Spiritual Block: Course Correction

     Upon the precipice of being poured out like a drink offering, Paul wrote about the course he had run for Timothy personally and for generations of Christians throughout the history of the church.  Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 4:7-8:
     "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing."  NAS
     We can often get caught up with pharaisitcal theology of earning God's grace, so I plan to lean on the Spirit in this exercise, looking for God's lead without judging if I've done "enough" so far in my life.  I do think in light of Paul's own self analysis and assurance of salvation in grace with the evidence from his course rather than justification from his course, we as Christians can benefit by asking the Holy Spirit to search our course and bring to light convictions, corrections, exhortation and celebration from our races to date.  He can also point us to the paths ahead that He'd like to see us run, if we can listen for His voice, His direction.
     Paul first pointed out fighting the good fight.  Where in my life have I fought?  We've all fought, but what have been good fights and what have not been.  Fighting for life, for the Gospel, for Jesus is good.  Fighting for self, for pride for stuff is not.  What about for family, in academic or business competition, politics, theology, conservation?  What are the motivations of the heart?  Through this week in prayer, ask Him to lead you through the fights in your heart to see your good fights, quagmires where you should pull your troops back, or fights meant only to win for self.  What good fights lay ahead?  God can prepare your heart for the battles.  Pray for preparation in Him, His word and His Spirit.
     Have you finished the course?  If not, which should be most of us, how has the course gone?  Paul had some disagreements with other Christians along the way, but continually went to God to map out his direction.  Have you been keeping in step with the Spirit along the race, or have you taken a seat on a bench, veered off the wrong direction, tripped and fallen?  Ask the Spirit to lead you through your course in truth.  Let Him speak to your heart.  Don't let your self or the enemy speak lies of discouragement and failure, but allow the Spirit to correct your direction, to dust off your scrapes, to give you a cool drink of water and an encouraging pat on the back to endure the race.  What has marked your course in Christ?  Widows, orphans, discipleship, evangelism, prayer, teaching, nose, ear, foot? What's been your role in the body of Christ?  Where is the Spirit leading you to keep in step with Him in the body of Christ?
     Where's your faith?  Do you have faith in God's promises?  Does God have your back?  What have been your struggles to hand over to God?  Money, worry, health, work, family?  What are you doing on your own so God doesn't have to worry about it?  What has the Spirit advised that you've dismissed?  Ask Him to increase your faith in the tough areas and to sustain your faith where you are confident.  Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
  Bring pen and paper to a daily meeting with God this week.  Pray in the Spirit and listen patiently for His leading.  He may be waiting for you to quiet down and so may seem a while in answering.  He may answer with conviction of the heart immediately in prayer.  He may drop love notes through others or events throughout the day to let you know He's thinking of you and leading you.  He may speak through pain to help you grow, or through joy to raise your spirit.  He knows what you need more than you, so be open especially in focused prayer, but also throughout the coming week, praying through these areas.  Be open to writing down thoughts, convictions, events as they happen and compile them for a Sunday night recap with the Holy Spirit.  Lay your thoughts upon your Bible in prayer and work on a journey check up session with Him. 
     What fights has your heart been in--good and bad?  What good fights lay ahead for your heart?

     What course have you taken with and without the Spirit?  Where has He been leading?  Where does He lead you now?  Follow His steps.

     Where have you been faithful?  If you've made it through this post and are looking to engage in the exercise, you have a measure of faith.  Don't sell yourself short or long...don't sell yourself anything.  Wait on the Spirit to tug at your faith to see areas He would like you to grow and areas bringing joy to His Spirit.

Ask God.  He loves giving good things to His children.  What glorious requests to ask for His Spirit to be alive and active within your heart, to take your feet with His to others who need Him, to live in the security with His promises, His truth...love, hope and faith.

          Soli Deo Gloria

Writer's Block: Sports

What's your favorite sport?  Tell me about a dramatic game with an active voice.  Yardage, velocity, power, precision and backspin are all popular and often necessary subjects in sports.  While describing running yards or serve speed or slugging percentage, describe in active voice what you saw--or what you see in your imaginary game. 

"Defensive tackle Page flopped on a Colts' cut block, and then used the center to spring into the backfield, wrapping the quarterback for a loss of 8 yards."

or

"Defensive tackle Page got an 8-yard sack."

