Back in Ohio!

Melody and I feel so grateful to be back in Ohio near friends and family. We're excited about what God's doing at our church (www.heartlandcommunity.org) and can't wait to see what he has in store for the future. We're learning many new things every week here and God is meeting us every step of the way. It feels great to be living moment by moment trusting Jesus to show us what's next!

I'm constantly reminded of how important it is to spend time in silence and solitude. Unfortunately this is completely counter-cultural in our day and age. Everyone (including myself at times) seems to constantly be on the run. We are a society addicted to speed and efficiency. Simply being quiet and listening to God seems incredibly difficult to wrap our minds around. Practicing Sabbath means we are out of control and God is in control. We are now on His timetable. What an incredibly freeing experience if I could genuinely give myself to it instead of getting sucked back into the worries of this life. The more I think about it, the more I've come to believe that my personal Spiritual Formation Plan revolves around the 5 S's: 1. Silence 2. Solitude 3. Sabbath 4. Study 5. Simplicity God, please give me the perseverance to see it through on a daily basis when my mind consistently wants to wander back to busy-ness and efficiency. God, give me the strength I need to pursue what's most important...

Codependent Christianity?

A friend I was meeting with last week said something that intrigued me. He said, "The Church is great at answering questions nobody is asking." This really got me thinking. In the New Testament book of 1 Peter it says: "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." Notice anything special about this verse? "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you..." And yet I've personally seen many Christians offering answers when no one is asking anything. What would it look like if we waited until people actually started asking us questions? What if we let our lives speak for themselves? What if we weren't more concerned about other people's spirituality than they were about themselves? How could this change our approach to sharing our faith? What if we used a little more "gentleness" and "respect"? I just wonder how this would change things...