Awakening

Last Friday there was a huge earthquake that hit northeastern Japan. It was soon followed by a tsunami. Since then, I & much of the world have been following this story on the news.

This a potential nuclear disaster.

For me, this was a wake up event.

It struck me in a fresh way concerning the idea that we don't know how much more time that we have to go about doing the L0rd's work. It seems more urgent to get about the business of reaching out, particularly to our friends in France.

At the Ash Wednesday serv!ce, we sang a song titled "Aw@kening" by Chris T0mlin. It can be heard by clicking here.

In our hearts Lord, In this nation; Awakening
Holy Spirit we desire awakening

For You and You alone
Awake my soul, Awake my soul and sing
For the world you love
Your will be done, Let Your will be done in me

In Your presence, In Your power awakening
For this moment, For this hour, awakening

For You and You alone
Awake my soul, Awake my soul and sing
For the world You love
Your will be done, Let Your will be done in me

For You and You alone
Awake my soul, awake my soul and sing
For the world You love
Your will be done, Let Your will be done in me

Like the rising sun that shines
From the darkness comes a light
I hear Your voice and this is my awakening

Like the rising sun that shines
From the darkness comes a light
I hear Your voice and this is my awakening

Like the rising sun that shines
Awake my soul, Awake my soul and sing
From the darkness comes a light
Awake my soul, Awake my soul and sing
Like the rising sun that shines
Awake my soul, Awake my soul and sing.
Only You can raise a life
Awake my soul, Awake my soul & sing!

In our hearts Lord, In the nations; Awakening

How much the Ch&rch needs to be woken up from her sleep! We need to be like the sons of Issachar in 1 Chronicles 12:32. They knew the times that they were in, as well as what to do. May the Ch&rch know the times that she is in, as well as what to do. May we not run foolishly, as one without aim. For time may be shorter than we think to go about the Father's business.

Death on Ash Wednesday

Last night I attended an Ash Wednesday service for the first time since 1998. Some church traditions emphasize Lent, while others don't. Lent is a period of preparation for Easter. It's a time where people often give up something in order to better focus on the sacrificial death of Jesus and His Resurrection 3 days later. One person I know is giving up Facebook for Lent.

Our pastor in Paris mentioned on Facebook the death of Florent. He wrote:

Florent est décédé au matin du premier jour du Carême. Il est associé à la mort et à la Vie de Christ.
"Florent died the morning of the 1st day of Lent. He is associated with the death and the Life of Christ."

We attended the same church. He was of Asian background, probably in his 30s or 40s, and was regularly at the 10:30 service. He was quiet and sometimes helped with the Powerpoint during services. We were FB friends, although I didn't know him real well & didn't really talk to him. He had some disease, but apparently didn't openly share this with many people.

I don't believe he was married or had an children. But his life did leave a legacy of quietly blessing people. Now he is on to his greater inheritance. He is a believer, so I expect to see him again in heaven.

Psalm 116:15 says, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints."

Lent is a season of loosening our grip on the world and its grip upon us. It's a reminder that, no matter how powerful, rich, influential or popular we may be, we will all eventually die.

But for those who are followers of Jesus, we are already dead. We died with Christ (Rom. 6:8). At baptism, the going under the water symbolizes this. Our old self was crucified with Him so that we should no longer be slaves to sin. We are to count ourselves as being dead to sin, but alive to God in Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:11).

We are alive in Christ. This isn't just for heaven, but also for this world. He can live His life through us as we yield ourselves to Him.

We can love the Florents and others in our churches who don't stand out, yet perhaps quietly suffer. We can love our neighbors who aren't part of our churches.

We didn't get to know Florent well. But we look forward to this someday in the future. Hopefully, he's already met my mother, daughter Jessica, recently arrived friend Sandy Wilson, etc.

Interesting conversations in the grocery check out line

Tonight after supper I went grocery shopping. I went to my usual store, Safeway. They had some good sales on frozen foods, so I spent more than was originally planned. I went out to the only checkout line and was greeting by a "How are you?" from the cashier.

Her friendly manner and my large quantity of groceries allowed for some conversation. She had a tatoo on her hand, which was moving quickly as she was putting my groceries through the scanner. I asked her about it and she said it the tattoo was of a flower and that it would soon be coming off. She said it would be painful & would leave a scar afterwards.

After loading my groceries into the car & driving to Target, I realized that I had left a carton of 16 water bottles at the bottom of it. It's dark at night, so you can't see everything at the bottom of your cart. I finished my Target business, then sped off to Safeway. Fortunately, the water was still on the cart, which was still where I had left it.

When I went to checkout again, I told her my story & she said, "Thank the Lord" or something similar. I asked her if she was a believer & she said that the believed in a combination of Christianity & Buddhism. This led to further discussion during which she said that "When I become an adult, I would like to run a "Re*ki" center in my home. She said that she had done the training in Japan to become a Re*ki master. She likes being in Colorado, as people here are "open-minded."

This was a good reminder that spiritual conversations often take place at unexpected times & often beginning with small talk.

Amazed

This morning we had an excellent worship service. Last week & this week, it seems like there seems to be some fresher & stronger anointing, both in the music, the prayers & the preaching. I'm not sure if it's because I'm living some stronger stuff, or if more things are happening within this particular body. The name of the sermon series is "Faith on Fire."