While journalism preaches efficiency and lean writing, I'm saying, 'have fun!'  Let the reader have some fun, too.  Get into the real details and description of the action. 

I love sports and reading about them, so feel free to leave something you've written about an exciting game--real or imaginary!

Resurrection and the Life

Resurrection and Life

The wellspring trickles through straw men

tickling heart and soul

drawing deposits of God upon the spirit

living rock, heart of stone, Spirit of God

Upon the mountain melts the heart of God

rushing through snow melt streams

river swells

Carrying heavenly debris, cutting the soul

deep are the cuts, revealing layers of rock,

marking hardness upon deeper and deeper thoughts of the heart.

As water carries the mountain to the sea,

As the mountain inverts

Divine impression upon human spirit

The grand design displays the faith of a seed, 

the promise of Christ, 

the trade of granite hearts for living water

DREAMS

DREAMS

     Dreams demand my  attention

God demands my dreams

     Tonight, dream of God in His glory

in glory to earth in me, through me to someone

     Lord, let my faith reach the stars

Let the bright fire from Heaven tickle my nose

and warm my face in the chill air of this world.

     Heat, warmth from the Spirit, percolating within

the embers of my soul

     A fire of passion glowing in desire to burn

with tongues of fire

     Consuming the dead wood of my selfish dreams

warming my heart with the sacrifice of my devotion

to me, to the world

     The fire of Christ burns, contain within yet 

reaching to consume my warmth of love

     A vessel deathly hot within, in self-consumption

bringing comfort to a cool night

     I love the warmth yet dare not touch

the heat for I cannot handle it.

     But I do not have to

     All I do is burn with ablaze in the Holy Spirit

burning the chaff and bringing light--the light

of Christ into the darkness!

               Soli Deo Gloria!

Football August 31

CAL Wrangled the Mustangs from North Oldham into a Double Overtime Thriller

Seniors John Popavich and Austin Chelf set the tone early roping and taming the North Oldham Class 4A Mustangs for an initial drive of negative 9 yards.  Three and outs became a trend in the game for the Mustangs.  

The CAL offense then galloped from their 45 yard line to the end zone on 10 straight runs primarily with the legs of Nick Payne.  Nathan Bader followed up Payne’s touchdown with a perfect point after kick pushing the Centurions out front early 7-0 in the first quarter.

North Oldham changed tactics on their next possession and ran away from the defensive line on sweeps, with well-executed blocking schemes.  The Mustangs trotted into the end zone later in that first quarter with a 22-yard sweep right.  

The teams went to the sidelines tied at 7 after that first quarter and battled hard for an advantage for the remaining three.  The CAL defense, led by Chad Meredith and Rider Sparrow with 8 tackles a piece, figured out the containment and held the Mustangs to just two first downs during the last three quarters of regulation play.  Nathan Christmas guided the CAL offense to eight first downs with 37 yards in the air to Chad Lewellyn, a 7-yard completion to Zach Passafiume and a steady dose of Chelf and Payne on the ground.  Neither team penetrated the end zone, leaving the score at the end of regulation 7-7.

North Oldham handled the ball first in overtime.  They punched it in on a sweep to the left and with the successful point after attempt, pushed ahead 14-7.  Andrew Packer and Hunter Trenamen led the offensive linemen in a valiant push through the Mustang defense, giving Payne his second rushing touchdown of the night.  Under extreme pressure, sophomore kicker Nathan Bader came through on a perfect kick to push the game into a second overtime.  

The CAL offense worked first in the second overtime.  The Mustang defense came strong and pushed the Centurions out of field goal range sacking Christmas.  Lewellyn took over at quarterback after Christmas left the game, shaken up on the sack.  He took the snap and scrambled, breaking a couple of tackles in the backfield and then let the ball fly to the corner of the end zone.  The home stands fell silent as a North Oldham defender batted the ball at the last moment, ending the CAL scoring attempt.

The CAL defense then picked up with tackles by Blake Chelf, Meredith and Trenamen preventing a Mustang touchdown.  At fourth down in the second overtime, former CAL student and football player Caleb Kellogg came to the field and kicked a dagger into the heart of the Centurion nation through the uprights.

