Evolution

When I first became a Christian and started exploring God, it was like He slowly painted a picture for me. Every thing I learned was a new line of the image. Every relationship I formed, every thing he taught me, added another color. And finally, when it was all over, when I understood "Christianity", the picture was complete and I had something to look at, visualize, and wrap my mind around.

The problem, was that I felt like I was looking at a 4x6 picture of a mountain, all the while my soul cried out, trying to tell me what a mountain really was. I couldn't shake the feeling that my picture was horribly simple and didn't even begin to do justice to what the reality really was. Much like looking at a picture of Mt Everest, and actually standing on top of it, I had to know what was really behind the image.

So my search for truth didn't stop at the image. I spent more time exploring God, and a crazy thing started to happen!

I think I expected the picture to get more complex; 3 dimensional maybe, or become larger, or have more detail. I expected God to continue to reveal himself in the same way, only better. What started to happen though, was that my image of God, Christianity, and Truth all started to dissolve. They began to fade away because no image could ever seek to explain the real thing. No picture could ever replace the experience, the emotion of standing on a mountain peak. The hard thing for me now, is explaining just what that looks like. As a finite being, any definition, any image, any word that I can use to describe an infinite God, puts limits and boundaries on what He really is. The image dissolved because in order for me to discover more, the boundaries had to dissolve.

My image of God has been replaced with emotions, feelings, and certainty. Things without boundaries or limits. Only these things can express something beyond limits and boundaries. When you seek God beyond the limits, be prepared for Him to shatter your ability to understand and express what He really is.

Quick Snippets

Walk with me through the land of ADD....

• "Either you stay desperate for God or He will make you desperate for Him." I really like this quote and try to remember it so I don't forget to stay desperate and connected

• This past Sunday at Elevation was crazy. 3500 attendees, 135 salvations, 1001 more guests than our previous service....

• I was able to confirm two new volunteer leaders for our High School ministry. We now have a mingle team leader who is amped to connect with students and help others do the same as well as a High School greeters leader who has so much potential and is such an amazing Christian. I can't wait for God to bring in some more. This ministry is on the fast track to amazing!

• I just found out I get to be the series director for the NASA Endurance Series this year. 6 races on Fridays that last 3 hours or more. The car is coming along nicely and my co-driver is an ex-ALMS, ex-Koni Challenge racer with tons of experience. I expect to learn a lot from driving with him.

• Finally, this is a neat bit of imagery that Craig Groeschel posted on prayer. I really liked it.

Parents explain the world by simplifying things down into ways children can understand. No one would expect a parent to use the history of society or the behavioral traits of nomadic tribes to explain to a child that friends are important. Instead, adults simplify the message so that the key points make it through to the child. Now, every child has a different propensity for understanding messages. Some kids are just brighter than others; some naturally understand certain concepts and struggle to grasp other ones. As such, a parent will tailor a message to each child in a way that will maximize the impact based on that child's ability to comprehend and utilize the information. The important thing to see is that, although the child cannot possible understand the total scope of the idea, they can behave as if they do when taught properly.

In other words, a child may not understand the importance of shared society, social benefits of groups, or job specialization, but they can be taught to share and be kind to others. They can behave as if they understand the importance of social interactions and get the key parts correct, even without an understanding of the whole scope.

I believe that God acts in a very similar way with us, only on a much more intense scale. Eventually, a child will grow up into an adult, and their propensity to understand will be equal. Humans on the other hand, are finite beings with a limit ability to understand. When compared to an infinite God we cannot even begin to comprehend the separation between the scope of things and what we are exposed to.

God cannot show us the whole of everything. God can't even show us the whole of something. Instead, He has to simplify things down in ways we can understand, and just as the children above everyone has a different propensity for understanding. I think God shows different people different parts of Himself and in different ways. The end result of this is that two different people can sit next to each other, with totally different views of God, and both be 100% right. Interestingly, they are both probably very ignorant. I think that you can lock yourself up for 70 years, and spend so much time learning about God that you make Billy Graham and Joel Osteen look like pre-schoolers, and you'll still only have scratched the surface.

The point, is that we can never understand God or even really know Him. (in the knowledge sense, not the personal relationship sense) What we can do is trust Him to teach us the things that we need in order to behave in the manner He wants us to. We won't get the same things that everyone else does, because we have a different capacity than those around us; however, we will get what is best for us. I look at those around me and rejoice for what God is showing them, even if it doesn't make sense to me. I look within myself and I am blown away that an infinite God would invest into a finite being. I pray that I am faithful in what I am given and I pray that I never forget that all the knowledge in the world is nothing in comparison to the God of the Universe.

