3 primary and classic offices. . . prophet, priest and king. The office of judge, from everything I can tell, was provisional and temporary, a sort of "bridge" between the conquest and rule of Joshua (what was he?) and the rule of the kings. It might be argued that all the judges were really prophets in their judging function or, in the case of Eli, a priest. So maybe its best to not think of judge as an "office" at all, but as a function of certain prophets and priests for a time and then a function of the kings later.

Anyway, I'm still thinking this out and I'd love your thoughts.

While this is an important clarification and correction because the details of God's Word matter, I don't think this negates my point in the message that Melchizedek is a singular and unique Old Testament figure in his offices of king and priest (we don't have any others who occupy those two offices!) and in this he points us to Jesus, the" true and better prophet-priest-king."

I'm encouraged by the active, engaged listening of our congregation and always open to your correction. While I don't like to be wrong, I know that I am and will be. Not the first or the last time. I am not, nor do I want to be, "the Bible Answerman" who has all the answers or has to be right all the time. Who wants to live like that? Rather, I'm on a journey, learning and growing and grappling just like the rest of us.

Hope that's alright by you. Hope that's the way you see it, too.

My mistakes are an opportunity for me to "live in the Gospel" and look to my Melchizedek.

How about your mistakes?


UPDATE . . .

I received this great email from my friend Leon Maksoudian in which he shares some great additional insights about the offices from a slightly different angle. I think his perspective is another way to see these distinctions . . . Thanks, friend!

Good morning Tim:

I think you were "primarily" correct in stating that the offices are distinct and separate. This is true if we distinguish that in their "Primariness" the four are different and distinct offices.

Yes, Samuel was a prophet but in the absence of judges he judged. Moses was a prophet primarily but he judged and ruled but not as a king. Solomon was primarily a king, but he judged between disputes that arose, and thus he was a judge in the sense of passing judgments. Deborah was a prophetess, Judges 4:4, but she primarily was acting as a judge because there were no others at the time, and she was in very special way the exception and not the rule. Only the Lord Jesus is fully, Prophet, King, High Priest and Judge. We can agree on that unequivocally.

The application to us today is that each of use are given a "primary" gift but we do exercise other gifts. The primary gift may be teaching but that does not preclude exercising other gifts. I did not think your teaching was in error, but rather no emphasizing the secondary functions that each of the four could do. David was king primarily but he did write many prophetic psalms and thus he was a "prophet" as well. Another example would be that a priest had to judge if the leper had been healed from his leprosy.

Blessings. Leon

carving it up

our four carving their pumkins. . . . so fun to see them love and help one another


the final product. . . and there are actually four little heads in their too.

around the world

Brandon Woods and Tyler Burns are two young men from our church who are on a missions adventure of a lifetime. . . . . read their blog at


http://www.worldwideopenasiatrip.blogspot.com/

Long posts, but worth the read and a window into their unique journey of faith!

Journey of Faith #2: Twins!

Here is my conversation with Andy & Jeannett Gibson from last Sunday's worship service. . . .



What's going on in your journey of faith? Ready to open up and share with others?

Unreached People Map Initiative

Maybe you missed our worship service on 10.18.09 where we introduced our Adopt-A-People Map initiative designed to help us identify an unreached people to adopt. Here's a clip of my interview with Tim Arlen, who is leading our Adopt-A-People Team. . . .



Here are those 3 questions we're asking you to answer. Think about them before hand and come ready to press those pins, so we can give as many people as possible a chance to participate. . .

1. Where in the world is the most interesting place you have traveled?
   
   
2. Other than in the US, in which countries do you have a personal friend?
   
   
3. Thinking beyond SLO, which one or two places in the world would you support GraceSLO in reaching those who have no opportunity to hear the Gospel?

So far, in the first week, we've seen 86 people push pins. I'm encouraged by that. I'd like to see us at least triple that. So grab your pins!

awed, grateful love

Our elders had such a great time together at our annual overnighter a couple weeks back. We always do something a bit different. This year one of the things we did was together read through a good portion of Tim Keller's "The Prodigal God." It was so encouraging to my heart to watch the elders grapple with the Gospel and its implications/applications for their lives and our church.

The Prodigal God is a short, but excellent read, that opens up the heart of the Gospel in fresh and new ways. Grab it and read it with us.

Here's a great section about the transforming power of Gospel motivation in contrast to most religious/guilt/law/fear motivation . . .

All change comes from deepening your understanding of the salvation of Christ and living out of the changes that understanding creates in your heart. Faith in the gospel restructures our motivations, our self-understanding, our identity, and our view of the world. Behavioral compliance to rules without heart-change will be superficial and fleeting.