The Mustangs escaped a valiant fight from the Centurions who took an undefeated 4A team to a difference of three points in double overtime.  What a game, what a fight, what honor, effort and composure on the field!  Go CAL!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Pittering

Pittering away in silent dark
Among the loud calls from 
Crickets, ribbits, scratchy, squeaky bugs 
The call of July
The heat diffused by cover of the dark blanket of a new moon
The metro glow of ambient red upon the horizon
Bask in the glory streaking lights from flies blazing trails within the back yard
The glow bright in the shadows, dim in the house lights
Descriptive tongue through words typed paint the image of a night content with being night while attaining more than just putting the sun to bed 
Attaining the composition of singing bugs upon the rhythm of night
--the rhythm of a summer night
God bless Your work--everlasting, glorious, hallelujah work!

God Promises

     I've been studying this week about Rehoboam, Jeroboam, Asa and the split of Israel after Solomon's reign.  God kept His promise to Solomon to keep the line of David through the blessing of the autonomy of Judah even though Rehoboam did not please God at all.

     I looked back at 2 Chronicles 7:14 at God's promise to Israel:
     if "...My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

   Israel was splitting, hurting and in need of healing amidst struggles for power and control.  Instead of humbling himself, praying and seeking God's face; Rehoboam rejected advice from the elders, had no recorded prayer life, and sought to elevate himself in declaring himself greater than his father, Solomon.  Jeroboam did no better, appointing false priests to tell him what he wanted to hear, a prayer life that was not noteworthy and his glorification of idols instead of seeking God's face.
   
     Israel was torn into the northern kingdom and southern kingdom...Samaria and Judah.  Israel was broken from the most powerful and revered nation under Solomon to a people group split into two weak kingdoms with no repentance--opposed to God in politics, worship and daily living.

What is there to learn from this?  Sounds a lot like America, but in studying and talking with God about things, I think there is also a personal application.  Saving you seems more at God's heart than saving any political entity, though nations will definitely benefit from a revival of individuals in the body of Christ.

     Looking at the original promise, my attention is immediately drawn to Jesus in baptism.  He did not sin but followed through with baptism as an example for us.  He humbled himself to allow a fallen man, John, to dip him in the water.  Then, his conversation with God was heard by those witnessing the event.  Prayer is talking to God, but not just talking to God.  Jesus listened to God's affirmation of him as a son with encouragement to fulfill God's will.  Jesus then sought God's face through fasting and prayer in the wilderness as he prepared for doing his Father's will.  Then, he brought a call to repentance and redemption to the world, healing the physically sick as well as the spiritually sick.

     He lived the example of God's promise and through Jesus, we are called to live such lives as well.  We must give up our poles, our calves, our selves and turn to God through the Holy Spirit in prayer and worship to talk to Him about His will and our daily part in that will.

     Matthew 7:7 covers the same expression through the admonition to Ask, seek, knock and find.  James 1:6-7 instructs that we must ask with faith, but we are not naming "it" and claiming "it" as it refers to our idols, but we are praying in faith that God's will is what we desire and that He wants to reveal it to us.

     We are all spiritually broken and in need of healing through the Holy Spirit.  We must humble ourselves, come before God in prayer and seek His face in our daily lives.  If we do so, the Spirit will heal us and turn us from our wicked ways to be whole in Christ.  God promises.

Dripping

     Dripping from my throbbing head
thoughts and memories fading beyond history
     into timelessness
          never happened
     happening
          never will
     Regret repeats drop upon drop
Drop
     Drop
          Drop
     Drip upon drop
          Drooping upon conscious below conscience
My limbs drooping
     fingertips, willow strands kissing the ground

What am I worth?
     Beans in the world
     Rich in Heaven
My hands offer only dust
     from tickling the earth, playing in the dirt

Love and hate of self of others
     Love the King yet act in self
          dripping
               dripping
                    intentions circle the drain
                    praying for a plug

Praying for Others

I spent a week praying only for others, aside from asking forgiveness for my shortfalls.  I anticipated a grand revelation, but each day, I met with a simple struggle to keep my mind off myself.   People came to my mind that I would not have otherwise prayed for, and I expanded my recognition of God as creator and provider.

This all seemed pretty rudimentary, pretty average.  Hey, what if that's the point?  What if 'I'm average' is the point?  Focusing on self was a natural bent for me.  I had to fight every day to steer my mind in prayer from things I want to focus on the needs of others.  I use 'me' and 'I' more in my prayers than Dr. Seuss used 'Sam I am' in Green Eggs and Ham.