The message was on Acts 1:12-26 & titled "Where Do We Turn in Times of Change?" His points were:
1. Turn to one another (vv. 12-13)
2. Turn to G0d in prayer (v. 14)
3. Turn to the Scriptures (vv. 15-20)
4. Be open to something new (vv. 21-26)
Don't stubbornly hang on to the past.
Don't be paralyzed & freeze.
Don't close minds to anything & everything new, including new leadership.


The class "Forgotten G0d" is also going well. This mornings session was on the the0l0gy of the H0ly Sp!rit. It was basic stuff, but a good reminder. One quote that struck me was "Don't let the symbol of His presence be the prison of His essence."

One of the songs we sang was "Amazed." The version by L!nc0ln Brewster can be viewed & heard here.

(verse 1)
You dance over me while I am unaware
You sing all around but I never hear the sound

(chorus)
Lord I'm amazed by You
Lord I'm amazed by You
Lord I'm amazed by You
And how You love me

(verse 2)
You paint the morning sky with miracles in mind
My hope will always stand
For You hold me in Your hand

(bridge)
How deep how wide
How great is Your love for me
© 2005 Integrity Music

There seems to be some amazing stuff happening in our lives now. A lot of it is based on an awareness of a greater dependence upon the Sp!rit to lead.

I Will Follow

During Sunday w0rship, the band did a special number featuring Chr!s T0ml!in's song "I Will F0llow." I think it characterizes this 2010 in our lives in France & the U.S., as well as what 2011 looks like it will be in the U.S., then back to France.

I've been spending time in Proverbs this past week. It's been a good reminder of G0d's s0vere!gnty over our plans, even though it is good to try to make plans in light of wisdom, counsel, Scr!pture & pr@yer.

We're planning on staying in Colorado for longer in this HMA than we had originally planned. A number of doors have & continue to open up. We wouldn't have guessed this when flying back here last July.

This also means not spending as much time in some other places as we had planned.

Like the Isr@elites in the wilderness, they had to move as the pillar of fire led them. The Ap0stle Paul ended up staying in some places longer than planned.

On Sunday P@stor Jeff talked about new things in 2011. Earlier that morning, I had pr@yed about being open to new ways that the Father would provide for our material & financial needs.

I also suspect that 2011 will mean lots of new relationships in Colorado as well. We're already thankful for some that have opened up. It's been a fresh start here.

Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow...

All your ways are good
All your ways are sure
I will trust in you alone
Higher than my side
High above my life
I will trust in you alone

Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow you
Who you love, I'll love
How you serve I'll serve
If this life I lose, I will follow you
I will follow you

Light unto the world
Light unto my life
I will live for you alone
You're the one I seek
Knowing I will find
All I need in you alone, in you alone

In you there's life everlasting
In you there's freedom for my soul
In you there joy, unending joy
and I will follow

It can be heard by clicking this YouTube link.
**

How the Mighty Fall

This morning I started reading Jim Collins' 2009 book "How the Mighty Fall...and Why Some Companies Never Give In." This is one of the leadership books that I'm reading during this year in the U.S.

It's about 5 stages of decline of organizations. They are:
1. Hubris born of success
2. Undisciplined pursuit of more
3. Denial of risk & peril
4. Grasping for salvation
5. Capitulation to irrelevance & death

I'm particularly interested in learning about principles that might apply to chu7rches & organizations. I've seen some formerly strong groups like these really go into a tailspin.

Collins proposes that in the early stages, decline is harder to detect, yet easier to turn around. In the later stages, it's easier (and sometimes blatantly) to detect, yet harder to turn around.

I'm a big fan of the University of Michigan Wolverine football. For most of my lifetime, at least from 1969-2007, the Wolverines fielded excellent teams under 3 different coaches: Bo Schembechler, Gary Moeller & Lloyd Carr. During the last several years under Carr, it appears that recruiting suffered.

But during the last 3 seasons, under "outsider" coach Rich Rodriguez, the program has greatly suffered. It appears that he is about to be released by new Athletic Director David Brandt. However, the whole situation has been poorly handled this past month and no one seems to know for sure who the new coach will be.

It's strange to see a former icon of football success struggle so much recently. Perhaps some of these 5 stages of decline apply to Michigan football as well.

Happy New Dreams

In my Facebook status, I wrote that I was too tired to stay up until midnight and wished everyone a Happy New Year.

One of our friends from France responded, "Happy new dreams."

I actually like that. 2011 is a year of new dreams for me & my family.

2010 was a year of transition from nearly 7 months in France to 5 months in the U.S.

2011 looks to be a year of transition back from 7 months in the U.S. to our planned return to Paris this coming summer.

Without dreams, we get stale & cranky. Sometimes the difficulty of life can make it hard to think about dreaming, as we're just trying to survive.

But dreams of a better future drive us to change & move in new directions. It's often a lot of little steps, but in a different direction.

Some dreams take a long time to see accomplished. But no great thing has happened without at least one person dreaming about it.

I think it was Erwin McManus who wrote about G0d desiring to have people who would dream His dreams. May we have G0d-sized dreams for our families, neighborhoods, schools, work places, chur*ches, cities & nations in 2011.