It's been a while since my last blog but the Christmas time seems appropriate enough to do it. Honestly, I feel less like Christmas and more like Thanksgiving at the moment. Maybe it was the huge turkey diner I just had, or the fact that God has been humbling me in a most unique way lately, but I feel extremely grateful right now and I'm not sure why. I am sure though, that I dig it and I hope and pray that God keeps humbling me in the same manner.

On a side note, my life feels so scattered right now. Maybe it's because I am spending the holidays all over the place, and seeing friends and family that I'm not use to. It is possible it's just because I'm physically out of my element. Then again, it's possible that my life truly is being scattered about right now. Some things I feel are good to be scattered around, others I am desperate to hold onto.

Finally, I see the stage being set in so many areas in my life at the moment. I really feel like things are about to either blow my mind or blow up in my face. I'm not sure how I feel about it all to be honest with you.

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

What's it all for?

This is an expansion on a previous post about vision.

Proverbs 29:18a
Where there is no vision, the people perish...

Deep deep down I think the most important thing I can have as a Christian is perspective. A strong sense of perspective is both powerful and laughable at the same time. Ultimately, when compared to God our, sense of perspective is indeed laughable and it's important to realize that no matter how much we think we can see, God sees abundantly more. However, perspective is incredibly important.

Our sense of perspective dictates everything about our ministry and our lives as Christians. A narrow view will result in a very narrow response. A broad view will result in a much more open response. Which is right? It depends on the situation. If your voice reaches a narrow audience, the more targeted your perspective and view, the more directly you can speak into them. If your audience is diverse, a broad perspective will lead to an impact in a majority, but may only get you so deep before you lose your influence with individuals that have a different vision than yourself.

Put it another way. Lets pretend that everyone is represented by colors and shades. If I think red, and everyone around me thinks in reds, pinks, and burgundies, than I have a great chance to impact them, and yet we all miss out completely on everything from orange to purple.

If the people around me are completely mixed up, and I think in "rainbow", then I will have the chance to speak into many lives. But when my blue friend starts to hear about yellow and red, he will probably turn away. Likewise with all my single colored friends. Now, if I can find a few that also have similar thoughts (perspectives, visions, etc), than we can take it much much deeper.

So what the heck does any of this mean? Simply that perspective is vital to vision. When we cast vision to our team, what we are really doing is putting our ministry (or mission) into perspective. We seek to show our place in the grand picture. How big our picture is dictates how deep we can take our areas. If the "big picture" is focused (IE reach a city) than bringing in a bigger picture is counter productive. It prevents us from deepening our influence. If the picture is broad (reach the world) than a smaller perspective can choke.

Anyway, my ADD has completely taken over this blog and I have no idea where all this rainbow and vision/perspective stuff came from. The original point was that perspective is vital and at the root of all we must do. It dictates our response to vision, ministry, people, life, you name it. As such, we all should really spend time thinking about our perspective and ask God if he needs to expand or focus us.

Psalm 46:10 (NLV)
“Be still, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world.”

My blog life has sucked recently. Interestingly enough, where my last hiatus was simply because I wasn't spending enough time with God (therefor I fast ran out of things to talk about) my recent blog deficiencies have been a result of busing myself for the Lord.

My job situation has been both a fantastic learning experience in strengthening my faith in the Lord, and an excellent opportunity to serve in a greater roll than I have been able in the past. I've taken on some projects for the church in both the children's and student ministries, as well as been available to poor into the lives of my peers more than ever before. Aside from being broke (and yet still having plenty of money to feed myself and pay bills, go figure) it's been a pretty awesome experience.

With that said, I notice myself swinging the other way. Instead of being too far in the city to see the forest, now I'm in danger of being too close to see the forest for the trees.

So todays blog is to remind myself and the 3 people that still read this thing that we all need to take a break every now and then and chillax for the Almighty.

If I could...

If I could, I'd invent something that instantly told me what a person was passionate about and what their strengths were. Wouldn't that make life so much easier?

Right now I'm trying to figure out how I can identify a few people to step up into leadership positions in our High School ministry with a very limited understanding of what makes them excited every morning. I wish I had something to tell me "this person is outgoing and loves pouring into the lives of people" so I could plop them into a team leadership roll. Or find another who is "super organized and wanted to work behind the scenes" so they could help with all the planning leading up to events.

The point is, I want to find people who are passionate and plug into that. I don't know much but I do know that a ministry filled with leaders who are passionate about the areas they are in charge of has enormous potential.