Am I out of whack, self-absorbed, a narcissistic soul amidst the average benevolence of human nature?  I seem to be average in every other respect.  I'm average height, average weight, brown eyes, brown hair, and above-average intelligence, which is what the average person feels about ones own brain--whether verbalized or silent, most of us feel we are right in the way we think most of the time.  Do you think I'm right?

I've handled grief in average ways defined by books and articles.  I've experienced mid-life anxiety similar to the average middle-aged male.

I am average.  So, perhaps the average human nature is to focus on self, which seems to be what I've done in this post.  Depression exists and there are unhealthy expressions of self-loathing (could there be a healthy expression of self-loathing?)  But, generally, we don't have to be told to love ourselves.  Jesus told us to love others as we love ourselves.  Love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; and love others as ourselves.

The world needs love--sacrificial love.  We need God Who is love to indwell us to help us look outward beyond ourselves, to sacrifice our selfishness for giving time, money, thoughts--love to others.

Salty Sacrifice and Holiness

     Recently, I was reading a book regarding holiness, which ironically, pointed me back to scripture by pointing out Leviticus as a book devoted to holiness.  Many times we search for answers ourselves while God directs us back to His word, so I found no surprise in finding a verse I noted years ago in my Bible:
  "Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God.  Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy."  Lev 20: 7-8

     So even before Jesus came in flesh, God instructed us to set ourselves apart, following His instructions, His law; but regardless of our efforts, it is God who makes us holy.  Paul poses the New Testament question of if we should just forget about trying to obey God, so that God's grace can be even greater.  The answer is absolutely not, and James expanded that answer to write that faith without works is a dead faith.

     Getting back to Leviticus and holiness, how does this work if God does the work, but we are supposed to play an active part.  Isn't playing an active part, in essence working?

     If I do not lie with a man as a man lies with a woman, will God make me Holy?  What about if I avoid taking my wife's sister as a rival wife?  Or not mating different kinds of animals?  Or not eating blood, making sacrifices correctly, burning mildew?  What do all these laws mean?

     Leviticus runs through a ton of instructions to give further detail from God's greatest instructions as applied to the Israelites.  Much discussion can be had on what those instructions meant to them at that time in relation to modern times on this side of the cross--but as a general look, it seems that the point of all the instructions was laying out things that would sever relationship with God, setting us apart from God instead of setting us apart for God.

     How do we set ourselves apart for God?

     "Season all your grain offerings with salt.  Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings."  Lev 2:13

     We must make an offering to God.  We don't make grain, or fellowship, burnt or guilt offerings today as they were prescribed back then, but this description given of the grain offering means everything compared with the offering we are asked to give today.  Jesus told us to sacrifice ourselves by taking up our cross daily to follow Him.  Paul describes the Levitical instruction in greater detail in Romans 12:1.

     "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship."

     And when we offer our bodies, we should be applying plenty of salt.  Does this mean we should shower each morning in saltwater?  I don't think so, but Jesus referred to us in Mw 5:13 as the salt of the earth.  We don't want to lose our saltiness, so should be bathing in the light of Jesus each day to salt our living sacrifices in the Spirit.

     We can't produce the salt ourselves.  From where does it flow?

     "For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life."  Lev 17:11

     This verse referenced the restrictions of eating blood given to the Israelites, but we can see God's message that becomes clearer this side of the cross.  It is the blood of Jesus that makes atonement for our sins.  Jesus is THE salt of the covenant.  That is why we must salt our lives with Christ.  He makes us holy,   set apart,   as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To Him be glory both now and forever!  Amen.

Running

Running invites the thrust of youth.
Age pushes back with pain and pounding ferocity.

Yet heels will pound ferociously against the wind.
The breath of age, the breath of discouragement, the very breath of the Enemy--
damn that breath, that wind, those lies!

Run free in the power of the Spirit!
Though knee gives pain, gut upheaval, carry on to defy opposition.

Cannot catch the fleet feet,
but the goal is not to catch feet.
     Catch the breath of God, His Spirit driving, pulling, pushing, encouraging, disciplining!

Drive for Him, in Him and with Him.
     Run, run, run,
                               run free!