The gospel is therefore not just the ABCs of the Christian life, but the A to Z of the Christian life. Our problems arise largely because we don't continually return to the gospel to work it in and live it out. That is why Martin Luther wrote, "The truth of the Gospel is the principle article of all Christian doctrine...Most necessary is it that we know this article well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually."

"Wait, " I have heard people object. "You mean that in order to grow in Christ, you keep telling yourself how graciously loved and accepted you are? That doesn't seem to be the best way to make progress. Maybe the motivation of religion was negative, but at least it was effective! You knew you had to obey God because if you didn't he wouldn't answer your prayers or take you to heaven. But if you remove this fear and talk so much about free grace and unmerited acceptance-what incentive will you have to live a good life? It seems like this gospel way of living won't produce people who are as faithful and diligent to obey God's will without question."

But if, when you have lost all fear of punishment you also have lost incentive to live an obedient life, then what was your motivation in the first place? It could only have been fear. What other incentive is there? Awed, grateful love.

So what is the motivational wiring of your own heart? Is it motivated by rule keeping? Is it motivated by fear? Is it motivated at at all? Does it need to be rewired with the Gospel?

How do we rewire our hearts with the Gospel?

It takes time. We must hear the Gospel regularly. . . .the love of God manifested in the person and work of Jesus Christ. . . . we must contemplate our indentity and inheritance in Jesus. . . . . . we have to let the grace of God grip and grab our hearts and imaginations.. . . .we must taste and savor that the Lord is good and His promises are sweet. . . . we must put Christ at the center of our thoughts and affections. . . .

We need others, who are desiring the same, to do this with us. To speak the Gospel into our lives and to pray for us.

We need to pray ourselves.

All of this speaks of reordering our lives around the truth and grace of the Gospel. Rewiring our hearts requires reordering our lives. . . .our time, our energy, our priorities. Eliminating distractions. Laying aside the many things that trip us up. Abandoning trivial pursuits. Fixing our eyes on Jesus. Not in a legalistic fashion or out of guilt or fear, but out of a desire to see, know and experience the Gospel of God's grace and its transforming power.

Journey of Faith #1: Hopeful Grief

It was great to have my friend and fellow elder, Donny Valliere, share what's been going on in his journey of faith in Sunday's worship service. Here's the video if you missed it.. . . .



And a few of my scattered thoughts . . .

• Loved the first time of including a testimony in our service. We want to do more. What did you think?
  
  
• Loved Donny's vulnerability and honesty. Here's an elder who doesn't have it all together. Feels sad and is grieving, but is also hopeful. All our elders are at different similar places in their unique journeys of faith. . . . most of the congregation doesn't realize it.
  
  
• Love the ability to snag and post this video from our weekly DVD. Quality was surprisingly good. Did you know we have DVD's of every service available for shut-ins and others who desire to watch instead of just listen? So cool. We gotta do more video. Stay tuned.
  
  
• Am I going bald or what? Too much gel or too short a haircut or something?
  

Haak's Pump

Susie just sent me this . . . is he going to be a dead lifter? Is that a smile or a strain?

Baptism x 2

Did your jr high or high school student come home from the student ministries stuff last night talking about baptism? If not, ask them about it.

I had the joy of seeing a few Jr. Highers come popping out of the basement at around 8:45 last night. One told me the focus of the evening was baptism.

I said, "Well girls, what do you think?"
One of the girls said, "I want to the baptized."

I looked over at my Sage and she said, "I'm ready to be baptized, too, but I want to talk to Eden."

The story here is that my girls, Sage and Eden, put their faith in Christ together not long after we moved here 7 years ago. Sage knew that Eden would probably want to be baptized together if possible. They apparently have discussed it and are going to go for it.

Thrilled for my girls and their desire to obey the Lord and make public their faith.

Our next scheduled baptism is Sunday, November 22. A mandatory Instruction & Preparation Class will happen on Sundays, November 8 and 15.

Take the next step in your faith. Join my daughters and myself in the pool.

God @ Work in you?

In last week's message, we looked at how "faith repents" and "faith wages peace." Abraham is the model, but more importantly, the Gospel of God's grace is the motivation for these faith practices.

While there is always some way we might respond and apply to God's Word, some messages are more immediately applicable than others. I thought this message fell into this "more applicable" category.

So I'm wondering if you can help me out?

Can you email me or post a comment and share what you learned from this passage/message and/or how you are applying this passage/message?

It doesn't have to be long or super detailed. Just real and honest.

(I think we need to develop the practice of sharing what God is doing in our lives with one another. Let's work on this together. We really want to start incorporating some short testimonies of this sort in our worship services for the purpose of encouraging one another.)

