To listen. To notice. To "dwell with another person." These are more important than just casual ramblings or niceties, they are essential to the way we live out God's calling. I invite you to come along and consider, "Where have you seen God at work today?"
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
I Wonder--April 30
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
I Wonder--April 24
In the rush for productivity, we often rush too quickly. . . We rush to be effective and be thorough. But in doing so, we might just miss the opportunity to Be the Church that Jesus asks us to be.
I wonder when was the last time you interrupted your well-laid, well-thought out, plans to reach out to someone and share good news with them? When did you last put aside productivity and to choose to dwell with the other person?
On each Wednesday at noon I have a zoom meeting with a group of ministers. We meet for 1 hour to discuss the sermon text for Sunday and talk about general worship plans that we are making. During that meeting my iPhone rang on the table next to me. I saw the call and I read the transcript of the voicemail sit came in. The transcript told me that there was good news waiting for me--but it never said what the good news was. It was up to me to call back.
The meeting ended at 12:50pm and I got back to work while forgetting the voicemail which I imagine is a temptation that you might fall into. After all there are things to do, and tasks to work on. Yet something in the back of my mind kept reminding me "check the voicemail. Make the call."
It was only when I did that I heard the good news--and it was well worth it!
I felt my heart swell and my spirit lift during that call. The entirety of the call was less than 2 minutes. But I had a choice to make. I did not have to call back. I could have waited; I was busy.
Perhaps you have the same choice running through your mind today as you read this post.
But I encourage you to resist that temptation. You are not too busy to interrupt your day and let God break in and change you, and by extension change the other person. Make the call. Listen to message. Be the Church.
Monday, April 15, 2024
I Wonder--April 15
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
I Wonder--March 27
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
I Wonder--March 19
Thursday, March 14, 2024
I Wonder--March 14
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
I Wonder--March 12
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
I Wonder--February 28
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
I Wonder--February 13
Monday, February 5, 2024
I Wonder--February 5
Thursday, February 1, 2024
I Wonder--February 1
Monday, January 29, 2024
I Wonder--January 29
Thursday, January 25, 2024
I wonder--January 25
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
I Wonder--January 24
For a while now I have seen a certain book at my local book store and it has caught my attention. Finally last week, I broke down and bought the book and I am so thankful that I did! The book's author is a famous music producer whose has worked on some of the most important rock albums for the last 40 years.
As with many great creative thinkers, the book does not follow a traditional format. There is a chapter that consists of a few pages followed by three lines of prose centered on a page or two. Then another short chapter followed by some more prose. This repeats throughout the entire book. But if you dare to open the book and consider with Rick is writing about, you will find a gold mine to consider.
In the first chapter, a chapter titled: "Everyone Is a Creator," he writes this:
"To create is to bring something into existence that wasn't there before. It could be a conversation, the solution to a problem, a note to a friend, the rearrangement of furniture in a room, a new route home to avoid a traffic jam. . . Through the ordinary state of being, we're already creators in the most profound way, creating our experience and composing the world we perceive."
While Rick is not write from a Christian theological perspective but one of a musical producer, I find it hard not to hear an entrance point into our community in his words.
We often think that to serve the Lord in our community has to be a big, large-scale, dynamic, vibrant project. It must be reproducible; it must shine. It must look good on social media and/or fit well on a flyer or some other form of media--and at times that is indeed necessary, I do confess.
But if Rick is right, if something as small as moving a chair closer to another person so that they can see that we truly do care, if that "creative act of furniture moving" is also an act of ministry, then I wonder what small thing God be asking you to do today?
For God see the world both in the macro and the micro. Jesus had the time to save the entire world, but He also had the time to sit by a well with an unwelcome woman and talk with her during the hottest part of the day when no one else had the time or the desire.
Maybe there is something creative that God is asking to you participate in right now? What does it look like and how much time does it take?
Thursday, January 18, 2024
I Wonder--January 18
Thursday, January 11, 2024
I Wonder--January 11
Thursday, January 4, 2024
I Wonder--January 4
I Wonder--April 30
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