Weekly Blog

“Great is Yahweh, and most worthy of praise
In the city of our God,
His holy mountain. It is beautiful in its loftiness,
The joy of the whole earth. Like the utmost heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion,
The city of our Great King!”                        
  Psalm 48:1-2

Waiting on God, and God waiting on us. 

Patience is a virtue.  At least that’s what I’m told. Throughout the Bible patience is held in high regard.  In the famous 1 Corinthians 13 chapter on love, patience is the first characteristic that describes the love God wants us to have.  It’s also a fruit of the Holy Spirit. 

What exactly is patience? 

It is associated with long suffering, enduring, and waiting.  Patience is a decision that we make, it’s a determination of the will to not take action but to endure and wait for God.

I love March. Hints of Spring turn into full blossoms and mass colors in March. Birds sing a little more loudly in the morning. Windows can be left open in this wonderful transition between the cold of winter and the impending heat that will accompany the summer.

Yep, I love March. March is also my birthday month which also might influence my love of the month, as if the promise of Spring wasn’t enough!

As I entered 2019 I asked the Lord to give me a word to focus on as I journey with Him. It isn’t something I always do, and if I’m being really honest when I have done it in the past, by March I have usually forgotten what it was and moved on to other things!

Do you ever wonder why God seems to be so silent? 

Have you ever been in times and seasons where you pray but don’t sense much and wonder if your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling? 

I sure have. At those times God often leads me to think differently as I pray, and times when my thoughts don’t seem to change as a result of spending time praying. When I am unsure of how to move ahead and I am asking God for clarity and direction – sometimes God seems curiously quiet.

“I’m ready for a vacation!” 

There are certain times of the year where you just sense you need a break from your regular routine.  As you think about your next chance to take some time off work and get some time away from the demands of your schedule – are you thinking about being spiritually refreshed?  We usually think about our need for physical, emotional and mental rest, but perhaps your vacation plans are so full that you take a “vacation” from your spiritual life as you get out of town. 

When friends return from vacation we naturally ask them, “how was your time away?”  “What did you do?”  “What did you see?”  When was the last time you intentionally asked, “What did it mean?”

Sometimes you get a feeling in your gut that is a deep knowing that only comes from God.

When Josh Gallagher, the lead pastor of Paradise Alliance and I talked about what he wanted to find most in the ashes of their house in Paradise, my stomach turned over.   Josh said, “I’d like to find my wedding ring he said, and I kind of know where it was in the house.”  

I volunteered our church staff to take a half day to help Josh and his wife Erin sort through ashes – I just had a strong sense in my gut that we were going to find it.

Over the past six weeks I have seen incredible unity among churches who have never partnered together.  The tragedy that we all have been living in has softened hearts to receive prayer at a rate that I have never seen before.  People are hurting and it’s impossible to hide it.  As you look around public spaces it is common to see someone weeping or you feel the stress level in our city at a heightened level.  This is not just the recovery from a wildfire; this is an historical event of epic proportion that it is impossible to fully comprehend. 

We will call today’s lunch – “A memorial lunch.”

A few friends gathered to eat together and tell stories about a man named Don, who slipped into heaven the day before this awful fire broke out.  His passing could have been forgotten with both of his brothers working long days at the Red Cross shelter at Neighborhood Church on November 8^th.  They responded to this crisis in the midst of their shock and grief, and graciously served others.  It was good to visit today and focus on honoring and celebrating Don’s life and also to encourage his brothers. 

What do you do to remember special people or events in your past? 

The Camp Fire is still burning, but we already feel how life in our area, as we know it, has changed for a long, long time. 

When I woke up last Friday and heard that so much of the ridge had burned, I knew this was no ordinary wildfire like we have ever experienced before.  The magnitude of the devastation is overwhelming.  After getting a rare chance to survey a bit of Paradise earlier this week, I was both heartbroken and hopeful. 

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.  You are able to say to yourself,  ‘I lived through this horror.  I can take the next thing that comes along.’”   - Eleanor Roosevelt

This week many of our friends escaped the flames of the Camp Fire on the ridge with only the clothes on their back.  It has now been declared the most destructive wildfire in California history. The grief that I experienced in the course of 24 hours was the most overwhelming I have felt in my 25 years of full time ministry.