09 campout pics

Great weekend of fun and fellowship at the All Church Camp-Out this last weekend. It was pretty cold at night, but just about everyone preferred the cooler weather to last year's September sweat fest. Everyone, I think, but me.

Here are a few pics so far, but we don't have Amy Lynne's yet. As soon as we do, we'll drop them in and the slideshow will update automatically.



Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

the hidden struggle of mental illness

A couple of friends were recently kind enough to come and open their hearts and their lives and give me peek into the world of mental illness in their family and in the church.

Mental illness is real. Mental illness is not usually handled very well by the people of God or by churches. Sadly there are few resources to help those who are dealing with mental illness in their own lives or in the lives of the ones they love. There is so much struggle, hiding, hurt and shame.

Mental illness, like other challenges, is a unique journey of faith.

Here at Grace we want to support families dealing with the challenges of mental illness. We are not exactly sure how to do that. I have asked these friends to stay in dialogue to help us in this area.

In the meantime, these friends have been kind enough to donate some books that they have found helpful over the years. I have briefly reviewed each of them and feel like all offer a helpful and empathetic Biblical perspective. These titles are now available in the church library. . . .

Losing God by Matt Rogers

Grace for the Afflicted by Matthew Stanford

Darkness is My Only Companion by Greene McCreight

Helping Someone with Mental Illness by Rosalyn Carter

When Your Family is Living with Mental Illness by Marcia Lund

join me, men

March 1st, 2010 will mark 7 years as the lead pastor of GraceSLO. What a blessing those years have been in my life and in the life of our family.

Along the way, there are so many fruitful ministry opportunities that I've resisted and refused, in order to commit myself to first things and especially my family. While it's been hard to say "no", I have no regrets.

One of the things I've longed to do, but have resisted to this point, is a focused men's study. I led a group in So Cal for 7 years that involved the reading of great books, both old and new. I've missed that interaction with and investment in the lives of men. It was a great time.

Its time again. Susie has given her blessing on my leading a men's study beginning in January. I can't wait. At this point the plan is . . .

Thursday Mornings
EARLY for an hour(6:00 AM or maybe in 5:30 if necessary)
with a focus on the knowledge of God and spiritual leadership

Our first book will be John Piper's "The Pleasures of God," one of my "Top 10."

So men, step up, commit, and join me. Let's seek the Lord together. You've got 3 mos to plan, arrange your schedules, and find your mojo.

You can RSVP right here by leaving a comment or email at tim@graceslo.org.

Hope to see you. . . .

scandoulous & sturdy Western monotheism

Peter Rynning sent me this intriguing NY Times Book Review of Karen Armstrong's "The Case for God."

I agreed and disagreed with the author, Armstrong. I pretty much agreed with reviewer, Ross Douthat, though he strings you along for awhile until finally tipping his own hand at the end. . . .

Armstrong argues against a propositional theology in favor of a more experiential, mystical, practiced faith. She blames propositional, systematic theology for the decline of the Christian faith in a modern, enlightened, scientific world.

Though Armstrong is essentially arguing for a liberalized version of Christianity that denies a literal interpretation of the text in favor of a symbolic, mystical interpretation, I think she's right that faith in God is an experience, a journey and process. We have lost the mystery and unknowability of God.

But I don't think a recovery of the mystery of God and the practice of faith depends on an abandonment of doctrinal propositions and a serious reading of the Biblical text, as Armstrong suggests. Once again, its not either/or, but both/and.

Douthat is on to Armstrong and insightfully recognizes the necessity of BOTH doctrine AND mystery:

The dogmas tend to sustain the practices, and vice versa. It’s possible to gain some sort of “knack” for a religion without believing that all its dogmas are literally true: a spiritually inclined person can no doubt draw nourishment from the Roman Catholic Mass without believing that the Eucharist literally becomes the body and blood of Christ. But without the doctrine of transubstantiation, the Mass would not exist to provide that nourishment. Not every churchgoer will share Flannery O’Connor’s opinion that if the Eucharist is “a symbol, to hell with it.” But the Catholic faith has endured for 2,000 years because of Flannery O’Connors, not Karen Armstrongs.This explains why liberal religion tends to be parasitic on more dogmatic forms of faith, which create and sustain the practices that the liberal believer picks and chooses from, reads symbolically and reinterprets for a more enlightened age. Such spiritual dilettant­ism has its charms, but it lacks the sturdy appeal of Western monotheism, which has always offered not only myth and ritual and symbolism (the pagans had those bases covered), but also scandalously literal claims — that the Jews really are God’s chosen people; that Christ really did rise from the dead; and that however much the author of the universe may surpass our understanding, we can live in hope that he loves the world enough to save it, and us, from the annihilating power of death. Such literalism can be taken too far, and “The Case for God” argues, convincingly, that it needs to coexist with more mythic, mystic and philosophical forms of faith. Most people, though, are not mystics and philosophers, and they are hungry for myths that are not only resonant but true. Apophatic religion may be the most rigorous way to go in search of an elusive God. But for most believers, it will remain a poor substitute for the idea that God has come in search of us.

I agree with that!

The life of Abraham is not less than historical narrative but a whole lot more. The scriptures tell us what took place in His encounter with God, and in so doing, they inform our own experience of God. We discover, in his story, propositional truths concerning who God is and what it means to be in a faith relationship with Him, but also just how confusing, mysterious and open a relationship with this God really is.

not done in vain

Read Ezekiel 14:12-23 this morning. . . .

Ezek. 14:12 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying,

Ezek. 14:13 “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast,

Ezek. 14:14 even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves,” declares the Lord GOD.

Ezek. 14:15 “If I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land and they depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the beasts,

Ezek. 14:16 though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the country would be desolate.

Ezek. 14:17 “Or if I should bring a sword on that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass through the country and cut off man and beast from it,’

Ezek. 14:18 even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be delivered.

Ezek. 14:19 “Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and beast from it,

Ezek. 14:20 even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”

Ezek. 14:21 ¶ For thus says the Lord GOD, “How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild beasts and plague to cut off man and beast from it!

Ezek. 14:22 “Yet, behold, survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come forth to you and you will see their conduct and actions; then you will be comforted for the calamity which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it.

Ezek. 14:23 “Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done in vain whatever I did to it,” declares the Lord GOD.

A few of my thoughts . . .

• Who is this otherwise unmentioned Daniel of the ancient world in verse 14?
  
  
• God stretches out His hand against nations. Famine, wild beasts, the sword (attacking nations) and plagues are all tools of His sovereign judgment.
  
  
• The righteousness (faith) of a few cannot necessarily save a city though they will be saved through God's judgment. The Lord sees our individual lives, at the very same time He is watching and orchestrating nations. We stand before Him alone, but also with others.
  
  
• The salvation of a few righteous (those who are living by faith in the Lord) through God's judgment calamity is a comfort, reassuring us that God does not act in vain (capriciously or without design or purpose).
  
  
• All of this reminds me, that God is still sovereign in the world, accomplishing His judging and saving purposes through the movement and acting of nations. The United States is a young nation, and our future is in no way secure or guaranteed. The "conduct and actions" of our land and city can assuredly bring God's judgment.

Push Button Spirituality

Stumbled on to this challenging quote by A.W. Tozer. We'll definitely use it in our worship folder down the road, but I thought I'd throw it out here now for your contemplation and response. I'm definitely guilty of push button spirituality. . . how about you?

A generation of Christians reared among push buttons and automatic machines is impatient of slower and less direct methods of reaching their goals. We have been trying to apply machine-age methods to our relations with God. We read our chapter, have our short devotions, and rush away, hoping to make up for our deep inward bankruptcy by attending another gospel meeting or listening to another thrilling story told by a religious adventurer lately returned from afar.

The tragic results of this spirit are all about us. Shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings, the glorification of men, trust in religious externalities, quasi-religious fellowships, salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit; these and such as these are the symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and serious malady of the soul.

---A. W. Tozer, in THE PURSUIT OF GOD, Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1948, pp. 69-70.

Lord, take us deep. The life of faith is usually slow business, usually a walk, not a run. What is happening in our souls? Do we even know? Can we even tell?

I think we've been unkowingly shoved into the world's mold in thinking a relationship with God is instant and easy.

If Ever You Worshipped. . .

Danny Oertli is a gifted singer/songwriter we met at Family Camp on Catalina Island this last summer. We bought one of his CDs and threw it in the player as nighttime music for our kids. We've listened to it continually since June, so now the kids know all the songs.

I like them all, but one of my favorites is If Ever You Worshipped It's Now. It's a song for moms about how even the endless mundane tasks of motherhood are really a form of worship. I'd love to have someone learn it and sing it on Mother's Day. Or maybe we can get Danny to come out . . . .



I think about the truth of this song, as I lay and snuggle with my kids at bed time, and struggle with all the things that are not getting done during that time.

I think we need this reminder. We tend to think of the life of faith as only about the big, turning point moments of life, but usually faith in the Lord consists of the small, simple, daily stuff of life.

As we look at Abraham's BIG call and God's BIG promises this coming week, we also need to keep in mind the years of waiting and wandering. The decades when God didn't seem to speak or lead or show up.

Today is an opportunity to worship and trust the Lord in whatever circumstances you find yourself. Don't wait for the big moments. Embrace the daily moments.

Thanks, Danny, for the great reminder!